FLAVIAN II OF ANTIOCH

died c. 518, , Petra, Arabia patriarch of Antioch probably from 498 to 512. He was chosen patriarch by the emperor Anastasius I after he accepted the evasive Henoticon, the decree of union between the Monophysites (q.v.) and the Orthodox. In deference to orthodoxy, however, Flavian would not expressly repudiate the Council of Chalcedon. This equivocal policy only antagonized both sides, particularly the Monophysites. At the synod of Sidon (511) Flavian maintained his position, but soon afterward, under constant harassment by his enemies, he yielded finally to their demand for a rejection of Chalcedon. Forced to abdicate, he was banished to Petra in Arabia.