International congress of byzantine studies belgrade, 22 27 august 2016

Dimitrios Vachaviolos 
Sparti, Greece; 
[e-mail]
The Participation and Role of the Μetropolitan of Lacedaemonia, Methodios, 
in the Synod of Ferrara-Florence (1438 – 1439) and His Subsequent Stance 
on the Florentine Union (1439 – 1442)
For the Medieval World, the Synod of Ferrara-Florence (1438 – 1439) was the last major 
opportunity to bridge the gap between Eastern and Western Christianity. Any facts associated 
with the organization and, above all, the proceedings of this Synodal Council have been recorded 
on a day-to-day basis by eye-witnesses and are further supported by other evidence. Historians 
and theologists are therefore in a position to thoroughly examine and interpret the facts and also 
reconstruct the theological thinking and active action of important and less important personalities 
who played a significant role in the synodal proceedings. On the contrary, personalities who 
participated in the synodal proceedings but do not seem to have played a vital role in theological 
discussions and doctrinal debates that occurred during the Synod, have not attracted, at least not 
until now, the interest of the scientific community. These personalities were essentially of less 
importance to the Synod, since they were overshadowed by the actions of leading personalities and 
this is exactly why their participation and role in the synodal proceedings has not been, at least not 
until now, the subject of any study. 
Among the less important personalities of the orthodox delegation who participated in the 
synodal proceedings was the then Μetropolitan of Lacedaemonia, Methodios. This hierarch is known 
to the scientific community solely for his participation in the synodal proceedings, while no other 
personal information about him neither any information about his primacy has been found. Any 
evidence referring to the participation of Μetropolitan Methodios in the synodal proceedings is 
mainly drawn from the Memoirs of Sylvester Syropoulos and less from the Acta Greaca or Acta Latina. 
Although the available evidence on the participation of the Bishop of Lacedaemonia Methodios 
in the synodal proceedings is weak, it proves that the hierarch is not among the leading personalities 
of the orthodox delegation. Still, this poor evidence is enough to confirm that this bishop, like most 
of the orthodox hierarchs who participated in the synodal proceedings, was often characterized 
by theological incompetence and maybe also a flexible ecclesiastical conscience, leading him to a 
rather passive attitude. More specifically, although he does not seem to have engaged in the doctrinal 
discussions, he fits easily to the pro-union party and he ardently supported the perspective of the 
subordination, essentially, of the Orthodox Church to the Roman Catholic Church, possibly in 
an effort to reinforce the prestige of his ecclesiastical see. However, this did not prevent him from 
regretting his actions and revoking his signature, like other orthodox hierarchs, when the orthodox 
delegation returned to Constantinople, and he did so with equal ease as with the signing of the 
Florentine Decree.

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