Pope Constantine (; 6649 April 715) was the

bishop of Rome The pope is the bishop of Rome and the visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the pope was the sovereign or head of sta ...

from 25 March 708 to his death on 9 April 715. One of the last popes of the Byzantine Papacy, the defining moment of his pontificate was his 710/711 visit to

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

, where he compromised with

Justinian II Justinian II (; ; 668/69 – 4 November 711), nicknamed "the Slit-Nosed" (), was the last Byzantine emperor of the Heraclian dynasty, reigning from 685 to 695 and again from 705 to 711. Like his namesake, Justinian I, Justinian II was an ambitio ...

on the Trullan canons of the

Quinisext Council The Quinisext Council (; , literally meaning, ''Fifth-Sixth Meeting''), i.e., the Fifth-Sixth Council, often called the Council ''in Trullo'', Trullan Council, or the Penthekte Synod, was a church council held in 692 at Constantinople under Ju ...

. The city's next papal visit occurred in 1967.

Upbringing

Constantine was born in Tyre in the

Umayyad Caliphate The Umayyad Caliphate or Umayyad Empire (, ; ) was the second caliphate established after the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and was ruled by the Umayyad dynasty. Uthman ibn Affan, the third of the Rashidun caliphs, was also a member o ...

(now in

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

), and he was of

Greek Greek may refer to: 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 of all kno ...

descent. Fluent in the

Greek language Greek (, ; , ) is an Indo-European languages, Indo-European language, constituting an independent Hellenic languages, Hellenic branch within the Indo-European language family. It is native to Greece, Cyprus, Italy (in Calabria and Salento), south ...

, he immersed in Eastern rituals and practices. By his upbringing, he would have been "fully at ease in the oriental milieu of the early-eighth-century Byzantine court". Except for Antipope Constantine, he was the only pope to bear such a "quintessentially" Eastern name of an emperor. Before his selection as pope, he had visited

twice. He was one of the

papal legates image:K. Henry 2. Kissing the knee of the Popes Legate comming into England.gif, 300px, A woodcut showing Henry II of England greeting the Pope's legate. A papal legate or apostolic legate (from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman title ''legatus'') ...

to the

Third Council of Constantinople The Third Council of Constantinople, counted as the Sixth Ecumenical Council by the Eastern Orthodox and Catholic Churches, and by certain other Western Churches, met in 680–681 and condemned monoenergism and monothelitism as heretical a ...

in 680/681. He also delivered a combative letter from

Pope Leo II Pope Leo II ( – 28 June 683) was the Bishop of Rome from 17 August 682 to his death on 28 June 683. One of the popes of the Byzantine Papacy, he is described by a contemporary biographer as both just and learned. He is commemorated as a sain ...

to Emperor Constantine IV in 682. He met and developed a rapport with Constantine IV's son

on both occasions.

Pontificate

Constantine's predecessor, Sisinnius, was pope for only twenty days. Constantine became pope in March 708, less than two months later. He was one of the many Greek popes of the Byzantine Papacy, the period during which Rome was under the rule of the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived History of the Roman Empire, the events that caused the ...

and popes required the approval of the emperor for

consecration Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects ( ...

as pope. The defining issue of the papacy at the time of Constantine's election was the Western rejection of the Trullan canons of the

Pope John VII Pope John VII (; c. 650 – 18 October 707) was the bishop of Rome from 1 March 705 to his death on 18 October 707. He was an ethnic Greek, one of the Byzantine popes, but had better relations with the Lombards, who ruled much of Italy, than wi ...

had been sent the canons for approval and instead had sent them back, "without any emendations at all". John VII's predecessor, Sergius I, had declared that he would rather die than subscribe to the council.

Visit to Constantinople

In 710, Emperor Justinian II demanded in a '' iussio'' that Pope Constantine appear before him in Constantinople. The imperial mandate made it "obvious that the relentless emperor meant to settle once and for all the issue of Rome's acceptance of the Trullan decrees". Unlike his predecessors, Constantine neither delayed nor made excuses to avoid appearing in the imperial city; in fact, he "identified with Byzantium as perhaps no Roman pontiff before him ever had". Prior to Constantine's departure, Justinian had blinded Archbishop Felix of Ravenna for plotting to overthrow him, an act that had improved the papal-Byzantine rapport. His primary motivation for the trip was to forestall a rift between Rome and Constantinople over the Trullan decrees. Constantine departed on 5 October 710. In Constantinople, Constantine stayed in the

Placidia Palace The Placidia Palace was the official residence of the papal apocrisiarius, papal ''apocrisiarius'', the ambassador from the pope to the patriarch of Constantinople, and the intermittent home of the pope himself when in residence at Constantinople.E ...

, which had formerly been occupied by

Pope Vigilius Pope Vigilius (died 7 June 555) was the bishop of Rome from 29 March 537 to his death on 7 June 555. He is considered the first pope of the Byzantine papacy. Born into Roman aristocracy, Vigilius served as a deacon and papal ''apocrisiarius' ...

in 547, the representatives of Popes Martin I and Agatho (while attending the

). Eleven of Constantine's thirteen companions who can be identified by name (two bishops, three priests, and all the ranking members of the papal chancellery and household) were also of Eastern extraction. Also accompanying Constantine was the future

Pope Gregory II Pope Gregory II (; 669 – 11 February 731) was the Pope, bishop of Rome from 19 May 715 to his death on 11 February 731. Constantine specifically chose attendants who were "cut from similar cloth" as he, and likely to be sympathetic to the East. While stopping in transit in Naples, Constantine crossed paths with the

exarch of Ravenna The Exarchate of Ravenna (; ), also known as the Exarchate of Italy, was an administrative district of the Byzantine Empire comprising, between the 6th and 8th centuries, the territories under the jurisdiction of the exarch of Italy (''exarchus ...

