Synod of The Oak

403. When Theophilus,* patriarch of Antioch, was summoned to Constantinople by imperial order to answer charges of persecution against a group of pro-Origenist monks, he formed alliances with those, including Empress Eudoxia, who disliked John Chrysostom's* reforming zeal. Helped by John's political innocence, Theophilus maneuvered the trial away from Constantinople to a suburb of Chalcedon called “The Oak.” There, with the help of some thirty-six anti-Chrysostom bishops, he was able to turn it into a trial of John on forty-six indictments ranging from living like Cyclops to insulting the imperial majesty. John would not appear before judges who were his declared enemies and was therefore condemned and was exiled by Emperor Arcadius. He was recalled within a few days, however, partly because of the disquiet of the people of Constantinople, partly because of Eudoxia's disturbed conscience.