Bishopric of Chariopolis


Chariopolis or Charioupolis, modern Hayrabolu in European Turkey, was a residential bishopric of the Patriarchate of Constantinople during the Byzantine Empire. Only a few of its bishops are known. After the Ottoman conquest in the 1350s, it became a titular see and disappeared entirely in the 15th century.
The Roman Catholic Church established it as a titular see in the 18th century, and continued awarding it until the 20th century.

Residential Orthodox see

Chariopolis is first mentioned with the presence of Theophylact, Bishop of Chariopolis, at the Second Council of Nicaea in 787, and of Bishop Kosmas at the Fourth Council of Constantinople in 879.
However, it only appears in the Notitiae Episcopatuum of the Patriarchate of Constantinople in the early 10th century, as a suffragan the metropolitan see of Heraclea.
In the 11th century, a bishop Michael is known through his seal; from the decoration it appears that he may have previously been a member of the clergy of the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople. In 1305 or 1306, an unnamed bishop of Chariopolis attended a synod called by Patriarch Athanasius I of Constantinople to condemn John Drimys. In 1347, the subordination of the bishopric of Chariopolis, which apparently had been vacant since the start of the Byzantine civil war of 1341–1347, to Heraclea was formally renewed by imperial prostagma. In 1351, the local bishop, whose name is not recorded, participated in a synod against Barlaam of Calabria under Patriarch Callistus I of Constantinople.
Chariopolis was conquered by the Ottoman prince Süleyman Pasha sometime between 1354 and 1362. As a result of the Ottoman conquest, by the end of the 14th century, the bishopric became a titular see, and vanishes completely in the 15th century.

Titular Catholic see

The Roman Catholic Church established "Chariopolis", as an episcopal titular see in the early 18th century, and still lists it as a titular see. The see has had eight incumbents:
Since the 19th century, the title of Bishop of Chariopolis has been assigned to vicar bishops of the Patriarchate of Constantinople: