Leo III

   1) Emperor (q.v.) from 717-741 who founded the Isaurian dynasty (q.v.). His reign began with the unsuccessful siege (717-718) of Constantinople (q.v.) by the Arab general Maslama (qq.v.), one of several important events of his reign. In 726 Leo issued an edict supporting Iconoclasm (q.v.), subsequently confirmed by a silentium (q.v.) in 730. Patriarch Germanos I (qq.v.) was removed. Popes Gregory II and Gregory III (qq.v.) objected in vain. Leo III's response may have been to transfer from the papacy (q.v.) to the patriarch of Constantinople the ecclesiastical administration of Sicily, Calabria, and Illyricum (qq.v.). Leo III's energetic defense of Asia Minor (q.v.) resulted in a string of victories against the Arabs (q.v.), culminating in the great victory at Akroinon (q.v.) in 740. Leo further defended Asia Minor by creating the themes of Thrakesion and Kibyrrhaiotai (qq.v.). His new manual of law, the Ecloga (q.v.), was not superceded until the Basilika of Leo VI (qq.v.) in the late ninth century. In sum, Leo III's reign was packed with events, the consequences of which reverberated throughout the eighth century. This was particularly true of his pursuit of Iconoclasm.

   2) Pope (795-816) who crowned Charlemagne (q.v.) as Emperor of the Romans on Christmas Day 800, one of the chief events of the Middle Ages. The coronation was seen by Byzantium (q.v.) as an act of rebellion, but Pope Leo may have been persuaded that in no way could any woman, including the reigning Irene (q.v.), though she called herself basileus (q.v.), be construed as emperor (q.v.). Thus, the throne could be viewed as vacant when Charlemagne was crowned.