Nicetas I (or Niketas; Greek: Νικήτας), (? – 7 February 780) 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 ...

from 766 to 780. He was of Slavic ancestry and he was a

eunuch A eunuch ( ) is a male who has been castrated. Throughout history, castration often served a specific social function. The earliest records for intentional castration to produce eunuchs are from the Sumerian city of Lagash in the 2nd millenni ...

. He was chosen by the Emperor Constantine V as a successor of the Patriarch Constantine II of Constantinople. However, Nicetas was quite unpopular in Constantinople because he was a supporter of

iconoclasm Iconoclasm (from Greek: grc, εἰκών, lit=figure, icon, translit=eikṓn, label=none + grc, κλάω, lit=to break, translit=kláō, label=none)From grc, εἰκών + κλάω, lit=image-breaking. ''Iconoclasm'' may also be consid ...

.Nicetas I of Constantinople
"''Nicetas was viewed as a mere mouthpiece of the emperor and was very unpopular with the iconophile population of Constantinople''." After his death in 780, Nicetas was declared a heretic. He was succeeded by Paul IV of Constantinople.

References

780 deaths 8th-century patriarchs of Constantinople Byzantine Iconoclasm Byzantine eunuchs Year of birth unknown Byzantine people of Slavic descent {{EasternOrthodoxy-bishop-stub