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For perhaps it was necessary that however great was their difference with the Italians yesterday, so great should it be with their own, where indeed some, who were then in communion with them out of necessity, were separated, as one might say, from their own brothers as if from the most accursed. But so much for their affairs, and my account has strayed from what is fitting, moved by passion; for we did not set out to accuse, but to narrate. Wherefore my account sets forth the bare facts, and it will be for whoever wishes to judge.

24. Concerning the election of the chartophylax Bekkos to the patriarchate. Then, therefore, when Joseph had retired, as has been said before, and the church was seeking a leader, many distinguished men were approved from among both the monks and the otherwise consecrated, but the vote inclined more towards Prinkips, a man noble in lineage, descended from the princes of the Peloponnese from of old, from whence as a young man he went abroad, on account of his virtue 515 and most exact manner of life, and enclosed himself in one of the monasteries of the Black Mountain in the east, where indeed we said the former patriarch Germanos practiced asceticism. And from there after some time he joined the emperor and, being entrusted with the monastery of the Pantokrator, he became an archimandrite, and then also served as an ambassador to the eastern Tochars, bringing Maria, the emperor's illegitimate daughter, there as a bride for Abaqa, and on his return he lived in quiet in a cell of the monastery of the Hodegon; but later he was appointed patriarch in the church of Antioch. But at that time, while he was by himself and living in quiet, the vote inclined to him more than the rest, to the end that he should preside over the church of Constantinople; and this would have happened, had not some of the bishops approved of Bekkos, who was at once chartophylax and also great skeuophylax, and had the greatest renown. But when the results of the votes were referred to the emperor, Bekkos was judged more worthy, both for other reasons and because the man was learned and could quell the schism with his long experience in the church and his learning. Wherefore the bishops, having gathered together in the same place in the divine and great sanctuary, vote for one and the same man first, and second, and third. And Bekkos was promoted to patriarch on the twenty-sixth of the month Pyanepsion, on the feast of the holy fathers of Nicaea, and on the second of Maimakterion, the following Sunday, the solemn day of the Spirit, he receives the gifts of the Spirit and is consecrated high priest. The emperor, however, having occupied his mind with him for a short while, so that he might be established in that spiritual office, for the rest gave himself over to worldly cares, knowing that that man was capable of directing the affairs of the church with sufficient experience and very great understanding concerning these matters. And he offered himself ready to assist him in whatever he might need, hoping to have the same from him himself. And he gave him freedom of speech to intercede for men in fitting matters and to accomplish them, since he would not intercede improperly. 517 For he divided himself in two, between those who needed to be treated well out of mercy, and those who brought some justification for the avoidance of charges. And for the first, personifying on their behalf the Prayers, 'lame and wrinkled, with eyes askance,' he sought mercy from the emperor, confessing the fault himself on their behalf, and asking for release from the penalty attached to the fault; but for the latter, he pleaded more boldly with the ruler, seeking their release as for those who were being wronged. For he did not need an interpreter to learn how the suppliant's case stood, but hearing it himself, only requiring the speaker to tell the truth, since the words would be reported to the emperor, he himself, making a distinction, would undertake the cases according to his judgments. And his words to the ruler followed according to the cases he undertook; for he managed the reports on each one for usefulness, so that one was placed before, another after, and one was to be spoken of first, and another to come later, so that it often happened that the memorandum of the report was rewritten, as of a second or

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Ἐχρῆν γὰρ ἴσως ὁπόσον ἦν χθὲς τὸ πρὸς τοὺς Ἰταλοὺς ἐκείνοις διάφορον, τοσοῦτον καὶ πρὸς τοὺς ἰδίους ἔχειν, ὅπου γέ τινες, καὶ αὐτοῖς δὴ τότε κατὰ χρείαν κοινωνοῦντες, καθ' ὅ τί τις εἴπειε, τῶν ἰδίων ἀδελφῶν ὡς ἐναγεστάτων διίσταντο. Ἀλλὰ τὰ μὲν ἐκείνων οὕτω, καὶ ὁ λόγος παρενήνεκται τοῦ εἰκότος, τοῦ πάθους κινήσαντος· οὐδὲ γὰρ ἐγκαλεῖν, ἀλλ' ἱστορεῖν, προεθέμεθα. Ὅθεν καὶ ὁ μὲν λόγος ψιλὰ τὰ πραχθέντα τίθησιν, ἐξέσται δὲ κρίνειν τῷ βουλομένῳ.

