Editing Nicholas Mystikos

{{Short description|Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople from 901 to 907 and from 912 to 925}}
{{Infobox patriarch
| honorific-prefix = 
| name             = Nicholas I of Constantinople
| patriarch_of     = [[List of ecumenical patriarchs of Constantinople|Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople]]
| image            = Nicholas Mystikos.jpg
| caption          = Nicholas I (modern representation)
| ordination       = 
| consecration     = 
| enthroned        = 1 March 901<br />15 May 912
| ended            = 1 February 907<br />15 May 925
| province         = 
| diocese          = 
| see              = 
| church           = 
| predecessor      = [[Antony II of Constantinople]]<br />[[Euthymius I of Constantinople]]
| successor        = [[Euthymius I of Constantinople ]]<br />[[Stephen II of Constantinople]]
| birth_name       = 
| birth_date       = 852
| birth_place      = [[Italian Peninsula]]
| death_date       = 15 May 925
| death_place      = 
| buried           = 
| nationality      = 
| religion         = [[Chalcedonian Christianity]]
}}

'''Nicholas I Mystikos''' or '''Mysticus''' ({{langx|el|Νικόλαος Μυστικός}}; 852 – 15 May 925) was the [[list of ecumenical patriarchs of Constantinople|Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople]] from 1 March 901 to 1 February 907 and from 15 May 912 to his death on 15 May 925. His feast day in the [[Eastern Orthodox Church]] is [[May 16 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)|16 May]].<ref>{{in lang|el}} ''[http://www.synaxarion.gr/gr/sid/3210/sxsaintinfo.aspx Ὁ Ἅγιος Νικόλαος ὁ Α' ὁ Μυστικὸς, Πατριάρχης Κωνσταντινουπόλεως]'', 16 Μαΐου, ΜΕΓΑΣ ΣΥΝΑΞΑΡΙΣΤΗΣ.</ref>

Nicholas was born in the [[Italian Peninsula]] and had become a friend of the Patriarch [[Photius I of Constantinople|Photius I]]. He fell into disfavor after Photius I's dismissal in 886 and retired to a monastery. Emperor [[Leo VI the Wise]] retrieved him from the monastery and made him ''[[mystikos]]'', a dignity designating either the imperial secretary or a judicial official.

On 1 March 901, Nicholas was appointed patriarch. However, he fell out with Leo VI over the latter's fourth marriage to his mistress [[Zoe Karbonopsina]]. Although he reluctantly baptised the fruit of this relationship, the future Emperor [[Constantine VII]], Nicholas I forbade the emperor from entering the church and may have become involved in the revolt of [[Andronikos Doukas (general under Leo VI)|Andronikos Doukas]]. He was deposed as patriarch on 1 February 907 and replaced by [[Euthymius I of Constantinople|Euthymius]]. Exiled to his own monastery, Nicholas I regarded his deposition as unjustified and involved [[Pope Sergius III]] in the dispute.

About the time of the accession of Leo VI's brother [[Alexander (Byzantine emperor)|Alexander]] to the throne on 11 May 912, Nicholas I was restored to the patriarchate. A protracted struggle with the supporters of Euthymius I followed, which did not end until the new Emperor [[Romanos I Lekapenos]] promulgated the ''Tomos of Union'' in 920. In the meantime, Alexander had died in 913 after provoking a [[Byzantine–Bulgarian war of 913–927|war with Bulgaria]], and the underage Constantine VII succeeded to the throne. Nicholas Mystikos became the leading member of the seven-man regency for the young emperor, and as such had to face the advance of [[Simeon I of Bulgaria]] on [[Constantinople]]. Nicholas I negotiated a peaceful settlement, crowned Simeon emperor of the Bulgarians in a makeshift ceremony outside Constantinople, and arranged for the marriage of Simeon's daughter to Constantine VII.

This unpopular concession undermined his position, and by March 914, with the support of the ''[[magistros]]'' [[John Eladas]], Zoe Karbonopsina overthrew Nicholas I and replaced him as foremost regent. She revoked the agreement with Simeon I, prompting the renewal of hostilities with [[First Bulgarian Empire|Bulgaria]]. With her main supporter [[Leo Phokas the Elder]] crushingly defeated by the Bulgarians at the [[battle of Achelous (917)|battle of Achelous]] in 917, Zoe started to lose ground. Embarrassed by further failures, she and her supporters were supplanted in 919 by the admiral [[Romanos I Lekapenos|Romanos Lekapenos]], who married his daughter [[Helena Lekapene]] to Constantine VII and finally advanced to the imperial throne in 920. The Patriarch Nicholas I came to be one of the strongest supporters of the new emperor and took the brunt of renewed negotiations with the Bulgarians until his death in 925.

In addition to his numerous letters to various notables and foreign rulers (including Simeon I of Bulgaria), Nicholas Mystikos wrote a homily on the [[sack of Thessalonica (904)|sack of Thessalonica]] by the [[Arabs]] in 904. He was a critical thinker who went as far as to question the authority of [[Old Testament]] quotations and the notion that the emperor's command was unwritten law.

== Notes and references ==
{{Reflist}}

== Bibliography ==
* Nicholas I, Patriarch of Constantinople, ''Letters'', Greek Text and English Tr. by [[Romilly Jenkins]] and L. G. Westerink (Washington, D.C., 1973).
* {{Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium}}

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{{succession box
| before = [[Antony II of Constantinople|Antony II]]
| title  = [[List of ecumenical patriarchs of Constantinople|Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople]]
| years  = 901 – 907
| after  = [[Euthymius I of Constantinople|Euthymius I]]
}}
{{succession box
| before = [[Euthymius I of Constantinople|Euthymius I]]
| title  = [[List of ecumenical patriarchs of Constantinople|Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople]]
| years  = 912 – 925
| after  = [[Stephen II of Constantinople|Stephen II]]
}}
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{{Patriarchs of Constantinople}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Nicholas 01 of Constantinople, Mystikos}}
[[Category:852 births]]
[[Category:925 deaths]]
[[Category:10th-century patriarchs of Constantinople]]
[[Category:Byzantine regents]]
[[Category:10th-century Christian theologians]]
[[Category:Byzantine saints of the Eastern Orthodox Church]]
[[Category:Byzantine theologians]]
[[Category:10th-century Byzantine writers]]
[[Category:Byzantine diplomats]]