rlessness with which he exposed the vices of their superiors, it held
its sessions at the imperial estate named "The Oak" (_Synodus ad
quercum_), near Chalcedon, where Rufinus had erected a stately church
and monastery. A bishop and a deacon were sent to accuse the archbishop,
and presented to him a list of charges, in which pride, inhospitality
and Origenism were brought forward to procure the votes of those who
hated him for his austerity, or were prejudiced against him as a
suspected heretic. Four successive summonses were signified to
Chrysostom, but he indignantly refused to appear until four of his
notorious enemies were removed from the council. Without entering into
any examination of the charges brought before them, the synod condemned
him on the ground of contumacy, and, hinting that his audacity merited
the punishment of treason, called on the emperor to ratify and enforce
their decision. He was immediately arrested and hurried to Nicaea in
Bithynia.

As soon as the news of his banishment spread through the city, the
astonishment of the people was quickly exchanged for a spirit of
irresistible fury, which was increased by the occurrence of an
earthquake. In crowds they besieged the palace, and had already begun to
take vengeance on the foreign monks and sailors who had come from
Chalcedon to the metropolis, when, at the entreaty of Eudoxia, the
emperor consented to his recall. His return was graced with all the pomp
of a triumphal entry, but in two months after he was again in exile. His
fiery zeal could not blind him to the vices of the court, and heedless
of personal danger he thundered against the profane honours that were
addressed almost within the precincts of St Sophia to the statue of the
empress. The haughty spirit of Eudoxia was inflamed by the report of a
discourse commencing with the words--"Herodias is again furious;
Herodias again dances; she once more demands the head of John"; and
though the report was false, it sealed the doom of the archbishop. A new
council was summoned, more numerous and more subservient to the wishes
of Theophilus; and troops of barbarians were quartered in the city to
overawe the people. Without examining it, the council confirmed the
former sentence, and, in accordance with canon 12 of the Synod of
Antioch (341), pronounced his deposition for having resumed his
functions without their permission.

He was hurried away to the desolate town of Cucusus (Cocysus), among the