Germanus I of Constantinople

Germanus I of Constantinople (, Greek: Γερμανός; 634 – 740) was the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople from 715 to 730. He is regarded as a saint by both the Orthodox and Catholic Churches, with a feast day of 12 May. He had been ecumenically preceded by Patriarch John VI of Constantinople, and was succeeded in Orthodox Rite by Patriarch Anastasius of Constantinople.

Life According to Theophanes the Confessor, Germanus I was a son of a patrician named Justinian, who was executed in 668.

Germanus I was sent to a monastery but resurfaced as the Bishop of Cyzicus. He took part in the Council of Constantinople in 712, a gathering which issued decisions favoring Monothelitism, thereby abolishing the canons of the Third Council of Constantinople (680–681). The Council followed the religious preferences of Emperor Philippicus.

In 713, Philippicus was deposed by Anastasius II. Anastasius II soon reversed all religious decisions of his predecessor. Patriarch John VI of Constantinople, strongly associated with Monothelitism, was eventually dismissed. On 11 August 715, Germanus I was elected Patriarch of Constantinople. Germanus I later helped negotiate Anastasius II's surrender terms to Theodosius III.

In 715, Germanus I organized a new council propagating Dyothelitism and anathematising various leaders of the opposing faction. He attempted to improve relations with the Armenian Apostolic Church with a view towards reconciliation. The major issue of his term would, however, be the emerging Byzantine Iconoclasm, propagated by Emperor Leo III the Isaurian. Germanus I was an iconodule,

After an apparently successful attempt to enforce the baptism of all Jews and Montanists in the empire (722), Leo III issued a series of edicts against the worship of images (726–729). A letter by the patriarch Germanus I written before 726 to two Iconoclast bishops says that "now whole towns and multitudes of people are in considerable agitation over this matter", but little evidence is extant as to the growth of the debate.

Germanus I resigned following the ban. Surviving letters Germanus I wrote at the time say little of theology. According to Patricia Karlin-Hayter, what worried Germanus I was that the ban of icons would prove that the Church had been in error for a long time and therefore play into the hands of Jews and Muslims. Tradition depicts Germanus I as much more determined in his position, even winning a debate on the matter with Constantine, Bishop of Nacoleia, a leading Iconoclast. Pope Gregory II (715–731), a fellow iconodule, praised Germanus I's "zeal and steadfastness". He was buried at the Chora Church. The Second Council of Nicaea (787) included Germanus I in the diptychs of the saints. He has since been regarded as a saint by both the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church.

Several of his writings have been preserved. However, the church historian Johann Peter Kirsch was dubious that the work is actually by Germanus I. although John Mason Neale misattributed this to Anatolius of Constantinople.

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