186
edits
Changes
corrected year of death
'''Cyrillos Lukaris''' or '''Cyril Lucaris''' or '''Cyril Lucar''' (1572 – June 16371638) was a Greek prelate and [[theologian]] and a native of Crete. He later became the [[Patriarch of Alexandria]] as '''Cyril III''' and [[Patriarch of Constantinople]] as '''Cyril I'''. He was the first great name in the Orthodox Church since the fall of Constantinople in 1453, and dominated its history in the 17th century.
==Life==
Cyril was also particularly well disposed towards the Anglican Church, and his correspondence with the [[Archbishop of Canterbury|Archbishops of Canterbury]] is extremely interesting. It was in his time that Mitrophanis Kritopoulos—later to become Patriarch of Alexandria (1636-1639)—was sent to England to study. Both Lucaris and Kritopoulos were lovers of books and manuscripts, and acquired manuscripts that today adorn the Patriarchal Library.
Lucaris was several times temporarily deposed and banished at the instigation of his orthodox opponents and of the [[Jesuit]]s, who were his bitterest enemies. Finally, when the Ottoman Sultan Murad III was about to set out for the Persian War, the patriarch was accused of a design to stir up the Cossacks, and to avoid trouble during his absence the sultan had him killed by the [[Janissaries]] in June 16371638. His body was thrown into the sea, recovered and buried at a distance from the capital by his friends, and only brought back to Constantinople after many years.
The orthodoxy of Lucaris himself continued to be a matter of debate in the Eastern Church, even Dositheos, in view of the reputation of the great patriarch, thinking it expedient to gloss over his [[heterodoxy]] in the interests of the Church.
