Nicholas II of RussiaNicholas II (Nikolai II Alexandrovich Romanov; 1868 - 17 July 1918), known in the Russian Orthodox Church as Saint Nicholas the Passion-Bearer, was the last Emperor of Russia, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Finland, ruling from 1 November 1894 until his abdication on 15 March 1917. During his reign, Nicholas gave support to the economic and political reforms promoted by his prime ministers, Sergei Witte and Pyotr Stolypin. He advocated modernization based on foreign loans and close ties with France, but resisted giving the new parliament (the Duma) major roles.
SynodA synod (ˈsɪnəd) is a council of a Christian denomination, usually convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. The word synod comes from the σύνοδος ˈsinoðos, meaning "assembly" or "meeting"; the term is analogous with the Latin word concilium meaning "council". Originally, synods were meetings of bishops, and the word is still used in that sense in Catholicism, Oriental Orthodoxy and Eastern Orthodoxy. In modern usage, the word often refers to the governing body of a particular church, whether its members are meeting or not.
Ecumenical Patriarch of ConstantinopleThe ecumenical patriarch (Οἰκουμενικός Πατριάρχης) is the archbishop of Constantinople (Istanbul) and New Rome, and primus inter pares (first among equals) among the heads of the several autocephalous churches which compose the Eastern Orthodox Church. The ecumenical patriarch is regarded as the representative and spiritual leader of the Eastern Orthodox Christians worldwide. The term ecumenical in the title is a historical reference to the Ecumene, a Greek designation for the civilised world, i.e.
Ecclesiastical provinceAn ecclesiastical province is one of the basic forms of jurisdiction in Christian Churches with traditional hierarchical structure, including Western Christianity and Eastern Christianity. In general, an ecclesiastical province consists of several dioceses (or eparchies), one of them being the archdiocese (or archeparchy), headed by a metropolitan bishop or archbishop who has ecclesiastical jurisdiction over all other bishops of the province. In the Greco-Roman world, ecclesia (ἐκκλησία; ecclesia) was used to refer to a lawful assembly, or a called legislative body.
Episcopal polityAn episcopal polity is a hierarchical form of church governance ("ecclesiastical polity") in which the chief local authorities are called bishops. (The word "bishop" derives, via the British Latin and Vulgar Latin term *ebiscopus/*biscopus, from the Ancient Greek ἐπίσκοπος epískopos meaning "overseer".) It is the structure used by many of the major Christian Churches and denominations, such as the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Church of the East, Anglican, Lutheran and Methodist churches or denominations, and other churches founded independently from these lineages.
Russian Orthodox ChurchThe Russian Orthodox Church (ROC; Russkaja pravoslavnaja cerkov’, abbreviated as РПЦ), alternatively legally known as the Moscow Patriarchate (Moskovský patriarhat), is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Christian church. It has 194 dioceses inside Russia. The primate of the ROC is the Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus'. The Christianization of Kievan Rus' commenced in 988 with the baptism of the Rus' Grand Prince of Kiev—Vladimir the Great—and his people by the clergy of the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople.
Greek Orthodox ChurchThe term Greek Orthodox Church (Greek: Ἑλληνορθόδοξη Ἐκκλησία, Ellinorthódoxi Ekklisía, elinorˈθoðoksi ekliˈsia) has three meanings. The broader meaning designates "the entire body of Orthodox (Chalcedonian) Christianity, sometimes also called 'Eastern Orthodox,' 'Greek Catholic,' or generally 'the Greek Church. The narrower meaning designates "any of several independent churches within the worldwide communion of (Eastern) Orthodox Christianity that retain the use of the Greek language in formal ecclesiastical settings".
Ecclesiastical jurisdictionEcclesiastical jurisdiction signifies jurisdiction by church leaders over other church leaders and over the laity. Jurisdiction is a word borrowed from the legal system which has acquired a wide extension in theology, wherein, for example, it is frequently used in contradistinction to order, to express the right to administer sacraments as something added onto the power to celebrate them. So it is used to express the territorial or other limits of ecclesiastical, executive or legislative authority.
Canonical territoryA canonical territory is, in some Christian denominations, a geographical area seen as belonging to a particular bishop or Church as its own when it comes to ecclesiastical matters, whether by tradition or by canon law. The concept is found both in the Eastern Orthodox Church and Catholic Church. According to Andriy Mykhaleyko, the expression "canonical territory" is "rather difficult to define as it can refer to a variety of different aspects, from an ecclesiological, geographical, and cultural entity to the territorial or canonical jurisdiction of a church as an expression of its local community, or the pastoral theological care of the faithful in a particular territory.
Council of FlorenceThe Council of Florence is the seventeenth ecumenical council recognized by the Catholic Church, held between 1431 and 1449. It was convoked as the Council of Basel by Pope Martin V shortly before his death in February 1431 and took place in the context of the Hussite Wars in Bohemia and the rise of the Ottoman Empire. At stake was the greater conflict between the conciliar movement and the principle of papal supremacy. The Council entered a second phase after Emperor Sigismund's death in 1437.
