GIOVANNI II, patriarch of Constantinople. — Of Bulgarian birth (1416), he took part in the Council of Florence. He died before the bull of Union was promulgated, but he had already adhered to the first and principal article, namely that concerning the procession of the Holy Spirit from the Father and the Son; indeed, he left a testament drawn up shortly before his death, which occurred on 10 June 1439.
In it he declared his adherence to the Catholic doctrine of Purgatory and the Roman primacy. For this reason he was buried in the Catholic church of Santa Maria Novella, in the presence of the cardinals and Latin bishops according to the Greek rite on 11 June 1439. His tomb is still preserved, with a funerary monument featuring a frescoed portrait, a Latin inscription, and some final Greek words.