Joasaph I of Constantinople
Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople
Church	Church of Constantinople
In office	1 April 1462^[1] – 10 April 1463^[1]
Predecessor	Isidore II^[1]
Successor	Gennadius Scholarius^[1]
Personal details
Born	unknown
Died	after 1463

Antony Joasaph I Kokkas (Greek: Ἰωάσαφ Κόκκας; died after 1463) was Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople in the 1460s. The exact dates of his reign are disputed by scholars at various times ranging from 1462 to 1465.

Life

Antony Kokkas was born probably to Western parents and he became a monk. According to Laurent^[2] and Kiminas^[3] he was elected as Patriarch with the name of Joasaph on 1 April 1462, in a rush the day after the death of Patriarch Isidore II. During his patriarchate he had to face troubles caused by clashes with monks and intrigues of the Greek nobility.

The intrigue that led to the tragic end of Joasaph's patriarchate involved the scholar and politician George Amiroutzes, renowned for having persuaded Emperor David of Trebizond to surrender to the Ottomans, and who, along with all the nobility of the former Empire of Trebizond, had moved to Istanbul. George Amiroutzes had become an intimate of Sultan Mehmed II and wanted to marry the beautiful Mouchliotissa, widow of last Duke of Athens Franco Acciaioli, notwithstanding that he was already married and his wife was still alive.^[4] Patriarch Joasaph refused to grant his permission because it was a case of bigamy under canon law. George Amiroutzes pressed forward and turned to his cousin, the Grand Vizier Mahmud Pasha Angelović, who tried to influence the Holy Synod to depose Joasaph. Some scholars propose different details for these events.

Irritated by the refusal of Joasaph to allow the new marriage of Amiroutzes, Sultan Mehmed II ordered the Patriarch's humiliation by cutting his beard, and punished also the Megas Ekklesiarches (i.e. Head Sacristan) Manuel, the future Patriarch Maximus III, by cutting his nose.^[5] These events led Joasaph to a state of depression which culminated in his attempted suicide: the day of Easter 1463 (10 April) he deliberately threw himself in the cistern beneath the Pammakaristos Church.^[2]

Joasaph was rescued, deposed and exiled to Anchialos,^[2] opening the way for George Amiroutzes to marry his new wife.^[5]

Disputed chronology

The chronology of the reign of Joasaph I Kokkas is disputed among scholars. Recent scholarship, such as Kiminas (2009),^[3] Podskalsky (1988),^[6] Laurent (1968)^[2] and Runciman (1985)^[4] place the reign of Joasaph I Kokkas after Isidore II and before Sophronius I, dating it between April 1462 and Easter 1463.

Other scholars, following Bishop Gemanos of Sardeis (1933–8)^[7] and Grumel (1958)^[8], as well as the official website of the Ecumenical Patriarchate,^[9] propose that Joasaph I reigned after Sophronius I and before Mark II, suggesting that his reign begun in early 1465 (or July 1465) and ended in first months of 1466. Blanchet (2001)^[10] places the beginning of the reign of Joasaph in summer 1464 directly after Sophronius.

Furthermore, there is no consensus among scholars on the length and chronology of the second and third terms of Gennadius Scholarius which supposedly alternated the patriarchates of Joasaph and Sophronius. For a comparison of the main scholar suggestions, see the List of Patriarchs of Constantinople.

Notes

Sources

Kiminas, Demetrius (2009). The Ecumenical Patriarchate: A History of Its Metropolitanates with Annotated Hierarch Catalogs. Wildside Press LLC. ISBN 9781434458766.
Laurent, Vitalien (1968). "Les premiers patriarches de Constantinople sous la domination turque (1454–1476): Succession et chronologie d'après un catalogue inédit". Revue des études byzantines. 26: 229–263. doi:10.3406/rebyz.1968.1407.
Runciman, Steven (1985) [1968]. The Great Church in Captivity: A Study of the Patriarchate of Constantinople from the Eve of the Turkish Conquest to the Greek War of Independence (2nd ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521313100.

