-emperor of Byzantine (717-741)

-came to throne in moment of crisis--Arab siege on capital

-prohibited use of images in his churches which was met with opposition especially from the monks

-almost entirely unsuccessful in effort to change the Christian custom

-started with Pepin III (the Short)

-all due to Leo the Isaurian and iconoclasts->pope gave permission for Pepin to take over and was anointed as king of the franks

-Pepins family is known as Carolingian

-chosen by pope because pope felt he needed protection as Emperor Leo wanted to destroy icons and Rome was still under Byzantine rule

-got papal blessing to take over rule from Clovis in return for military aid in Italy against both Lombards and Byzantines

-"papal states" came into existence due to his conquests to take Rome back