EUTYCHIUS, St. — Patriarch of Constantinople, b. c. 512, d. 22 Apr. 582. In 553 he was elected to the Byzantine see. He immediately intervened in the controversy over the Three Chapters (v. CONSTANTINOPLE, Second Council of Constantinople). Too compliant with the policy of Justinian I, he presided over the sessions of the Fifth Ecumenical Council, against the will of Pope Vigilius, whose name was even erased from the diptychs by E. Later, E. fell out of favor with Justinian over disagreement on the aphthartolocentian question. For this reason he was exiled in 565, but was recalled in 577 by Justin II. Besides conciliar documents, a letter of E. to Pope Vigilius survives (PG 86, 2401-2406). The Greeks celebrate E. on 6 Apr.
BIBL.: Acta SS. Abr., I, Antwerp 1675, pp. 50-83; L. Duchesne, L'Église au VIe siècle, Paris 1925, p. 206 sq., Ignazio Ortiz de Urbina.