Editing Photios I of Constantinople (section)

== Assessments ==
Photius I is one of the most famous figures not only of 9th-century Byzantium but of the entire history of the Byzantine Empire. One of the most learned men of his age, and revered – even by some of his opponents and detractors – as the most prolific theologian of his time, he has earned his fame due to his part in ecclesiastical conflicts, and also for his intellect and literary works.{{Sfn|Louth|2007|loc=Chapter Seven - "Renaissance of Learning: East and West", p. 171}}{{Sfn|Tougher|1997|p=68}}

Analyzing his intellectual work, Tatakes regards Photios as "mind turned more to practice than to theory". He believes that thanks to Photios I, humanism was added to Orthodoxy as a basic element of the national consciousness of the medieval Byzantines, returning it to the place it had had in the early Byzantine period. Tatakes also argues that having understood this national consciousness, Photios I emerged as a defender of the Greek nation and its spiritual independence in his debates with the Western Church.<ref name="Tat103">{{harvnb|Tatakes|Moutafakis|2003|p=103}}.</ref> [[Adrian Fortescue]] regards him as "one of the most wonderful men of all the Middle Ages", and stresses that "had [he] not given his name to the great schism, he would always be remembered as the greatest scholar of his time".{{Sfn|Fortescue|2001|p=138}} Yet, Fortescue is equally adamant of his condemnation of Photius I's involvement in the Schism: "And yet the other side of his character is no less evident. His insatiable ambition, his determination to obtain and keep the patriarchal see, led him to the extreme of dishonesty. His claim was worthless. That Ignatius was the rightful patriarch as long as he lived, and Photius an intruder, cannot be denied by any one who does not conceive the Church as merely the slave of a civil government. And to keep this place Photius I descended to the lowest depth of deceit".<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12043b.htm |title=CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA - Photius of Constantinople}}</ref>