Ecumenical Patriarch Metrophanes II of Constantinople

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Metrophanes II served as Bishop of Kyzikos in Asia Minor when he was called to join the delegation of bishops attending the Council of Florence. Following the death of Ecumenical Patriarch Josef II in Florence he was appointed as his successor by the Emperor John VIII in May 1440. The Emperor was eager to secure help from Pope Eugenius IV to deal with Turkish aggression, so he forced the patriarch and all other bishops to submit to papal authority. Only one bishop did not submit: Markos Eugenikos, bishop of Efessos, and without his signature the document of Union between East-West fell inactive. For his action to submit to the Pope he was nicknamed Mitrofonos (Mother-Killer) he was deposed by popular uprising and fled to the Papal court in Rome.

Metrophanes died in Constantinople on August 1, 1443.