κδʹ. Περὶ τῆς ἐκλογῆς τοῦ χαρτοφύλακος Βέκκου εἰς τὸ πατριαρχεῖον. Τότε τοίνυν τοῦ μὲν Ἰωσὴφ ἀργήσαντος, ὡς προλέλεκται, τῆς δ' ἐκκλησίας ζητούσης τὸν προστησόμενον, πολλοὶ μὲν ἐνεκρίνοντο τῶν δοκούντων ἀπό τε τῶν μοναχῶν καὶ τῶν ἄλλως ἱερωμένων, ἔρρεπε δὲ πλέον ἡ ψῆφος τῷ Πρίγκιπι, ἀνδρὶ εὐγενεῖ μὲν τὰ εἰς γένος, ἐκ πριγκίπων δὲ τῶν κατὰ Πελο πόνησον κατάγοντι τὸ ἀνέκαθεν, ὁπόθεν νέος ξενιτεύσας, κατ' ἀρετῆς λόγους 515 καὶ πολιτείας ἀκριβεστάτης, ἔν τινι τῶν κατὰ τὴν ἀνατολὴν μονῶν τοῦ Μέλανος ὄρους, ὅπου γε καὶ τὸν ἀπὸ πατριαρχῶν Γερμανὸν ἀσκεῖν ἐλέγομεν, φέρων ἑαυτὸν ἐγκλείει. Ἐκεῖθεν δὲ μετὰ χρόνους τῷ βασιλεῖ προσχωρεῖ καί, τὴν τοῦ Παντοκράτορος μονὴν πιστευθείς, καταστὰς εἰς ἀρχιμανδρίτην, εἶτα καὶ τὰ πρὸς τοὺς ἀνατολικοὺς Τοχάρους διαπρεσβεύσας, τὴν νόθον Μαρίαν τοῦ βασιλέως εἰς νύμφην ἀγαγὼν ἐκεῖσε τῷ Ἀπαγᾷ, πρός τινι κελλίῳ τῆς τῶν Ὁδηγῶν μονῆς ἐπανελθὼν ἡσύχαζεν· ὕστερον δὲ κἀν τῇ τῆς Ἀντιοχείας ἐκκλησίᾳ εἰς πατριάρχην καθίσταται. Τότε δὲ καθ' αὑτὸν ὄντι καὶ ἡσυχάζοντι ἡ ψῆφος ἔρρεπε τῶν λοιπῶν πλέον, ἐς ὃ τῆς κατὰ τὴν Κωνσταντινούπολιν ἐκκλησίας προστήσεσθαι· κἂν ἐγεγόνει τοῦτο, ἢν μή γέ τινες τῶν ἀρχιερέων εὐδόκουν ἐπὶ τῷ Βέκκῳ, ἅμα μὲν χαρτοφύλακι ὄντι, ἅμα δὲ καὶ μεγάλῳ σκευοφύλακι, καὶ κλέος ἔχοντι μέγιστον. Ἀνατεθέντων δ' ἐπὶ τῷ βασιλεῖ τῶν κατὰ τὰς ψήφους, ὁ Βέκκος ἐδέδοκτο ἀξιώτερος τά τε ἄλλα καὶ ὅτι λόγιος ὁ ἀνὴρ καὶ καταστέλλειν ἔχοι τὸ σχίσμα τῇ ἐπὶ τῆς ἐκκλησίας πολυχρονίῳ πείρᾳ καὶ λογιότητι. Ὅθεν καὶ συναχθέντες οἱ ἀρχιερεῖς ἐν ταὐτῷ ἐπὶ τοῦ θείου καὶ μεγάλου τεμένους ἕνα καὶ τὸν αὐτὸν καὶ πρῶτον καὶ δεύτερον καὶ τρίτον ψηφίζονται. Καὶ ὁ Βέκκος εἰκοστῇ μὲν ἕκτῃ πυαντιῶνος μηνός, κατὰ τὴν ἑορτὴν τῶν