ELIAS. There were three patriarchs of Jerusalem of this name.
1. Elias I. was patriarch from A. D. 494 or 495 till his deposition by a council held at Sidon, whose decree was enforced, A. D. 513, by the emperor Anastasius I. He died in exile A. D. 518.
2. Elias II. held the patriarchate from A. D. 760, or earlier, to 797, with the exception of an interval, when he was expelled by an intrusive patriarch Theodorus. He was represented at the second general council of Nicaea, A. D. 787, by Joannes, a presbyter, and Thomas, principal of the convent of St. Arsenius near Babylon in Egypt: these ecclesiastics were also representatives of the patriarchs of Alexandria and Antioch.
3. Elias III. was patriarch at least as early as 881, when he sent a letter to Charles le Gros and the prelates, princes, and nobles of Gaul.
Elias died about A. D. 907.