Anastasius of Constantinople

Anastasios was the patriarch of Constantinople from 730 to 754. He succeeded Germanos I (715–730). Anastasios was heavily involved in the controversy over icons (images). His opinion of icons changed twice. First he opposed them, then he favored them, and finally he opposed them again.

Background

In 726 Emperor Leo III published an edict forbidding the use of images in the Church. His soldiers consequently removed images from churches throughout the Byzantine Empire.

Germanos, the patriarch of Constantinople, protested the edict. He wrote a letter appealing to Pope Gregory II in Rome in 729. Emperor Leo deposed Germanos as patriarch soon afterwards. Pope Gregory opposed Leo and urged him to retract the edict, which Leo refused to do.

Anastasios's Patriarchate

Leo appointed Anastasios patriarch of Constantinople in 730 based largely on his support for iconoclasm. The controversy over the policy would dominate his tenure and fuel the decisive breach between the Eastern and Western churches. Pope Gregory II died in 731, but his successor, Pope Gregory III, continued to resist the new policy, even to the extent of encouraging armed rebellion against Imperial authority in Italy.

In 731^[1] or 733^[2] or by 740, Leo III attached Illyricum and Southern Italy (Sicily and Calabria) to Patriarch Anastasius of Constantinople, transferring the papal authority to the Eastern Church.^[3]

In 741 Leo died and was succeeded as Emperor by his son Constantine V, who almost immediately needed to depart the capital to defend the eastern frontier against the Umayyad Caliphate. Constantine's brother-in-law Artabasdos, who was kouropalates ("master of the palace"), and commanded both the Opsikion theme and the Armeniac theme, took advantage of the new Emperor's absence from the capital to seize the throne. To gain support from those opposed to the iconoclastic policy, Artabasdos reversed it and declared himself the "Protector of the Holy Icons." Patriarch Anastasios quickly switched sides and suddenly became an ardent defender of icons, which Artabasdus reinstalled in the churches. Anastasios even excommunicated Constantine V and declared him a heretic.

Constantine gathered the loyal segments of his army and marched to Constantinople in 743. He defeated Artabasdos and had him executed. Anastasios was stripped of his office, whipped and blinded and then paraded through the streets in shame.^[4] After Anastasios changed his position on the icon issue again, reverting to his former opinion against icons, he received the Emperor's pardon and was restored as patriarch. Anastasios lived until 754.

Bibliography

Notes

↑ Fine 1991, p. 116
↑ A collection of dated Byzantine lead seals, page 47: "733... Church of Constantinople"
↑ Treadgold, Warren (1997). A History of the Byzantine State and Society. Stanford: University of Stanford Press. pp. 354–355. ISBN 0-8047-2630-2.
↑ Milman 1867, p. 370

References

Milman, Henry Hart (1867). History of Latin Christianity: including that of the popes to the pontificate of Nicolas V. (1867 ed.). J. Murray. - Total pages: 443

Titles of Chalcedonian Christianity
Preceded by Germanos I	Patriarch of Constantinople 730–754	Succeeded by Constantine II

Bishops of Byzantium and Patriarchs of Constantinople

Bishops of Byzantium (to 330 AD)	Andrew Stachys Onesimus Polycarpus I Plutarch Sedecion Diogenes Eleutherius Felix Polycarpus II Athenodorus Euzois Laurence Alypius Pertinax Olympianus Marcus I Philadelphus Cyriacus I Castinus Eugenius I Titus Dometius Rufinus Probus Metrophanes Alexander

Archbishops of Constantinople (330–451 AD)	Alexander Paul I Eusebius Macedonius I Eudoxius Evagrius Demophilus Maximus I Gregory I Nectarius John I Chrysostom Arsacius Atticus Sisinnius I Nestorius Maximianus Proclus Flavian Anatolius

Patriarchs of Constantinople Byzantine period (451–1453 AD)	Anatolius Gennadius I Acacius Fravitta Euphemius Macedonius II Timothy I John II Epiphanius Anthimus I Menas Eutychius John III John IV Cyriacus II Thomas I Sergius I Pyrrhus Paul II Peter Thomas II John V Constantine I Theodore I George I Paul III Callinicus I Cyrus John VI Germanus I Anastasius Constantine II Nicetas I Paul IV Tarasius Nicephorus I Theodotus I Antony I John VII Methodius I Ignatios Photios I Stephen I Antony II Nicholas I Εuthymius I Stephen II Tryphon Theophylact Polyeuctus Βasil I Αntony III Nicholas II Sisinnius II Sergius II Eustathius Alexius Michael I Constantine III John VIII Cosmas I Eustratius Nicholas III John IX Leo Michael II Cosmas II Nicholas IV Theodotus II Neophytus I Constantine IV Luke Michael III Chariton Theodosius I Basil II Nicetas II Leontius Dositheus George II John X Michael IV^† Theodore II^† Maximus II^† Μanuel I^† Germanus II^† Methodius II^† Manuel II^† Arsenius^† Nicephorus II^† Germanus III Joseph I John XI Gregory II Athanasius I John XII Nephon I John XIII Gerasimus I Isaias John XIV Isidore I Callistus I Philotheus Macarius Nilus Antony IV Callistus II Matthew I Euthymius II Joseph II Metrophanes II Gregory III Athanasius II

Patriarchs of Constantinople Ottoman period (1453–1923 AD)	Gennadius II Isidore II Joasaph I Sophronius I Mark II Symeon I Dionysius I Raphael I Maximus III Nephon II Maximus IV Joachim I Pachomius I Theoleptus I Jeremias I Joannicius I Dionysius II Joasaph II Metrophanes III Jeremias II Pachomius II Theoleptus II Matthew II Gabriel I Theophanes I Meletius I Neophytus II Raphael II Cyril I Timothy II Gregory IV Anthimus II Cyril II Athanasius III Neophytus III Parthenius I Parthenius II Joannicius II Cyril III Paisius I Parthenius III Gabriel II Parthenius IV Dionysius III Clement Methodius III Dionysius IV Gerasimus II Athanasius IV James Callinicus II Neophytus IV Gabriel III Neophytus V Cyprianus Athanasius V Cyril IV Cosmas III Jeremias III (Callinicus III) Paisius II Seraphim I Neophytus VI Cyril V Callinicus IV (III) Seraphim II Joannicius III Samuel Meletius II Theodosius II Sophronius II Gabriel IV Procopius Neophytus VII Gerasimus III Gregory V Callinicus V (IV) Jeremias IV Cyril VI Eugenius II Anthimus III Chrysanthus Agathangelus Constantius I Constantius II Gregory VI Anthimus IV Anthimus V Germanus IV Meletius III Anthimus VI Cyril VII Joachim II Sophronius III Joachim III Joachim IV Dionysius V Neophytus VIII Anthimus VII Constantine V Germanus V Meletius IV

Patriarchs of Constantinople Modern period (since 1923 AD)	Gregory VII Constantine VI Basil III Photius II Benjamin Maximus V Athenagoras Demetrius Bartholomew

^† in exile at Nicaea

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