Leo V the Armenian

   Emperor (q.v.) (813-820) of Armenian descent who inaugurated the second period of Iconoclasm (q.v.) in 815. John (VII) Grammatikos (q.v.) laid the groundwork for a local council in Constantinople (q.v.) that reinstated Iconoclasm in 815, leading to the persecution of prominent Iconophile (q.v.) monks such as Theodore Graptos (q.v.). The patriarch Nikephoros I (qq.v.) refused to sign the decrees of the council and was deposed; Theodotos I Kassiteras (qq.v.) was put in his place. Leo V's previous experience as strategos of the theme of Anatolikon (qq.v.) must have guided his appointment of Thomas the Slav, Manuel, and Michael (II) (qq.v.) to top military commands. Michael assassinated Leo on Christmas Day 820 in the chapel of the Great Palace (q.v.), a deed that tarnished the reputation of the new Amorion dynasty (q.v.).