Editing John II Komnenos (section)

==Religious matters==
[[File:Molla Zeyrek Camii.jpg|thumb|right|Former Imperial Chapels of Christ Pantokrator, now the [[Zeyrek Mosque]], Istanbul. The tomb of John II was in the central church.]]
[[File:JeanIIComneneVirginAndJohnHoldingCross.jpg|thumb|Gold coin of John&nbsp;II Komnenos, depicting the [[Virgin Mary]] and John holding a cross.]]
The reign of John II was taken up with almost constant warfare and, unlike his father who delighted in active participation in theological and doctrinal disputes, John appears to have been content to leave ecclesiastical matters to the [[Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople]] and the church hierarchy. Only when religion impinged directly on imperial policy, as in relations with the papacy and the possible union of the Greek and Latin churches, did John take an active part. He organised a number of disputations between Greek and Latin theologians.<ref>Angold (1995), p. 75</ref>

John, alongside his wife who shared in his religious and charitable works, is known to have undertaken church building on a considerable scale, including construction of the Monastery of Christ Pantokrator ([[Zeyrek Mosque]]) in Constantinople. This monastery, with its three churches, has been described as one of the most important and influential architectural constructions of Middle Byzantine Constantinople. Attached to the monastery was a hospital, of 5 wards, open to people of all social classes. The hospital was staffed by trained [[Laity|layman]] doctors rather than monks.<ref>Necipoğlu, p. 133</ref><ref>Angold (1995), p. 310</ref> The central of the three churches was the Komnenian funerary chapel, dedicated to St. Michael. It had twin domes, and is described in the ''typikon'' of the monastery as being in the form of a ''heroon''; this emulates the older mausolea of Constantine and Justinian in the [[Church of the Holy Apostles]].<ref>Ousterhout, pp. 142-145</ref>

Very active persecution of the followers of the [[Paulicianism|Paulician]] and [[Bogomilism|Bogomil]] heresies characterised the last few years of the reign of Alexios I.<ref>Finlay, p. 81</ref>  No records from the reign of John mention such persecution, though countermeasures against heresy by the Byzantine Church remained in force. A [[Endemic synod|permanent synod in Constantinople]] investigated the writings of a deceased monk named [[Constantine Chrysomallos]] which had been circulating in certain monasteries. These works were ordered to be burnt by the Patriarch of Constantinople, [[Leo Styppes]], in May 1140, on the grounds that they incorporated elements of Bogomil belief and practices.<ref>Loos, pp. 98–99</ref>

One of the few members of the imperial family to be placed in an important position by John was his cousin, [[John IV of Ohrid|Adrian]] Komnenos (son of John's uncle the ''[[sebastokrator]]'' [[Isaac Komnenos (brother of Alexios I)|Isaac]]). Adrian had become a monk, adopting the monastic name John, and had accompanied the emperor on his campaigns of 1138. Soon afterwards, Adrian was appointed [[Orthodox Archbishopric of Ohrid (ancient)|Archbishop of Bulgaria]] as John IV of Ohrid. Bulgaria was an autocephalous see and required a prestigious man as archbishop.<ref>Angold (1995), pp. 173–174</ref>