Constantine II (

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 ...

: Κωνσταντῖνος, ''Kōnstantinos''), (? – 7 October 767) was the

Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople The ecumenical patriarch ( el, Οἰκουμενικός Πατριάρχης, translit=Oikoumenikós Patriárchēs) is the archbishop of Constantinople (Istanbul), New Rome and '' primus inter pares'' (first among equals) among the heads of th ...

from 754 to 766. He had been ecumenically proceeded by Patriarch

Anastasius of Constantinople Anastasius (Greek: Ἀναστάσιος), (? – January 754) was the patriarch of Constantinople from 730 to 754. He had been proceeded by patriarch Germanos I (715 — 730). Anastasios was heavily involved in the controversy over icons (imag ...

. He was a supporter of the first phase of

Byzantine Iconoclasm The Byzantine Iconoclasm ( gr, Εικονομαχία, Eikonomachía, lit=image struggle', 'war on icons) were two periods in the history of the Byzantine Empire when the use of religious images or icons was opposed by religious and imperial a ...

and devoutly opposed to the creation of images, but he was deposed and jailed after the discovery of

Constantine Podopagouros Constantine Podopagouros ( el, Κωνσταντῖνος Ποδοπάγουρος; died 25 August 766) was a high-ranking Byzantine official and, with his brother Strategios, leader of a conspiracy against Emperor Constantine V (). "Podopagouros ...

' plot against the Emperor

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 ...

in June 766, in which the patriarch was later implicated. In autumn 767, Constantine II was paraded through the

Hippodrome of Constantinople Sultanahmet Square ( tr, Sultanahmet Meydanı) or the Hippodrome of Constantinople ( el, Ἱππόδρομος τῆς Κωνσταντινουπόλεως, Hippódromos tēs Kōnstantinoupóleōs; la, Circus Maximus Constantinopolitanus; t ...

and finally beheaded. He was succeeded by Nicetas I of Constantinople.Constantine II of Constantinople
"''Patr. Constantine II was succeeded by the iconoclast compliant Nicetas I.''"

References

767 deaths 8th-century patriarchs of Constantinople Executed Byzantine people People executed by decapitation Byzantine Iconoclasm Year of birth unknown 8th-century executions by the Byzantine Empire {{EasternOrthodoxy-bishop-stub