The Isaurians’ religious policy was not limited exclusively to iconoclasm,
although this was its major feature. It also had international ramifications,
defending and extending the rights of the church of Constantinople. Thus,
relations with the pope were always connected with imperial policy in
Italy; Rome was subject to the empire, at least until 751, when the exarchate
of Ravenna was seized by the Lombards. Indeed, according to Theophanes,
Leo III’s iconoclasm was the reason why Italy seceded.144 But the
Roman Liber pontificalis reports thatGregory II was initially opposed to the
emperor’s attempt to bring the taxes of the province of Rome into line with
those of the other provinces, particularly those payable by the churches; it
was only later – at some indeterminate date after 725 – thatGregory refused
the emperor’s demand that he should accept iconoclasm.
The reaction of Leo III to papal opposition, which stiffened after the
silention of the Nineteen Couches and Germanos’ resignation, was highly
effective. The church of Rome was deprived of the patrimony of St Peter
both in Sicily, where imperial strat¯egoi had been sent since the end of the
seventh century, and in Calabria, which was dependent on the strat¯egos
of Sicily.145 Thus after 732–3 the income from certain estates traditionally
allocated to the church of Rome for, amongst other things, the lighting of
places of worship and maintenance of the poor, reverted to the central tax
administration – a hefty annual sum of some 350 pounds of gold, or 25,200
nomismata.146 This measure perhaps explains the relatively high number of
issues from the mint at Syracuse, in a period of general monetary restriction.
The mint never struck silver coins, only copper and gold, and in fractions
of the nomisma that had disappeared in the rest of the empire; although
devalued after 820, this coinage circulated throughout Europe as far as
the Crimea.147 In 743, Constantine V partially compensated Gregory III’s
successor, Zacharias (741–52), for the loss incurred by the reallocation of
these revenues by granting him the estates ofNinfa andNorma to the south
of Rome. Lying between the hills of Volsci and the sea, they were not far
from Terracina andGaeta which were later claimed by the duchy ofNaples,
when it was an ally of the Byzantines.148
Finally, Leo III decided to harmonise political and ecclesiastical structures
– probably in tandem with the measures of 732–3, and in any case
before 754 – by placing such regions as were under the direct or indirect
authority of the eastern empire beneath the patriarch of Constantinople’s
jurisdiction. The bishops of Illyricum, Crete, Sicily, Calabria and of the
duchy of Naples, formerly subordinate to Rome, found themselves under
the authority of Constantinople – although in the case ofNaples, this lasted
only until 769.149 The transfer of these regions to Constantinople was probably
accompanied by the confiscation of possessions from the church of
Rome, such as happened in Istria in the 770s.150
The popes never accepted this reorganisation at patriarchal level, which
was coupled with an adjustment of ecclesiastical structures to match the
military situation. This entailed a similar reorganisation at episcopal level,
disregarded until recently because of scholarly doubts about the sourcevalue
of the list of bishoprics known as the Notitia of the iconoclasts (Notitiae
episcopatuum). Recent study, however, has shown that on several points
this text gives an accurate picture of the church in the eighth century.151
In Calabria and Thrace, the kastra built to accommodate the military and
administrative authorities received the status of both city and bishopric from
the emperor; the imperial right to bestow such status had been acknowledged
at the council of Chalcedon (canon 17) and incorporated into canon
38 of the council in Trullo. Calabrian examples include Gerace, sometime
before 787,152 and the creation of the archbishopric of Santa Severina, probably
after 736.153 In Thrace, kastra such as Bulgarophygon, Skopelos and
Develtos, which had been built or renovated by Constantine V and settled
with captives taken on the Arab border, were made bishoprics, as their
bishops’ presence at the second council of Nicaea shows.154 In Greece the
bishoprics of Epirus Primus encircled the Peloponnese from Cephalonia
to Aegina. They were sometimes located on smaller islands such as Orobe,
which also served as relays for the fleet, as the numerous seals found on
them attest.155 The route to Italy was thus guarded by a military as well as
an ecclesiastical network. This use of the church provides the background
to Constantine V’s policy towards the monasteries. His persecution cannot
be described as bloody, seeing that it caused only two deaths, but he lifted
previous exemptions from both individuals and property, reimposing liability
to contribute to the state: monasteries and monastic lands as well as
episcopal estates were sold, confiscated for military purposes or reallocated
to the armed forces.156
The Isaurians saw the church as a reputable institution for which they
were responsible, and the patriarchs as enforcers of the imperial will in ecclesiastical
matters. Their expectations of subordination could sometimes be
harsh and humiliating, as when Anastasios was paraded round the Hippodrome
on an ass after the defeat of Artabasdos and then restored to the
patriarchal throne; but the gift of the extension of jurisdiction westwards
was ample compensation. The later iconodule patriarchs never questioned
this gift to their institution made by an iconoclast emperor whom they
had anathematised. In the Acts of the second council of Nicaea, Patriarch
Tarasios (784–806) omitted translating into Greek the passages of
Pope Hadrian I’s letter demanding the restitution of the patrimony of
St Peter.157
Bishops formed the most important rank of the ecclesiastical hierarchy,
residing in their sees and taking responsibility for charitable works,
amongst other things. Judging by iconoclast-linked hagiographical sources,
the bishop was deemed a model of holiness even worthier of emulation than
the monk. However, it is possible that the episcopal office was the equivalent
of a strateia, which could be purchased and which carried with it rights
to the bishopric’s revenues. In the Ecloga clerics are sometimes described
as strateuomenoi, and even Tarasios admitted after the second council of
Nicaea that most of the bishops present had bought their office, leaving
them open to charges of simony by the monks.158
Iconoclasm provided the cement for the edifice, with duly anointed
clergy delivering the people from idolatry through celebration of the
eucharist. Constantine V sought to spread the doctrine adopted at Hieria
throughout Christendom (see above, pp. 283–4) and conducted a vigorous
diplomatic campaign aimed at Pippin the Short (751–68), sending numerous
embassies and, it would seem, several eastern patriarchs. This campaign,
whose success Pope Paul I briefly feared, finally ended in failure in the
wake of the crisis of 766. The council of Gentilly (Easter 767) ratified the
Carolingian rejection of iconoclasm, making possible its subsequent condemnation
by the papacy at the Lateran council in 769; meanwhile, at least
some of the eastern patriarchs sent a written condemnation of iconoclasm
to Rome, which arrived in August 767.159 The church of Constantinople
was thereupon cut off from the other churches, and this probably explains
Irene’s desire to put an end to the situation.
World History
