Pentarchy

Uncommon card · No. 114738

Pentarchy (from Ancient Greek Πενταρχία (Pentarchía), from πέντε (pénte) 'five' and ἄρχειν (archein) 'to rule') was a model of Church organization formulated in the laws of Emperor Justinian I (r. 527–565) of the Roman Empire. In this model, the Christian Church is governed by the heads (patriarchs) of the five major episcopal sees of the Roman Empire: Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem. The idea came about because of the political and ecclesiastical prominence of these five sees, but the concept of their universal and exclusive authority was attached to earlier Hellenistic-Christian ideas of administration. The pentarchy was first legally expressed in the legislation of Emperor Justinian I, particularly in Novella 131. The Quinisext Council of 692 gave it formal recognition and ranked the sees in order of preeminence, but its organization remained dependent on the emperor, as when Leo the Isaurian altered the boundary of patriarchal jurisdiction between Rome and...

Read on Wikipedia · Image 1800_Wilkinson_Map_of_the_4_Eastern_Churches.jpg: Robert Wilkinson (mapmaker). The original uploader was Fredrick Wilhelm at English Wikipedia. derivative work: MichaelBueker (talk), Public domain