, patriarch of Constantinople in the ninth century, was descended from an
, patriarch of Constantinople in the ninth
century, was descended from an illustrious family, and
born in that city. He had great natural talents, which he
cultivated with the utmost application, and there was no
branch of literature, sacred or profane, or scarcely any art
or science, with which he was not intimately acquainted.
He seems to have been by far the greatest man of the age
in which he lived; and was so intimately concerned in the
chief transactions of it, that ecclesiastical writers have thence
called it “Seculum Photianum.
” He was first raised to
the chief dignities of the empire, being made principal
secretary of state, captain of the guards, and a senator;
in all which stations he acquitted himself with a distinction suitable to his great abilities for he was a refined
statesman, as well as a profound scholar.