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Germanus I of Constantinople
Patriarch of Constantinople
SaintResearchedByzantine EmpirePre-congregation
Feast: 12 May (not on the universal Roman calendar; kept in the Roman Martyrology or local calendars)
Born
634
Died
733
verified
Beatified
—
not needed: before formal processes
Canonised
By tradition
recognised before formal processes began
Who they were
Germanus, son of a patrician, became Bishop of Cyzicus and in 715 Patriarch of Constantinople, after perhaps briefly yielding to Monothelitism under pressure.
He resisted Emperor Leo the Isaurian's attack on holy images and was forced to resign in 730, dying some years later at a great age. The Second Council of Nicaea praised him highly.
The miracles
He is venerated as a saint in both the Greek and the Latin Church; there was never a formal cause.
Why that counted as sanctity
A patriarch who defended holy images.
Sources
- Catholic Encyclopedia (1913), via New Advent - St. Germanus I
- Wikidata Q441464 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
- English Wikipedia — Germanus I of Constantinople (CC BY-SA)
Checked against the sources listed on 21 September 2026. Corrections welcome.