ἁγίων πατέρων τῶν ἐν Νικαίᾳ, πατριάρχης προβέβληται, δευτέρᾳ δὲ μαιμακτηριῶνος, τῇ ἐπιούσῃ κυριακῇ, ἐν ἐπισήμῳ ἡμέρᾳ τοῦ Πνεύματος, τὰ τοῦ Πνεύματος δέχεται καὶ τελειοῦται ἀρχιερεύς. Ὁ μέντοι γε βασιλεύς, ἐπ' ἐκείνῳ μικρὸν σχολάσας τὸν νοῦν, ὡς ἄν γε καὶ κατασταίη πρὸς τὴν πνευματικὴν ἐκείνην ἀρχήν, τὸ λοιπὸν κοσμικαῖς ἐνεδίδου φροντίσιν, εἰδὼς ἱκανὸν ἐκεῖνον ὄντα τὰ τῆς ἐκκλησίας ἰθύνειν μετ' αὐτάρκους πείρας καὶ τῆς περὶ ταῦτα παμπόλλης συνέσεως. Συλλήψεσθαι δέ οἱ ἐς ὅ τι καὶ δέοιτο παρεῖχεν ἕτοιμον ἑαυτόν, ἐλπίζων παρ' ἐκείνου καὶ αὐτὸς τὰ ὅμοια ἔχειν. Ἐδίδου δέ οἱ καὶ παρρησίας χώραν ἐντυγχάνειν ὑπὲρ ἀνθρώπων τὰ πρέποντα καί γε ἀνύτειν, ὡς οὐ παρὰ τὸ δέον ἐντευξόμενον. 517 ∆ιένεμε γὰρ ἑαυτὸν δίχα, τοῖς τε δεομένοις ἐξ ἐλέους εὖ πάσχειν, τοῖς τε φερομένοις καί τι πρὸς ἀποφυγὴν τῶν ἐγκλημάτων δικαίωμα. Καὶ τοῖς μέν, τὰς ἀφ' ἑαυτοῦ προσωποποιῶν Λιτὰς χωλάς τε ῥυσσάς τε παραβλῶπάς τ' ὀφθαλμώ, ἐθήρα τὸν ἐκ τοῦ βασιλέως ἔλεον, ὁμολογῶν μὲν αὐτὸς ὑπὲρ ἐκείνων τὸ πταῖσμα, δεόμενος δὲ ἀφεθῆναι τοῦ προστιμωμένου τῷ πταί σματι· τῶν δέ, καὶ θαρραλεώτερον ὑπερμαχῶν τῷ κρατοῦντι, ὡς ἀδικου μένων ἐζήτει τὴν λύσιν. Οὐ γὰρ ἑρμηνέως ἔχρῃζεν ἐς ὅ τι μάθοι τὰ τοῦ δεομένου πῶς ἂν ἔχοιεν, ἀλλ' αὐτὸς ἀκούων, μόνον ἀξιῶν ἀληθεύειν τὸν λέγοντα, ὡς ἀνοισθησομένων τῶν λόγων τῷ βασιλεῖ, αὐτὸς διακρίνων, τὰς ἀναδοχὰς ἐποιεῖτο κατὰ τὰς κρίσεις. Εἵποντο δὲ καὶ οἱ πρὸς τὸν κρατοῦντα λόγοι κατὰ τὰς ἀναδοχάς· προῳκονόμει γὰρ πρὸς τὸ χρήσιμον καὶ τὰς περὶ ἑκάστου ἀναφοράς, ὡς τὴν μὲν προτάττεσθαι, τὴν δ' ὑποτάττεσθαι, καὶ τὴν μὲν πρωτολογησομένην, τὴν δ' ὑστερήσουσαν, ὥστε καὶ πολλάκις μετεγ γράφεσθαι τὸ τῆς ἀναφορᾶς γραμμάτιον συμβεβήκει, ὡς δευτέρου ἢ