been ordained by his own suffragans, never at Antioch;[1] and so the council in its seventh session acknowledged the independence of their Church, though only in as far as such was already an ancient custom.[2] There seems to have been a feeling that an Apostolic Church should be not submitted to, but be the equal of the Patriarchal Sees; although this idea was never consistently carried out, nor applied to the numberless Pauline Churches. St. Barnabas was an Apostle, although not one of the twelve, and it was he who secured for his Church of Cyprus its exceptional position. In spite of the Council of Ephesus the See of Antioch was unwilling to let Cyprus go. In 488, Peter the Dyer (Γφναεφύς, Fullo, Patriarch from 470–488)[3] made a great effort to assert his jurisdiction over the island. But Anthimus, Metropolitan of Constantia, who was resisting him, just at the right time in the middle of the dispute received a revelation telling him where St. Barnabas's grave was, quite near his own city. This seemed to enforce the Apostolicity of his see—it was not only founded by an Apostle, but it still possessed his relics. So from that time the independent ("autocephalous" is the technical word) character of the Metropolitan, or rather Exarch of Constantia and Cyprus was no more called into question.[4]
The Island Church had one more interesting adventure, that has left its trace till to-day. In 647 Cyprus was ravaged by the Saracens; in 686 a treaty between the Emperor and the Khalifah settled that half its tribute should be paid to Constantinople and half to Damascus. Then Justinian II (685–695) thought he could manage to keep the whole of the tribute by shipping the population of the island to the mainland, out of the Khalifah's reach. So they all had to go to the
- ↑ This may have been true, for some time at any rate.
- ↑ Hardouin, i. 1620. Hefele, ii. 208.
- ↑ He was a Monophysite, twice deposed and restored, who added to the Trisagion (Sanctus) the words, "Who was crucified for us." These words were thought to contain Monophysite venom and were, after much dispute, rejected by the Orthodox. They are still a speciality of the Jacobite liturgy.
- ↑ It was again confirmed by the Trullanum II (the Quinisextum in 692), Canon 39.
