Patriarch (Gr. patriarchēs, 'the head of a tribe') is the name given to the heads of the families in the antediluvian period of Scripture history, and is still more familiar as the designation in Jewish history of the three progenitors of the Jewish people, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
In the later history of the Jews, too, after the destruction of Jerusalem, the Greek name was used to designate the heads of the college which was regarded as a continuation of the old Sanhedrim; one of whom, the patriarch of the west, resided at Tiberias, in Galilee, and the other, the patriarch of the Eastern Jews, at Babylon. The patriarch of Tiberias was also regarded by the Roman imperial government as municipal head of the Jews of Palestine. The most familiar use of the word, however, is in the history of the Christian church. It is the name given to the bishops of certain great metropolitan sees, who not only held rank beyond other metropolitans, but also enjoyed a jurisdiction over all the metropolitans included in their district almost identical with that of the metropolitan in his own province. It is certain that the name and the office were both recognised before the Council of Nice, at which time, as we learn from the sixth canon, the patriarchal sees, acknowledged by 'ancient custom,' were three in number, Rome, Antioch, and Alexandria. After the translation of the seat of empire to Byzantium, thenceforward called Constantinople, that see, originally subject to the metropolitan of Heraclea, obtained metropolitan and afterwards patriarchal rank, and eventually established a precedence over the patriarchs of Antioch and Alexandria, being second only to Rome. The contests between the patriarchs of Rome and Constantinople were among the chief causes of the Greek Schism. To these four patriarchates was added a fifth in the year 451, that of Jerusalem, which was formed out of the ancient patriarchate of Antioch. The limits of these five patriarchates can only be loosely assigned. After the Greek Schism, and particularly after the establishment of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem, Latin prelates were appointed with the title and rank of patriarch in the four great Eastern sees resident at Rome; in 1847 the Latin patriarch took up his residence in Jerusalem. The Catholic Church also recognises Maronite, Melchite, and Syrian patriarchs of Antioch, an Armenian patriarch of Cilicia, and a Chaldaic patriarch of Babylon. There are also minor patriarchs of Venice, of Lisbon, and of the Indies (Spanish). For the patriarchs of the Orthodox Eastern Church, see GREEK CHURCH.