Cyril and Methodius Pictures

This isn't a real entry but I will do one soon.  For now here are a few representations of Cyril and Methodius.  The second is my favorite.

Patriarch John

Here is a short excerpt from an OCS life of Cyril, a very brief one compared to those in Duichev's collection.  The translation is my own and very rough.

"At that time Ioann was patriarch of Tsarograd (Constantinople).  He stirred up heresy and abused the holy icons.  And for this he was removed from his seat by the Holy Council.  And Constantine the Philosopher came to him and put him to shame, and corrected his wicked heresy."

I was pleased to find this, since it confirms something that is described in the longer account in Kliment Ohridski's Life.  As it goes, early in Constantine's professorship (probably the late 840s) he was called on to publicly debate a former patriarch called by the pseudonym "Anis[os]" (Grk. "the unequal").  This account shows that it was indeed John the Grammarian, the last Iconoclast Patriarch.

In Kliment's account, John boasts of his debating skills, saying that his enemies removed him "by force and not by arguments of reason; for there is none can stand up to my word."  He contemptuously declares that the philosopher and his colleagues are "unworthy to sit at my feet; how can I discourse with you?"  However, Constantine goes on to refute all of the iconoclast arguments and leaves John "shamed", "disgraced", and "silent".

In a future entry I hope to shed some light on the role of then-Patriarch Ignatios in this last iconoclast controversy.