Section 05: Constantinople and Exile
The story of St. John Chrysostom’s six years as archbishop of Constantinople (398–404) and the three years of exile that ended in his death — the period in which the reforming preacher of Antioch became the bishop of the imperial capital, made the enemies that destroyed him, and was glorified in his fall. This section treats his abduction to the capital and his reforms, then the Synod of the Oak, the violence of 404, the exile to Cucusus, and his death at Comana.
Tradition: Pan-Orthodox (Church Father)
Overview
John did not seek Constantinople; he was taken there by stealth in 398 to forestall a riot in the Antioch that loved him. What followed was the collision of an ascetic conscience with the wealthiest see and the most worldly court in the East. The reforms that endeared him to the poor made him enemies among the clergy he corrected, the courtiers he rebuked, and the empress Eudoxia, and the Tall Brothers affair gave his rival Theophilus of Alexandria the occasion to convene the Synod of the Oak. The two files distinguish carefully what the primary sources attest from what the hagiographical tradition added — the earthquake said to have frightened Eudoxia into recalling him, and the “Herodias” sermon whose surviving text is spurious, are both pinned to their earliest attestation.
Files in This Section
| File | Description |
|---|---|
| The Reforming Archbishop | The 398 abduction engineered by Eutropius; the reforms (household austerity, clergy discipline, widows and deaconesses, hospitals); the enemies they made (clergy, court, Eudoxia, the silver statue); the Tall Brothers affair and Theophilus; the missions to the Goths and Phoenicia. |
| The Synod of the Oak and Exile | The Synod of the Oak (403) and its charges; the first exile and recall (the earthquake tradition, handled per the methodology); the second condemnation and the “Herodias” authenticity debate; the 404 expulsion and Easter violence; Cucusus and the march toward Pityus; the Letters to Olympias; death at Comana, 14 September 407; Western support and the Johannite schism. |
Why It Matters
Chrysostom’s fall is one of the formative dramas of the early Church: a holy bishop deposed by a packed synod, defended by Rome, and vindicated only thirty years after his death by the return of his relics. It set in sharp relief the relation of the episcopate to imperial power and the conviction — sealed in his last words, “Glory to God for all things” — that no external injury can harm the soul that does not harm itself.
See Also
- The Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom — the worship of the see he reformed and lost
- Orthodoxy Guide: The Divine Liturgy — the liturgical life of Constantinople in the background of these events
References
- Kelly, J. N. D. Golden Mouth: The Story of John Chrysostom — Ascetic, Preacher, Bishop. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1995.
- Mayer, Wendy, and Pauline Allen. John Chrysostom. The Early Church Fathers. London and New York: Routledge, 2000.
- Palladius of Helenopolis. Dialogue on the Life of St. John Chrysostom. Sources Chrétiennes 341–342. Trans. NPNF I/9 (life); Moore, SPCK, 1921.
- Socrates Scholasticus; Sozomen; Theodoret. Ecclesiastical Histories [PG 67; PG 82]. Trans. NPNF II/2–3.