Flavian

Saint Flavian, also known as Flavianus of Constantinople, was a fifth-century patriarch of the imperial capital and is venerated as a martyr by both the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches. The date and place of his birth are not recorded in surviving sources, nor are the details of his family background. He first appears in the historical record as a priest of the Church of Constantinople, where he held the office of skeuophylax, or keeper of the sacred vessels. Writers of the period portray him as a man of quiet demeanor, personal austerity, and unimpeachable orthodoxy. Upon the death of Patriarch Proclus in 446, Flavian was elected to the see of Constantinople, one of the principal bishoprics of the Eastern Roman Empire.

The defining episode of his patriarchate was the controversy surrounding Eutyches, an aged and influential archimandrite of Constantinople who taught that after the Incarnation Christ had only one nature. In November 448 Flavian presided over a home synod that examined Eutyches, found his doctrine incompatible with the teaching of the Council of Ephesus of 431 and with the Christology associated with the school of Antioch, and deposed him. Eutyches refused to recant and found powerful patrons, including the imperial chamberlain Chrysaphius and Dioscorus, patriarch of Alexandria, who regarded the condemnation as an affront to Alexandrian theology and to the memory of Cyril of Alexandria. Pope Leo I of Rome, informed of the dispute, composed a doctrinal letter to Flavian, later known as the Tome of Leo, affirming that Christ is one person in two natures, divine and human, a formulation that supported Flavian's position.

Emperor Theodosius II, under court influence, summoned a general council to meet at Ephesus in August 449. Dioscorus of Alexandria dominated the assembly, which came to be called the Latrocinium, or Robber Council, by its opponents. The Tome of Leo was not read. Eutyches was restored, and Flavian was deposed. Contemporary reports, including those later presented at the Council of Chalcedon, state that Flavian was set upon by soldiers and by monks in Dioscorus's entourage, beaten, and kicked. He was sentenced to exile. Ancient authorities do not agree on whether he died within days from the injuries received at Ephesus or somewhat later while being taken to a place of banishment, sometimes identified as Hypaepa in Lydia. The year of his death is given as 449.

The political situation changed with the death of Theodosius II in 450 and the accession of Marcian and the empress Pulcheria. The new regime repudiated the Robber Council. In 451 the Council of Chalcedon rehabilitated Flavian, condemned Eutyches and Dioscorus, and adopted a definition of faith that incorporated the substance of Leo's Tome and of Flavian's own profession. Flavian was acclaimed a martyr for the orthodox faith. His relics were translated to Constantinople and deposited in the Church of the Holy Apostles. He is commemorated on 18 February in the Roman Martyrology and on 16 February in the Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar. His cult rests on his role as a defender of dyophysite Christology and on the violent circumstances of his death rather than on a large body of miracle stories or later medieval legend.