Saint Evfimy II of Novgorod

Euthymius II of Novgorod (Russian: Евфимий II, romanized: Evfimy II) was Archbishop of Novgorod from 1429 to 1458. He was one of the most prolific patrons of the arts and architecture of all the Novgorodian archbishops. According to his saint's lives, Evfimy's baptismal name was Ioann or Ivan and he was the son of a priest Fedor, and his wife, Anna, although some saint's lives give his father's name as Mikheia, and say he was the priest of the Church of St. Fedor the Great Martyr on the Market side of the city (today it is just east of the Aleksandr Nevsky Bridge on the main road running east out of the city. He was shorn a monk at the Listitsa Hill Monastery (Listitsky) and later transferred to the Vyazhishchsky Monastery 12 miles (7 km) northwest of Novgorod (he is known as Evfimy Viazhishchskii for this reason). He was elected archbishop by the veche after the death of his predecessor Evfimy I (Bradatii) in 1429 but was not consecrated until 1434, and not in Moscow by the Metropolitan of Kiev and All Rus' but in Smolensk, by Geronty, the Metropolitan of Lithuania, an act which angered the Muscovite authorities (although there was no metropolitan in Moscow at the time: Fotii had died in 1431 and Isidor would not arrive until 1437). Evfimy was one of the greatest cultural patrons builders in Novgorod's history. Much of his cultural patronage looked back on Novgorodian history and his building projects were often reconstructions of old churches on their old foundations and in the old architectural styles. He built or rebuilt more than a dozen churches according to the chronicles, several of which still stand in Novgorod today, including the Church of the Twelve Apostles, The Church of John the Forerunner at Opoky (originally built by Prince Vsevolod Mstislavich in 1127), the Church of the Assumption (also originally built by Vsevolod Mstislavich, the Church of St.