Flavian

Saint Flavian, also known as Flavian of Constantinople or Flavianus, was Patriarch of Constantinople in the mid-fifth century and is venerated as a martyr in both Eastern and Western Christianity. Almost nothing reliable is recorded about his birth, family, or early years. He appears in the historical record as a priest of the Church of Constantinople who served as skeuophylax, the guardian of the sacred vessels. After the death of Patriarch Proclus in 446, Flavian was chosen as his successor. Contemporary accounts suggest that the election was opposed by the imperial chamberlain Chrysaphius, who had hoped to place a more pliant candidate on the patriarchal throne, and that Flavian enjoyed the support of the Empress Pulcheria.

Flavian's brief patriarchate unfolded amid the intense Christological disputes that followed the Council of Ephesus of 431. In November 448 he presided over a home synod at Constantinople which examined the teaching of the aged archimandrite Eutyches. Eutyches was accused of denying that Christ remained consubstantial with humanity after the Incarnation, effectively collapsing the two natures into one. The synod deposed and excommunicated him. Eutyches refused to recant and appealed to Pope Leo I, to the Emperor Theodosius II, and to Dioscorus of Alexandria. Political alignments at court, especially the influence of Chrysaphius, turned against Flavian.

In August 449 a second council met at Ephesus under the presidency of Dioscorus. Later condemned as the Latrocinium, or Robber Council, it rehabilitated Eutyches, refused a full hearing to Flavian and to the Tome of Leo, and declared Flavian deposed. According to multiple fifth-century witnesses, Flavian was then assaulted by soldiers and by monks in Dioscorus's entourage. He was sent into exile and died of his injuries in 449, traditionally at Hypaepa in Lydia in Asia Minor. Supporters regarded his death as martyrdom for the doctrine of the two natures of Christ.

The Council of Chalcedon in 451 annulled the acts of 449, restored Flavian's name to the diptychs, and defined Christ as one person in two natures, a formula close to that which Flavian and Leo had defended. Empress Pulcheria and Emperor Marcian had Flavian's relics brought to Constantinople and interred in the Church of the Holy Apostles. He is commemorated as a saint and confessor-martyr. The Roman Martyrology lists his feast on 18 February, while Byzantine calendars observe him on 16 February, with some also noting 18 February. No well-attested medieval or modern cult of specific patronages is firmly attached to his name.