, John III Rizocopo, then on his way to Rome to execute four high-ranking papal officials by cutting their throats. The four (as evidenced by their staying behind) were opposed to Constantine's new policy of rapprochement with Constantinople. Doubtlessly, Constantine himself learned of the exarch's errand before departing for

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

, then

Gallipoli The Gallipoli Peninsula (; ; ) is located in the southern part of East Thrace, the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles strait to the east. Gallipoli is the Italian form of the Greek name (), meaning ' ...

, and then

Otranto Otranto (, , ; ; ; ; ) is a coastal town, port and ''comune'' in the province of Lecce (Apulia, Italy), in a fertile region once famous for its breed of horses. It is one of I Borghi più belli d'Italia ("The most beautiful villages of Italy"). ...

, where the group stayed for winter. In the spring, Constantine crossed the

Ionian Sea The Ionian Sea (, ; or , ; , ) is an elongated bay of the Mediterranean Sea. It is connected to the Adriatic Sea to the north, and is bounded by Southern Italy, including Basilicata, Calabria, Sicily, and the Salento peninsula to the west, ...

, meeting the ''

strategos ''Strategos'' (), also known by its Linguistic Latinisation, Latinized form ''strategus'', is a Greek language, Greek term to mean 'military General officer, general'. In the Hellenistic world and in the Byzantine Empire, the term was also use ...

'' of the imperial fleet on the island of

Chios Chios (; , traditionally known as Scio in English) is the fifth largest Greece, Greek list of islands of Greece, island, situated in the northern Aegean Sea, and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, tenth largest island in the Medi ...

and was received by the Karabisianoi before proceeding to Constantinople. Constantine entered Constantinople on a "horse caparisoned with gilded saddle clothes and golden bridles and bearing on his head the ''

kamelaukion A kalimavkion (), kalymmavchi (καλυμμαύχι), or, by metathesis of the word's internal syllables, kamilavka (), is a clerical headdress worn by Orthodox Christian and Eastern Catholic monks (in which case it is black) or awarded to cl ...

'', or diadem, which the sovereign alone was authorized to wear and then only on 'a great public festival of the Lord'". Justinian II's son and co-emperor

Tiberius Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus ( ; 16 November 42 BC – 16 March AD 37) was Roman emperor from AD 14 until 37. He succeeded his stepfather Augustus, the first Roman emperor. Tiberius was born in Rome in 42 BC to Roman politician Tiberius Cl ...

, along with Patriarch Kyros, senators, nobles, clerics, and many others, greeted Constantine at the seventh milestone from the city in the style of an imperial '' adventus''. Justinian II was in

Nicaea Nicaea (also spelled Nicæa or Nicea, ; ), also known as Nikaia (, Attic: , Koine: ), was an ancient Greek city in the north-western Anatolian region of Bithynia. It was the site of the First and Second Councils of Nicaea (the first and seve ...

at the time and urged the pontiff to meet him in

Nicomedia Nicomedia (; , ''Nikomedeia''; modern İzmit) was an ancient Greece, ancient Greek city located in what is now Turkey. In 286, Nicomedia became the eastern and most senior capital city of the Roman Empire (chosen by the emperor Diocletian who rul ...

. The ''

Liber pontificalis The ''Liber Pontificalis'' (Latin for 'pontifical book' or ''Book of the Popes'') is a book of biography, biographies of popes from Saint Peter until the 15th century. The original publication of the ''Liber Pontificalis'' stopped with Pope Adr ...

'' recounts a bizarre scene of the crowned emperor prostrating himself before the pope, but a more mutual greeting is probable. That Sunday, Justinian II received communion from the hands of the pope and issued a vague confirmation of the various privileges of the Roman See. The negotiations regarding the Trullan canons were conducted by the future

Pope Gregory II Pope Gregory II (; 669 – 11 February 731) was the Pope, bishop of Rome from 19 May 715 to his death on 11 February 731. While Constantine made concessions regarding the '' economia'', he did not give ground on the vast majority of the Roman grievances. The agreement was more designed to secure East–West political unity than resolve any doctrinal dispute. The fact of Constantine's having been summoned to Constantinople was the real proof that the "imperial writ still ran in Rome". Constantine left Constantinople in October 711. He was the last pope to visit the city until Paul VI did in 1967.

Rejection of monothelitism

Justinian II was killed by his mutinous troops in November 711, shortly after Constantine's return to Rome. The new emperor, Philippicus, was an adherent of

monothelitism Monothelitism, or monotheletism was a theological doctrine in Christianity that was proposed in the 7th century, but was ultimately rejected by the sixth ecumenical council. It held Christ as having only one will and was thus contrary to dyoth ...

, and rejected the arrangements of the Third Council of Constantinople. He demanded Constantine's support of the view that Christ had only one will. In 712, Constantine rejected Philippicus' demand to revive monothelitism. He further refused to receive an imperial portrait or coins with the emperor's image and also refused to commemorate the emperor in Mass. As the exarch attempted to enforce the imperial presence, clashes occurred, which Constantine calmed. Philippicus was overthrown in June 713 and his successor, Anastasius II, sent Exarch Scholasticus and a letter to the pope affirming imperial support for the Sixth General Council.

Death

Upon his death in Rome on 9 April 715, Constantine was succeeded by

Pope Gregory II Pope Gregory II (; 669 – 11 February 731) was the Pope, bishop of Rome from 19 May 715 to his death on 11 February 731.664 births 715 deaths Popes Asian popes Greek popes Popes of the Byzantine Papacy 8th-century archbishops 8th-century popes Burials at St. Peter's Basilica Syrian popes