1. Career and work

The Ecumenical Patriarch Timotheos II came from Asia Minor, from Panormos (Bandırma) of the peninsula of Cyzicus. He must have been born in the second half of the 16^th century. Nothing is known about his life and ecclesiastical career, until the moment he appears having the position of the metropolitan of Patras between 1601 and 1612.

There are disagreements between the scholars for the exact time of his rise to the patriarchal throne, since Komninos-Ypsilantis believes it took place in 1616, whereas he attributes the intermediate period to the second term of the former Patriarch Rafail II (1603-7).¹ On the other hand Gedeon dates the rise of Timotheos to the throne in the year 1612 and connects it with the first term of Kyrillos Loukaris, for which Komninos-Ypsilantis makes no mention (actually this was a brief term of Loukaris as a locum tenens which lasted a few months).² For the time being it is considered proper to adopt the dating and the historical framework mentioned by Gedeon, since his work is more recent, composite and has exploited information and testimonies from many sources.

Based on the most plausibly reconstructed historical background, the rise of Timotheos II to the throne is placed in 1612, when after the death of the patriarch Neophytos II (1607-12) the patriarch of Alexandria Kyrillos Loukaris became the locum tenens of the ecumenical throne, enjoying the great support and approval of the clergy and the flock. However, a team of four prelates which included Timotheos, then metropolitan of Patras, acted against him aiming to place one of them on the throne; for this they used their promise to the Ottoman authorities for the increase of the yearly tax (haraç) of the Church to the huge amount of 8,000 kuruş. This development forced Loukaris to resign and thus the group of the four managed to place Timotheos on the throne.³ Timotheos II’s term lasted until March 1621, when he died. His death has been attributed by some to murder by poisoning.⁴

The works this patriarch undertook included the reconstruction and the enlargement of the patriarchal church of St George at Fanari, as well as the fact that two monasteries of the Chalkedon province, the monastery of Apostle Andreas and the monastery of the Holy Mother at Akritas came became patriarchal ones.

2. Evaluation

The patriarchal term of Timotheos II occurred in an era during which the presence of Kyrillos Loukaris is dominant, when all developments in the leadership of the Orthodox Church have to do mainly with his person. Thus Timotheos ascends to the patriarchal throne through a successful opposition movement against Kyrillos. From the later patriarchal terms of Loukaris it is known that his greatest opponents were the Jesuits and the Roman Catholic Church in general. In this case of Kyrillos’ overthrow the motives of the group of the four are not known. The possibility that there was a western instigation in their actions is rather unlikely, since there is no testimony supporting that such instigation ever existed. It is attested that the Patriarch Timotheos II was an opponent of the Roman Catholic Church and worked for the limitation of the activity of the Jesuits.⁵ On the other hand it is reported that Timotheos was a persecutor of Loukaris; also his violent death had something to do with his enmity towards Loukaris. Nevertheless the perpetrators and the causes of his murder are unknown, whereas Komninos-Ypsilantis clearly mentions that Loukaris had nothing to do with it. It is very possible that Timotheos died from natural causes and that everything concerning his murder were rumours of the time.⁶