1. Birth – career

The later-to-be patriarch Theodore II, the so-called "Irenikos" (=peaceful), also known as Kópas, Koupas or Kopás, received in 1198 the office of epi tou kanikleiou from Emperor Alexios III Angelos (1195-1203); this office he retained throughout his career, while during the same period he carried the title of pansebastos sebastos. In 1204, following the capture of Constantinople by the Latins, he sought refuge in the lands of Asia Minor, where he was tonsured a monk.

After 1209 he became chartophylax of the Patriarchate of Constantinople which was reconstituted at Nicaea. During the same period, the emperor of Nicaea, Theodore I Laskaris (1208-1222), conferred upon him the honorary office of hypatos ton philosophon.

2. Theodore II's patriarchate and death

On September 28, 1214, the synod of the hierarchs elected Theodore II patriarch of Constantinople. His tenure was defined by his anti-Latin positions. In the context of his ideological beliefs, Theodore II (Irenikos) sent an encyclical letter to the Orthodox clergy of Constantinople through which he announced his election to the patriarchal throne and renounced all those that recognized the Pope’s superiority or the authority of the Latin patriarchate that had been installed in Constantinople.

Patriarch Theodore II passed away on January 31, 1216. One seal of his and two letters addressed to him by Michael Choniates have survived.

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