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St Germanus
(c. 640—733)
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(c.640–c.733),
Patr. of Constantinople. He was head of the clergy of Hagia Sophia and probably played some part in the Third Council of Constantinople (680) and the Trullan Synod (692). He was Metropolitan of Cyzicus before he was elected Patriarch in 715; soon afterwards he anathematized the Monothelites. In 725 the Emp. Leo III issued his first edict against the veneration of icons (see Iconoclastic Controversy); Germanus resisted and was forced to resign in 730. He wrote three treatises, dogmatic letters, and sermons fostering the cult of the BVM. He is probably also the author of a work interpreting the contemporary Byzantine liturgy, and of some fine liturgical poems. Feast day, 12 May.
