Bardas
Bardas patriarch of Constantinople, was brother of the empress Theodora, mother of the emperor Michael III., and was tutor of this prince after the death of Theophilus in 842. He re-established the sciences in the empire, which had declined after Leo the Isaurian, who had burned the library at Constantinople. In order to acquire more authority, he caused the death of Theoctistus in 856, who was general of the troops of the emperor Michael III., and secured his position. He shut up his sister, the empress, in a cloister, drove St. Ignatius from the patriarchal see, and gave it to Photius, his nephew, in 858. This injustice was the source of a schism in the Greek Church about 860. He sought to gain control of the empire, but was assassinated by his enemy Basil, April 21,866. See Hoefer, Nouv. Biog. Generale, s.v.
