Editing Pope Constantine (section)

==Pontificate==
Constantine's predecessor, [[Pope Sisinnius|Sisinnius]], was pope for only twenty days.<ref name="e246">{{Harvnb|Ekonomou|2007|p= 246}}</ref><ref>*Williams, George L. 2004. ''Papal Genealogy: The Families and Descendants of the Popes''. McFarland. {{ISBN|0-7864-2071-5}}. p. 10.</ref> Constantine became pope in March 708, less than two months later.<ref name="e246"/> 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]] and popes required the approval of the emperor for [[consecration]] 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 [[Quinisext Council]].<ref name="e247">{{Harvnb|Ekonomou|2007|p=247}}</ref> [[Pope John VII]] had been sent the canons for approval and instead had sent them back, "without any emendations at all".<ref name="e247"/> John VII's predecessor, [[Pope Sergius I|Sergius I]], had declared that he would rather die than subscribe to the council.<ref name="e247"/>

===Visit to Constantinople===
In 710, Emperor Justinian II demanded in a ''[[iussio]]'' that Pope Constantine appear before him in Constantinople.<ref>{{Harvnb|Ekonomou|2007|p=269}}</ref> 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".<ref name="e270">{{Harvnb|Ekonomou|2007|p=270}}</ref> 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".<ref name="e270"/> 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.<ref name="e271"/> His primary motivation for the trip was to forestall a rift between Rome and Constantinople over the Trullan decrees.<ref name="e271"/>

Constantine departed on 5 October 710.<ref name="e271"/> In Constantinople, Constantine stayed in the [[Placidia Palace]], which had formerly been occupied by [[Pope Vigilius]] in 547, the representatives of Popes [[Pope Martin I|Martin I]] and [[Pope Agatho|Agatho]] (while attending the [[Third Council of Constantinople]]).<ref>{{Harvnb|Ekonomou|2007|p=30}}</ref> 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.<ref name="e245">{{Harvnb|Ekonomou|2007|p=245}}</ref> Also accompanying Constantine was the future [[Pope Gregory II]], then a deacon, and another Latin subdeacon Julian.<ref name="e245"/> Constantine specifically chose attendants who were "cut from similar cloth" as he, and likely to be sympathetic to the East.<ref name="e271"/>

While stopping in transit in Naples, Constantine crossed paths with the [[exarch of Ravenna]], [[John III Rizocopo]], then on his way to Rome to execute four high-ranking papal officials by cutting their throats.<ref name="e271"/> The four (as evidenced by their staying behind) were opposed to Constantine's new policy of rapprochement with Constantinople.<ref name="e271"/> Doubtlessly, Constantine himself learned of the exarch's errand before departing for [[Sicily]], then [[Gallipoli, Apulia|Gallipoli]], and then [[Otranto]], where the group stayed for winter.<ref name="e271"/> In the spring, Constantine crossed the [[Ionian Sea]], meeting the ''[[strategos]]'' of the imperial fleet on the island of [[Chios]] and was received by the [[Karabisianoi]] before proceeding to Constantinople.<ref name="e271"/>

Constantine entered Constantinople on a "horse caparisoned with gilded saddle clothes and golden bridles and bearing on his head the ''[[kamelaukion]]'', or diadem, which the sovereign alone was authorized to wear and then only on 'a great public festival of the Lord'".<ref name="e271"/>  Justinian II's son and co-emperor [[Tiberius (son of Justinian II)|Tiberius]], 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 (ceremony)|adventus]]''.<ref name="e272">{{Harvnb|Ekonomou|2007|p=272}}</ref> Justinian II was in [[Nicaea]] at the time and urged the pontiff to meet him in [[Nicomedia]].<ref name="e272"/> The ''[[Liber pontificalis]]'' recounts a bizarre scene of the crowned emperor prostrating himself before the pope, but a more mutual greeting is probable.<ref name="e272"/> That Sunday, Justinian II received [[Eucharist|communion]] from the hands of the pope and issued a vague confirmation of the various privileges of the [[Roman See]].<ref name="e272"/>

The negotiations regarding the Trullan canons were conducted by the future [[Pope Gregory II]]. A degree of compromise (the "so-called Compromise of Nicomedia")—which "diplomatically skirted" the actual issue of their acceptance—was reached.<ref name="e272"/> While Constantine made concessions regarding the ''[[Economy (religion)|economia]]'', he did not give ground on the vast majority of the Roman grievances.<ref name="e272"/> The agreement was more designed to secure East–West political unity than resolve any doctrinal dispute.<ref name="e272"/> The fact of Constantine's having been summoned to Constantinople was the real proof that the "imperial writ still ran in Rome".<ref name="e272"/> Constantine left Constantinople in October 711. He was the last pope to visit the city until [[Paul VI]] did in 1967.<ref>{{citation|first=Edward B|last=Fiske|date= 26 July 1967|title=Papal Pilgrimage Is Viewed as a Major Step Toward Reunion|journal=The New York Times|page=2|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1967/07/26/archives/papal-pilgrimage-is-viewed-as-a-major-step-toward-reunion.html}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|title=Pope holds Mass at ancient Christian site in Turkey|url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2006-11-29-turkey-pope-mass_x.htm|work=USA Today|date=29 November 2006|access-date=9 September 2009}}</ref>

===Rejection of monothelitism===
[[File:Solidus-Philippicus-sb1447.3.jpg|thumb|right|Constantine refused to accept coins minted with the image of [[Philippicus]].]]
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]], 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.<ref name="e247"/>

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 (emperor)|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]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Constantine-pope |title=Constantine/Pope |author=|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |access-date=29 July 2016}}</ref>