v t e Bishops of Byzantium and Patriarchs of Constantinople
Bishops of Byzantium (Roman period, 38–330 AD)	Andrew Stachys Onesimus Polycarpus I Plutarch Sedecion Diogenes Eleutherius Felix Polycarpus II Athenodorus Euzois Laurence Alypius Pertinax Olympianus Marcus I Philadelphus Cyriacus I Castinus Eugenius I Titus Dometius Rufinus Probus Metrophanes Alexander
Archbishops of Constantinople (Roman period, 330–451 AD)	Alexander Paul I Eusebius Macedonius I Eudoxius Evagrius Demophilus Maximus I Gregory I Nectarius John I Chrysostom Arsacius Atticus Sisinnius I Nestorius Maximianus Proclus Flavian Anatolius
Patriarchs of Constantinople (Byzantine period, 451–1453 AD)	Anatolius Gennadius I Acacius Fravitta Euphemius Macedonius II Timothy I John II Epiphanius Anthimus I Menas Eutychius John III John IV Cyriacus II Thomas I Sergius I Pyrrhus Paul II Peter Thomas II John V Constantine I Theodore I George I Paul III Callinicus I Cyrus John VI Germanus I Anastasius Constantine II Nicetas I Paul IV Tarasius Nicephorus I Theodotus I Antony I John VII Methodius I Ignatios Photios I Stephen I Antony II Nicholas I Εuthymius I Stephen II Tryphon Theophylact Polyeuctus Βasil I Αntony III Nicholas II Sisinnius II Sergius II Eustathius Alexius Michael I Constantine III John VIII Cosmas I Eustratius Nicholas III John IX Leo Michael II Cosmas II Nicholas IV Theodotus II Neophytus I Constantine IV Luke Michael III Chariton Theodosius I Basil II Nicetas II Leontius Dositheus George II John X Michael IV^† Theodore II^† Maximus II^† Μanuel I^† Germanus II^† Methodius II^† Manuel II^† Arsenius^† Nicephorus II^† Germanus III Joseph I John XI Gregory II Athanasius I John XII Nephon I John XIII Gerasimus I Isaias John XIV Isidore I Callistus I Philotheus Macarius Nilus Antony IV Callistus II Matthew I Euthymius II Joseph II Metrophanes II Gregory III Athanasius II
Patriarchs of Constantinople (Ottoman period, 1453–1923 AD)	Gennadius II Isidore II Joasaph I Sophronius I Mark II Symeon I Dionysius I Raphael I Maximus III Nephon II Maximus IV Joachim I Pachomius I Theoleptus I Jeremias I Joannicius I Dionysius II Joasaph II Metrophanes III Jeremias II Pachomius II Theoleptus II Matthew II Gabriel I Theophanes I Meletius I Neophytus II Raphael II Cyril I Timothy II Gregory IV Anthimus II Cyril II Athanasius III Neophytus III Parthenius I Parthenius II Joannicius II Cyril III Paisius I Parthenius III Gabriel II Parthenius IV Dionysius III Clement Methodius III Dionysius IV Gerasimus II Athanasius IV James Callinicus II Neophytus IV Gabriel III Neophytus V Cyprianus Athanasius V Cyril IV Cosmas III Jeremias III (Callinicus III) Paisius II Seraphim I Neophytus VI Cyril V Callinicus IV (III) Seraphim II Joannicius III Samuel Meletius II Theodosius II Sophronius II Gabriel IV Procopius Neophytus VII Gerasimus III Gregory V Callinicus V (IV) Jeremias IV Cyril VI Eugenius II Anthimus III Chrysanthus Agathangelus Constantius I Constantius II Gregory VI Anthimus IV Anthimus V Germanus IV Meletius III Anthimus VI Cyril VII Joachim II Sophronius III Joachim III Joachim IV Dionysius V Neophytus VIII Anthimus VII Constantine V Germanus V Meletius IV
Patriarchs of Constantinople (Turkish period, since 1923 AD)	Gregory VII Constantine VI Basil III Photius II Benjamin Maximus V Athenagoras Demetrius Bartholomew
^† in exile at Nicaea Christianity portal