Editing Gennadius Scholarius (section)

=== Ottoman period ===
{{More citations needed section|date=September 2017}}
[[File:Gennadios Mehmed II.jpg|thumb|Patriarch Gennadius II with Mehmet II depicted on an 18th-century painting]]
[[File:Gennadios II and Mehmed II.jpg|thumb|upright|Patriarch Gennadius II with [[Mehmed II]] depicted on a 20th-century mosaic<ref>G. Ágoston, B.A. Masters, ''Encyclopedia of the Ottoman Empire'', (2009), 238.</ref>]]

After the [[fall of Constantinople]], Gennadius was taken prisoner by the [[Ottoman Empire|Turks]]. In administering his new conquest, 21-year-old conquering Sultan [[Mehmed II]] wished to assure the loyalty of the Greek population and above all avoid them appealing to the Roman Catholics for liberation, potentially sparking a new round of [[Crusades]]. Mehmed II therefore sought the most anti-Catholic cleric he could find as a figure of unity for the Greeks under Turkish rule – and Gennadius as leading anti-Union figure was a natural choice. On 1 June 1453, just three days after the fall of the city, the new Patriarch's procession passed through the streets where Mehmed II received Gennadius II graciously and himself invested him with the signs of his office – the [[crosier]] (''dikanikion'') and mantle. This ceremonial investiture would be repeated by all sultans and patriarchs thereafter.

Before the conquest of Constantinople, the rivalry between the Eastern and Western Churches had significantly weakened the power of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, leading to internal divisions among its clergy. This tumultuous period resulted in the inability to appoint a new patriarch following the resignation of [[Athanasius II of Constantinople]]. After the city's conquest, Mehmed II ordered the selection and traditional consecration of a new patriarch according to the wishes of the Greeks, appointing Gennadius as the Patriarch of the Orthodox Church of Constantinople.

Mehmed II conferred upon the new Patriarch the title of ''[[millet (Ottoman Empire)|millet]]'' Başkanı' (Head of the Nation), thereby authorising him to oversee all matters concerning his co-religionists. In a gesture reminiscent of the practices of Byzantine emperors, Mehmed II personally presented the Patriarch with the crosier and crown, symbols of his ecclesiastical authority. This act of investiture, accompanied by Janissary guards, safely paraded the new Patriarch through the city, introducing him to the populace and marking a seamless continuation of the ceremonial traditions of the Byzantine Empire into the Ottoman era.

The city's famous patriarchal basilica, the [[Hagia Sophia]], had already been converted into a mosque by the conquerors, so Gennadius II established his seat at the [[Church of the Holy Apostles]]. Three years later the edifice, which was in a dilapidated state (in 1461 it was demolished by the Ottomans to make way for the [[Fatih Mosque]]),<ref>Müller-Wiener, Wolfgang (1977), ''Bildlexikon zur Topographie Istanbuls - Byzantion, Konstantinupolis, Istanbul bis zum Beginn d. 17 Jh.'' (in German), Tübingen, Wasmuth {{ISBN|978-3-8030-1022-3}}, 406</ref> was abandoned by the Patriarch, who moved again to the [[Pammakaristos Church|Church of the Pammakaristos]].

The Ottomans divided their Empire into ''millets'' or subject nations, of which the Greeks were the largest, known as the [[Rum Millet]]. The Patriarch was appointed the official head or ''[[Ethnarch]]'' of the Greek millet, which was used as the Ottomans as a source for imperial administrators. Gennadius II became a political authority as well as a religious one, as were all his successors under the Ottomans.{{citation needed|date=November 2015}}

As was normal when a monk or lay scholar was appointed patriarch, Gennadius was consecutively [[holy orders|ordained]], first as a deacon, then as a priest, then finally as a bishop before being appointed patriarch.{{citation needed|date=November 2015}}