ABSTRACT
When Jeremiah arrived in Moscow in 1588 (see Chap. 6, p. 210, n. I above) he was not the incumbent of the Oecumenical throne, and it remains a moot point whether or not he had the power to instal Metropolitan Job as Russia's first Patriarch. Whatever his right in that respect, he clearly over-stepped the mark in promising that the new Patriarch would rank third in seniority. While the Council held in Constantinople in May 1590 endorsed Job's elevation, it assigned to him the fifth place, after the Patriarchs of Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem, in that order. The Tsar expressed his displeasure at this turn of events, but the Patriarchs reaffirmed their decision at the Council held in February, 1593.
