18th–19th century
Saint Cyril VI of Constantinople
A former Patriarch of Constantinople hanged in 1821 at the outbreak of the Greek Revolution.
Biography
Cyril VI (born Konstantinos Serpentzoglou) came from Adrianople and served as archdeacon of the Patriarchate before becoming metropolitan of Iconium and then of Adrianople. In 1813 he was elected Patriarch of Constantinople, founded the school of ecclesiastical music, and preached the word of God often.
He was deposed in 1818 and retired to Adrianople. When the Greek Revolution broke out, the Ottoman authorities considered him implicated in the uprising and hanged him in 1821 along with twenty-seven more clergy and notables; his body was thrown into the river Evros and later buried by a local villager.