The tombstone of an Ecumenical Patriarch in Muswell Hill, London: Meletios II (1700-80, r. 1768–9)

+ Julian Chrysostomides, Richard Clogg, Charalambos Dendrinos

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Abstract

The article examines the tombstone of Meletios II, a native of Tenedos, who was briefly Ecumenical Patriarch in 1768-9. It also offers an account of his troubled patriarchate and sketches events in the rest of his ecclesiastical career. This hitherto unknown tombstone has rested for an indeterminate number of years in the garden of North Bank, a large Victorian mansion on Pages Lane in the North London suburb of Muswell Hill. It appears to have been in the grounds of North Bank before the house became an annexe of Muswell Hill Methodist Church. It is not known where in the Ottoman Empire Meletios’s grave was originally situated, nor has it been possible to establish the circumstances in which the tombstone came to North Bank. On the basis of the inscription on the tombstone it is possible to establish Meletios’ previously unknown date of death, 5 January 1780. It appears to be one of the earliest known tombstones of an Ecumenical patriarch during the period of the Tourkokratia.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)229-238
Number of pages10
JournalByzantine and Modern Greek Studies
Volume41
Issue number2
Early online date18 Sept 2017
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Oct 2017

Keywords

  • Meletios II
  • Ecumenical Patriarch
  • Ecumenical Patriarchate
  • Constantinople
  • Muswell Hill

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