AD 381

First Council of Constantinople

First Council of Constantinople affirms Nicene faith and settles Eastern sees

The man chosen to lead Constantinople was not yet baptized — Nectarius was elevated while still wearing his baptismal robes.

381, not 383

Theodosius I convened an Eastern council at Constantinople in 381, and the surviving tradition places its sessions between May and July. The year 383 is not an alternative scholarly date: a separate imperial conference of Christian factions met at Constantinople in 383, which may explain the confusion.

He wanted a recognised Nicene episcopate in his eastern territories, a settlement of the contested Constantinopolitan see, and a coordinated answer to rival Trinitarian and Christological teachings.

The traditional account counts 150 bishops. They were Eastern bishops: this was not a general council with representative attendance from the Latin West.

Four canons that stick

The council reaffirmed the Nicene profession and, in its first canon, anathematized Eunomians, Arians, Pneumatomachi, Sabellians, Marcellians, Photinians and Apollinarians.

It restricted bishops from intervening outside their dioceses, gave Constantinople privileges of honour immediately after Rome because it was “New Rome”, and declared Maximus the Cynic’s episcopal acts invalid. Canon 3 granted honour after Rome; it did not say Constantinople outranked Rome.

The creed now called Niceno-Constantinopolitan was first explicitly attributed to this council in the acts of Chalcedon in 451, and its exact role in composing or adopting that text remains debated.

Three presidents in one gathering

Meletius of Antioch presided until he died during the council. Gregory of Nazianzus then resigned both the presidency and the Constantinopolitan see amid opposition.

The council installed Nectarius — a senator still a catechumen when he was selected, baptized immediately before his elevation — as bishop of Constantinople and final presiding bishop.

On 30 July 381, shortly after the council, Theodosius ordered churches delivered to bishops in communion with Nectarius and other named Nicene bishops, and dissenters expelled from those churches.

Sources

Researched 24 Aug 2026 5 sources not yet audited Date corrected

How this was checked

Researched from the web into a fact sheet and rewritten from that sheet. This article has not yet had an independent model audit. How the pipeline works →

Date corrected. The research places this at 0381.

What the sources leave uncertain

The year 381 is secure; 383 is not an alternative scholarly date for this council. A separate imperial conference of Christian factions occurred at Constantinople in 383 and may explain the confusion.
The council’s complete acts are lost. The first four canons form the secure early core; canons 5 and 6 are generally connected with the 382 synod, and canon 7 is later.
The creed now called Niceno-Constantinopolitan was first explicitly attributed to this council in the acts of Chalcedon in 451. The council certainly affirmed Nicene and Trinitarian doctrine, but its exact role in composing or adopting the surviving creed remains debated.
The council was initially an Eastern gathering; its later ecumenical standing should not be projected uncritically onto the meeting’s opening day.