Pope Gregory II

Pope from 715 to 731, Gregory II resisted Byzantine efforts to suppress religious images and backed Boniface’s mission among Germanic peoples.

Byzantine Iconoclasm: A Byzantine controversy over the legitimacy of religious images, especially prominent in the eighth and ninth centuries. Gregory opposed Emperor Leo III’s effort to prohibit the veneration of images.
Leo III the Isaurian: Byzantine emperor from 717 to 741, associated with the first phase of Byzantine iconoclasm. His religious policy provoked Gregory’s opposition and conflict with the imperial government.
Iconoclasm: The rejection or destruction of religious images, especially in disputes over their use in worship. Byzantine iconoclasm names the broader religious conflict Gregory confronted.
Pope Constantine: Pope from 708 to 715, whose pontificate included a journey to Constantinople to meet Emperor Justinian II. Gregory succeeded Constantine after a period of direct papal engagement with the Byzantine court.
Boniface: An Anglo-Saxon missionary and church reformer who evangelized and organized Christian communities in Germanic lands. Gregory authorized Boniface’s mission and consecrated him bishop in 722.
Liutprand: King of the Lombards from 712 to 744, who expanded Lombard influence across Italy. Gregory negotiated with Liutprand, whose campaigns and territorial concessions affected Rome.
Veneration of Images: The use of honorific gestures toward religious images without treating the images themselves as divine. Gregory defended image veneration against accusations that it amounted to idolatry.
Pope Sergius I: Pope from 687 to 701 who resisted imperial demands concerning church discipline and liturgy. His earlier resistance offers a precedent for papal defiance of Byzantine authority.
Duchy of Rome: A Byzantine territory in central Italy whose administration increasingly depended on the pope and local authorities. Gregory helped organize Rome’s defense as Byzantine authority weakened in Italy.
Charles Martel: Frankish leader who governed the Frankish realms as mayor of the palace from 718 until 741. Gregory sought Frankish support amid threats to Rome, though Charles did not provide military intervention.

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