PHO'TIIIS, Patriarch of Constantinople in one of the most critical periods of the strug gle of that sec with the great patriarchate of the west for supremacy in the entire church, was a member of a patrician family of Constantinople, and was b. in the early part of the 9th century. From youth he was distinguished by his abilities and learning; and having served in various important public offices, and especially on a diplomatic mission to Assyria (or more probably Persia), lie secured the favor of theipmperor Michael, with whom Photius's brother was connected by marriage, and of the all-powerful Caesar and favorite Bardas. The patriarch Ignatius having incurred the displeasure of Bardas and of the emperor, a weak and profligate man, whose vices Ignatius tried in vain to correct, it was resolved to deprive him of the patriarchal dignity; and the attempt to induce him to resign having failed, he was deposed with much indignity, imprisoned, and sent into exile. Photius, although a layman, and hitherto engaged in secular pursuits, was appointed in his stead, hurried in a few successive days through all the stages of sacred orders, and finally installed as patriarch. A council of bishops, under the influence of the court(858), declared in favor of the deposition of Ignatius, and confirmed the election of Photius, and the latter communicated his election to the pope, Nicholas I., in a letter which carefully suppressed all these irregularities, and represented that lie had reluc tantly undertaken the office. Meanwhile, however, Ignatius had privately written to Rome, and the pope sent two legates to inquire and report ou the facts. A new council was assembled (859), iu which Ignatius was declared deposed, and was compelled to sign the act of abdication, and Photins was declared duly elected. The legates concurred, it was believed, under the undue influence of Ba•das, in this sentence. But in so doing they had exceeded their power, which was merely to report to the pope; and Nicholas refused to acknowledge the sentence, and summoned the parties nra new hearing. Pito tins, however, resisted; and a new cause of dispute having arisen in regard to the juris diction claimed by the see of Constantinople in part of the province of 111yricum and among the newly converted Bulgarians, the council, which Nicholas called at Home in 862, annulled the acts of that of Constantinople and of the legates, declared Photins's election uncanonical and invalid, deposed and excommunicated him, and reinstated Ignatius in his see. Being supported, however, by the emperor, Piloting retained pos session, and not only refused to yield, but retaliated on the pope by assembling a coun cil at Constantinople in 867, in which the question was removed from the region of it personal dispute between the bishops to a controversy of doctrine and discipline between time churches of the east and west themselves. In this council, Photius first brought for ward distinctly certain grounds of difference between the churches, which, although considerably modified, afterward led to their final separation. In all these doctrinal dif ferences, the council condemned the western church, excommunicated Nicholas and his abettors, and withdrew from the communion of the see of Rome. During the life of the emperor Michael, the authority of Photius remained without further question; but on Michael being deposed and put to death by Basilius the Macedonian in 867, Photius, by Plat capricious exereiQe of imperial authority of which these times supply' so many examples, was del and banished to Cyprus, and Ignatius reinstated; soon after which, in 869, the council known as the eighth general council, at which pope Adrian legates presided, was assembled at Constantinople. The whole ease was revived.
Photius being convicted of fraud, forgery of documents, and uncanonical usurpation, was condemned and excommunicated, the rights of Ignatius established, and the inter t_.ommunion of the churches restored. From his exile at Cyprus, Photins appealing sue :essfully to Basilius, obtained his recall, and, on the death of Ignatius, was reappointed it) the patriarchate. The pope of the time, John VIII., yielding to expediency, or leceivcd by false reports, acquiesced in the proceeding—a supposed act of womanish weakness, which, in the opinion of some, by obtaining for John the feminine sobriquet Manna, was the origin of the fable of Pope Joan (q.v.). Piloting, in 879, assembled a 'mew council at Constantinople, renewed the charge against the western church, and nosed from the creed in the article on the procession of the Holy Ghost (q.v.), the word filioque, which had been inserted by the Latin church. The separation of the :lurches, however, was not completed till the time of Michael Cerula•ins. See GnEms.
Photius did not die in possession of the see; he was de-r:-.ed, and exiled to Armenia, by Leo, surnamed the philosopher, the son and suceePso Basilius, in 8S6, and died soon afterwards, probably in 891. The character of Photi as is, of course, dif ferently represented by the ea-sterns and by the westerns. the latter of whom ascribe to him every excess of craft, violence, and perfidy. The Greeks, on the contrary, defend his memory. It is hardly possible, however, to doubt the substantial justice of the accusations made against him. The impression produced by a review of his checkered career, and of the more than equivocal proceedings with which his name is connected, is made more ty MN] by the evidences of rare genius, and profound and cultivated liter ary judgment, xhich his works reveal. His chief remains are (1.) MyrIobiIItonr, called also Bibtiothecd a summary review of the works which Photius had read, with au epitome of the conten'i, and a critical judgment of their merits. The number of works thus criticised is uo less than 279; and as many of these are now lost, the judgment and remarks of such a man are of great value for ancient literary history. (2.) A Lexicon, which was edited by Hermann, and afterwards by Porson (or rather from his manuscript in 1822. (3.) The No/nom/on, which is ft collection of the acts and decrees the councils up to the seventh ecumenical council, and the ecclesiastical laws of the emperors for the same period. (4.) Several minor theological treatises. (5.) A collection of letters, many of than extremely interesting and elegant. There is one in which, from his exile, he appeals to be permitted the use of his books, which, • for beauty of compo sition, delicacy of sentiment, and the genuine eloquence of a scholar's love of learning. can hardly be sin-pas:0d in ancient or modern literature. A complete edition of his works is found in \Iigne's Putrologim Cursus Completes, in 4 vols., royal 8vo.