Euthymius Syncellus

Euthymius I Syncellus (Greek: Εὐθύμιος Α΄ ὁ Σύγκελλος, ca. 834 – 5 August 917) was the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople from 907 to 912. A monk since his youth, he became spiritual father of the future Leo VI the Wise, and was raised by him to the high ecclesiastical office of syncellus. Despite his turbulent relationship with Leo, in 907 he was appointed to the patriarchate and held the post until his deposition shortly before or after Leo's death in 912.

Euthymius was born in Seleucia in Isauria ca. 834, and became a monk at an early age. According to his funeral oration, composed by Arethas of Caesarea, he was a relative of the miracle-worker Gregory of Dekapolis. Following stints at the monastic community of Mount Olympus and a monastery near Nicomedia, Euthymius came to the Byzantine capital, Constantinople, where he entered the monastery of St. Theodore, in the capital's outskirts. Euthymius had a relationship with the Patriarch Ignatius, whom he alludes to as his master, and it is probably during Ignatius' second tenure on the patriarchal throne (867–877) that he was appointed as the spiritual father of the prince Leo, the eldest son of Emperor Basil I the Macedonian (ruled 867–886) and future emperor as Leo VI the Wise (r. 886–912). Indeed, the historian Shaun Tougher argues in her study of Leo's reign that Euthymius was possibly the spiritual father of all of Basil's sons. Euthymius supported Leo in his conflict with his father over his affair with Zoe Zaoutzaina. According to Euthymius' hagiography, the Vita Euthymii, he helped Leo survive his imprisonment in 883–886, while the young prince constantly requested his advice, forcing him to stay in Constantinople rather than his monastery.

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