# Synkellos

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{{redirect|Syncellus}}
'''''Synkellos''''' ({{langx|el|σύγκελλος}}), [latinized](/source/latinization_of_names) as '''''syncellus''''', is an ecclesiastical office in the [Eastern Rite](/source/Eastern_Orthodox_Church) churches. In the [Byzantine Empire](/source/Byzantine_Empire), the ''synkellos'' of the [Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople](/source/Ecumenical_Patriarch_of_Constantinople) was a position of major importance in the state, and often was regarded as the successor-designate to the reigning patriarch.

The term is Greek and means "one who lives in the same [cell](/source/monastic_cell)" in a monastery. It is attested from the 5th century onward for the closest advisor of a bishop or archbishop, who then lived in the same residence or cell.{{sfn|Papadakis|1991|pp=1993–1994}} In the [Byzantine Empire](/source/Byzantine_Empire), the ''synkellos'' of the [Patriarch of Constantinople](/source/Patriarch_of_Constantinople) quickly acquired a pre-eminent position, and it often happened that a ''synkellos'' succeeded to the patriarchal throne when it fell vacant. This was certainly the expectation by the 9th–10th centuries, when the ''synkellos'' was an official appointed by the [Emperor](/source/Byzantine_emperor), and became a tool for imperial control of the patriarchal succession.{{sfn|Papadakis|1991|pp=1993–1994}}{{sfn|Bury|1911|pp=116–117}} Thus, although its members were lower-ranking clergymen—priests and [deacon](/source/deacon)s—in the ''[Kletorologion](/source/Kletorologion)'' of 899 he is listed among the senior secular officials of the state. The ''synkellos'' was one of the "special dignities" (ἀξίαι εἰδικαί, ''axiai eidikai''), between the ''[rhaiktor](/source/rhaiktor)'', and before the ''[chartoularios tou kanikleiou](/source/chartoularios_tou_kanikleiou)''. His exact duties are unclear, but he was considered a member of the [Senate](/source/Byzantine_Senate) and was accorded a role in imperial ceremonies.{{sfn|Papadakis|1991|pp=1993–1994}}{{sfn|Bury|1911|pp=116–117}} In the ''Kletorologion'', the ''synkellos'' was placed third of all secular offices in hierarchy, after the ''[basileopator](/source/basileopator)'' and the ''rhaiktor''; in the overall hierarchy, which included ecclesiastical offices and holders of semi-imperial titles like ''[Caesar](/source/Caesar_(title))'', he came eighth after the ''rhaiktor'' and before the [Archbishop of Bulgaria](/source/Bulgarian_Orthodox_Church) and the various ''[patrikioi](/source/patrikios)''. The ''synkellos'' of the [Patriarch of Rome](/source/Patriarch_of_Rome) took precedence over that of Constantinople, if present, and the ''synkelloi'' of the [other patriarchates](/source/Pentarchy) followed.{{sfn|Bury|1911|pp=137, 146, 148}}

The prestige of the title was such that from the 10th century, it began to be sought by, and awarded to, ambitious [metropolitan bishop](/source/metropolitan_bishop)s, as well. Consequently, the title was gradually inflated to more grandiloquent forms like ''[protosynkellos](/source/protosynkellos)'' (πρωτοσύγκελλος, "first ''synkellos''") or ''[proedros](/source/proedros) ton protosynkellon'' (πρόεδρος τῶν πρωτοσυγκέλλων, "president of the ''protosynkelloi''), and the original title lost its erstwhile significance.{{sfn|Papadakis|1991|pp=1993–1994}} From the [Palaiologan period](/source/Palaiologan_period) on, the ''synkellos'' of the Patriarch of Constantinople was designated as ''megas protosynkellos'' (μέγας πρωτοσύγκελλος, "grand ''protosynkellos'').{{sfn|Papadakis|1991|pp=1993–1994}}

==References==
{{sfn whitelist|CITEREFPapadakis1991}}
{{reflist|30em}}

==Sources==
* {{cite journal | author = Athenagoras, Metropolitan of Paramythia and Parga | title = Ὁ θεσμός τῶν Συγκέλλων ἐν τῷ Οικουμενικῷ Πατριαρχείῳ |trans-title= The institution of the Synkelloi in the Ecumenical Patriarchate | language = Greek | journal = Ἐπετηρίς Ἐταιρείας Βυζαντινῶν Σπουδῶν | year = 1927 | volume = IV | pages = 3–38 | url =http://hdl.handle.net/11615/15560 | ref={{harvid|Athenagoras|1927}}}}
* {{The Imperial Administrative System of the Ninth Century}}
* {{ODB | last=Papadakis | first=Aristeides | authorlink= | title=Synkellos | pages=1993–1994 }}

Category:Byzantine ecclesiastical titles and offices
Category:Eastern Christian ecclesiastical offices

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Synkellos](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synkellos) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synkellos?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.