Monophysite

Political situation of monophysitism after Chalcedon

Justin I was succeeded by the Chalcedonian Justinian I (527–565), whose wife Empress Theodora protected and assisted the monophysites. Ghassanid patronage of the monophysite Syrian Church under phylarchAl-Harith ibn Jabalah was crucial for its survival, revival, and even its spread. Justinian I was followed by Justin II, who after being a monophysite, perhaps because of Theodora's influence, converted to the Chalcedonian faith before obtaining the imperial throne. Some time later, he adopted a policy of persecuting the monophysites. From Justinian I on, no emperor was a declared monophysite, although they continued their efforts to find compromise formulas such as monoenergism and monothelitism.