Leo of Chalcedon was an 11th-century

Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodoxy, also known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity, is one of the three main branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholicism and Protestantism. Like the Pentarchy of the first millennium, the mainstream (or " canonical ...

bishop of Chalcedon A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

who opposed the appropriation of church treasures by

Byzantine emperor This is a list of the Byzantine emperors from the foundation of Constantinople in 330 AD, which marks the conventional start of the Byzantine Empire, Eastern Roman Empire, to Fall of Constantinople, its fall to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 AD. On ...

Alexios I Komnenos Alexios I Komnenos ( grc-gre, Ἀλέξιος Κομνηνός, 1057 – 15 August 1118; Latinized Alexius I Comnenus) was Byzantine emperor from 1081 to 1118. Although he was not the first emperor of the Komnenian dynasty, it was during ...

between 1081 and 1091. Alexios I was in a desperate situation upon ascending the throne in 1081. With the Byzantine-Norman Wars draining what little money remained in the imperial treasury, and Robert Guiscard marching across the

Balkans The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...

, Alexios was forced to assemble a synod of Greek ecclesiastics who authorised him to employ the wealth gathered as offerings in the churches for public service. This act was violently opposed by many of the clergy, with Leo, Bishop of Chalcedon being among the most prominent. Leo declared that the government had committed

sacrilege Sacrilege is the violation or injurious treatment of a sacred object, site or person. This can take the form of irreverence to sacred persons, places, and things. When the sacrilegious offence is verbal, it is called blasphemy, and when physica ...

in melting down sacred objects which were entitled to the adoration of Christians. Leo's opposition forced the emperor to back down temporarily in 1082. The resumption of confiscations soon after and the lack of resistance by

Patriarch The highest-ranking bishops in Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, the Catholic Church (above major archbishop and primate), the Hussite Church, Church of the East, and some Independent Catholic Churches are termed patriarchs (and in certai ...

Nicholas III and the other leading bishops led Leo to break communion with the patriarchate in 1084. Alexios took advantage of his claims that seemed to attribute more than orthodox importance to these objects. In 1086 another synod was convened in which the emperor's brother, the ''

sebastokrator ''Sebastokrator'' ( grc-byz, Σεβαστοκράτωρ, Sevastokrátor, August Ruler, ; bg, севастократор, sevastokrator; sh, sebastokrator), was a senior court title in the late Byzantine Empire. It was also used by other rulers wh ...

Isaac Isaac; grc, Ἰσαάκ, Isaák; ar, إسحٰق/إسحاق, Isḥāq; am, ይስሐቅ is one of the three patriarchs of the Israelites and an important figure in the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. He was th ...

played a leading role, assembling the Patristic texts for the trial,Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium, pg. 1144 and Leo's opinions were condemned as heretical. The synod indicted and deposed him before being banished to Sozopolis where the locals regarded him as a saint. Though Alexios published a decree justifying the secularization of church treasures, the public outcry was so great that he issued a

golden bull A golden bull or chrysobull was a decree issued by Byzantine Emperors and later by monarchs in Europe during the Middle Ages and Renaissance, most notably by the Holy Roman Emperors. The term was originally coined for the golden seal (a ''bull ...

ordering restitution to be made for all the sacred plate already employed for the state, and declaring it to be sacrilege for any one in future to apply church treasures for secular uses. Eventually Leo's teachings were condemned at the Council of Blachernae in 1094, and Leo submitted to its decisions.

References

* * George Finlay, ''History of the Byzantine and Greek Empires from 1057 - 1453'', Volume 2, William Blackwood & Sons, 1854

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leo Of Chalcedon 11th-century Eastern Orthodox bishops Alexios I Komnenos Bishops of Chalcedon 11th-century Byzantine bishops