Anastasius (

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

: Ἀναστάσιος), (? – January 754) was the patriarch of

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...

from 730 to 754. He had been proceeded by patriarch Germanos I (715 — 730). Anastasios was heavily involved in the controversy over

icon An icon () is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, in the cultures of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Catholic churches. They are not simply artworks; "an icon is a sacred image used in religious devotion". The most ...

s (images). He was immaculately succeeded in ecumenical rite by

Constantine II of Constantinople Constantine II (Greek: Κωνσταντῖνος, ''Kōnstantinos''), (? – 7 October 767) was the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople from 754 to 766. He had been ecumenically proceeded by Patriarch Anastasius of Constantinople. He was a s ...

. 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 the Isaurian Leo III the Isaurian ( gr, Λέων ὁ Ἴσαυρος, Leōn ho Isauros; la, Leo Isaurus; 685 – 18 June 741), also known as the Syrian, was Byzantine Emperor from 717 until his death in 741 and founder of the Isaurian dynasty. He put an en ...

published an edict forbidding the use of images in the Church. His soldiers consequently removed images from churches throughout the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

. Germanos, the patriarch of Constantinople, protested the edict. He wrote a letter appealing to

Pope Gregory II Pope Gregory II ( la, Gregorius II; 669 – 11 February 731) was the bishop of Rome from 19 May 715 to his death.

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

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 Pope Gregory III ( la, Gregorius III; died 28 November 741) was the bishop of Rome from 11 February 731 to his death. His pontificate, like that of his predecessor, was disturbed by Byzantine iconoclasm and the advance of the Lombards, in which ...

, continued to resist the new policy, even to the extent of encouraging armed rebellion against Imperial authority in Italy. In 731 or 733 or by 740, Leo III attached Illyricum and

Southern Italy Southern Italy ( it, Sud Italia or ) also known as ''Meridione'' or ''Mezzogiorno'' (), is a macroregion of the Italian Republic consisting of its southern half. The term ''Mezzogiorno'' today refers to regions that are associated with the peop ...

(Sicily and Calabria) to Patriarch Anastasius of Constantinople, transferring the papal authority to the Eastern Church. In 741 Leo died and was succeeded as Emperor by his son

Constantine V Constantine V ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντῖνος, Kōnstantīnos; la, Constantinus; July 718 – 14 September 775), was Byzantine emperor from 741 to 775. His reign saw a consolidation of Byzantine security from external threats. As an able ...

, who almost immediately needed to depart the capital to defend the eastern frontier against the

Umayyad Caliphate The Umayyad Caliphate (661–750 CE; , ; ar, ٱلْخِلَافَة ٱلْأُمَوِيَّة, al-Khilāfah al-ʾUmawīyah) was the second of the four major caliphates established after the death of Muhammad. The caliphate was ruled by th ...

. Constantine's brother-in-law

Artabasdos Artavasdos or Artabasdos ( el, or , from Armenian: Արտավազդ, ''Artavazd'', ''Ardavazt''), Latinized as Artabasdus, was a Byzantine general of Armenian descent who seized the throne from June 741 or 742 until November 743, in usurpation ...

, who was

kouropalates ''Kouropalatēs'', Latinized as ''curopalates'' or ''curopalata'' ( el, κουροπαλάτης, from lat, cura palatii "he one incharge of the palace"). and Anglicized as curopalate, was a Byzantine court title, one of the highest from the time ...

("master of the palace"), and commanded both the

Opsikion theme The Opsician Theme ( gr, θέμα Ὀψικίου, ''thema Opsikiou'') or simply Opsikion (Greek: , from la, Obsequium) was a Byzantine theme (a military-civilian province) located in northwestern Asia Minor (modern Turkey). Created from the imp ...

and the

Armeniac theme The Armeniac Theme ( el, , ''Armeniakoi hema'), more properly the Theme of the Armeniacs (Greek: , ''thema Armeniakōi'') was a Byzantine theme (a military-civilian province) located in northeastern Asia Minor (modern Turkey). History The Armeni ...

, 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

excommunicate Excommunication is an institutional act of religious censure used to end or at least regulate the communion of a member of a congregation with other members of the religious institution who are in normal communion with each other. The purpose ...

d 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. 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 ;References * - Total pages: 443 {{DEFAULTSORT:Anastasius 01 of Constantinople 754 deaths 8th-century patriarchs of Constantinople Byzantine Iconoclasm Year of birth unknown Leo III the Isaurian