Hierarch
Righteous Theophilus, Archbishop of Novgorod
? — 1484
Saint Theophilus, Archbishop of Novgorod (d. 1484) — the last independently elected hierarch of Novgorod, deposed by Ivan III, buried in the Far Caves of the Kiev Caves Lavra.
St. Theophilus, Archbishop of Novgorod, was the last Novgorod hierarch chosen by the ancient custom of casting lots at the veche (popular assembly), succeeding St. Jonah. He took monastic vows at Oten Monastery and served as protodeacon and sacristan under Archbishop Jonah. Elected to the see on 15 November 1470, he was consecrated by Metropolitan Philip I in Moscow in December 1471/1472. His episcopate coincided with the dramatic events of Novgorod's subjugation to Muscovy: after Ivan III's campaign and the defeat of the Novgorodian army on the Shelon River, Theophilus negotiated with the Grand Prince, resulting in the Treaty of Korostyn. In January 1480, by order of Ivan III, he was deposed, arrested, and imprisoned in Moscow's Chudov Monastery. In 1483, while imprisoned, he was forced to sign a letter of renunciation, and in 1484, while traveling toward Kiev, he died en route. His incorrupt relics rest in the Far Caves (of St. Theodosius) at the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, near those of St. Arsenius the Laborious.