Thus, the bishops, or metropolitans, of certain of the most important cities were exalted to a still higher position as special _heads_ of the church. They were termed _Exarchs_ at first, after the title of the provincial governors, but afterwards received the more ecclesiastical appellation _Patriarchs_. The term Patriarch had been in use for a long time in the church signifying merely a bishop, irrespective of the dignity he possessed, but it was finally limited to this higher class of the clergy, in which sense I now employ it. The cities that first enjoyed this chief distinction were Alexandria, Rome, and Antioch. The general council of Nice (A.D. 325) in its sixth canon recognized the superior authority already possessed by these cities. See D'Aubigne's Hist, of Reformation, Vol. I, p. 41. The general council of Constantinople in its third canon placed the bishop of Constantinople in the same rank with the other three Patriarchs; and the general council of Calcedon exalted the See of Jerusalem to a similar dignity, doubtless because of its ancient importance as the birthplace of Christianity. Thus, Patriarchs were established in the five political capitals of the Roman empire; and they were considered the "_heads of the church_," having spiritual authority over the whole empire. These were the only Patriarchates of importance. Certain ecclesiastics of the Church of Rome even at the present time bear the honorary title Patriarch; but, to quote the words of the Encyclopædia Britannica, "In a strictly technical sense, however, that church recognizes only five Patriarchates, those of Constantinople, Alexandria, Jerusalem, Antioch, and Rome." Art. Patriarch. In the years 637 to 640 Jerusalem, Alexandria, and Antioch fell into the hands of the Saracen followers of Mohammed, which terminated their importance, and later the Greek schism separated the Patriarch of Constantinople from Rome; and thus the Patriarch of Rome was left in undisputed possession of the field and was soon recognized as universal head of the church. So under the symbol of this dread rider on a pale horse is portrayed the great hierarchal system by which the Papacy was fully developed in the West.