Historical Figures Codexery

Leo III the Isaurian

Byzantine emperor who ended anarchy and banned icon veneration.

He ended the Twenty Years' Anarchy and defended the Empire against the Umayyads.[1][2] He also forbade the veneration of icons.[2]

Quick Facts

Reign
25 March 717 – 18 June 741
Predecessor
Theodosius III
Successor
Constantine V
Spouse
Maria
Issue
  • Constantine V
  • Anna
  • Irene
  • Kosmo
House
Isaurian dynasty
Regnal name
Leo
Religion
Chalcedonian Christianity

Facts from the source article.

Life and work

Leo III was born in Germanikeia with the original name Konon.[3] The second Arab siege of Constantinople began in August 717 and lasted 12 months.[4][5] Leo's use of Greek fire and Bulgarian reinforcements helped force the Arabs to abandon the siege in August 718.[6][5] He suppressed a rebellion in Sicily in 718 and crushed an attempt to restore Anastasius II the next year.[7]

Leo issued edicts against the veneration of images between 726 and 729.[8] Theophanes the Confessor's chronicle, written around 815, is where the nickname "the Isaurian" initially appears.[9][10]

What the cited sources add

The Weapons and Warfare account states that Leo entered Constantinople on March 25, 717, and assumed the throne.[7] It also notes that Greek fire enabled the Byzantine navy to destroy the Muslim fleet.[7] The same source reports that Leo reorganized the army and invited Slavic settlers to depopulated areas.[7] The Prosopography of the Byzantine Empire records that Leo was an Isaurian and died of dropsy after ruling for twenty-four years.[11]

It gives his reign as beginning on 25 March of indiction fifteen (717) and ending on 18 June of indiction nine (741).[11]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Leo III the Isaurian" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: ODB, p. 1208-1209; Craig, Graham, Kagan, Ozment, and Turner, "The Heritage of World Civilizations", Prentice Hall, 2011, p. 321 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Leo III the Isaurian" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Gero, "Byzantine Iconoclasm during the Reign of Leo III, with Particular Attention to the Oriental Sources", Secrétariat du Corpus SCO, 1973 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Leo III the Isaurian" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Vasiliev 1958, p. 234; "Emotions and Gender in Byzantine Culture", Springer, 2018, p. 128–129; Hitti, "History of The Arabs", Red Globe Press, 2002, p. 203; Ball, "Rome in the East: The Transformation of an Empire", Routledge, 2002, p. 489; Vasiliev 1958, p. 234 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Leo III the Isaurian" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Guilland, "L'Expedition de Maslama contre Constantinople (717–718)", Études byzantines, 1959, p. 109–133; Brubaker Haldon 2011, p. 73 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Leo III the Isaurian" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Brubaker Haldon 2011, p. 73 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Leo III the Isaurian" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Treadgold 1997, p. 346 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  7. "Leo III the Isaurian (ca. 680–741) - Weapons and Warfare", 15 January 2020. facts only, no text reused. weaponsandwarfare.com
  8. Wikipedia, "Leo III the Isaurian" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Ladner, "Origin and Significance of the Byzantine Iconoclastic Controversy", Mediaeval Studies, 1940, p. 127–149; Treadgold 1997, p. 346; CHB, p. 440 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  9. Wikipedia, "Leo III the Isaurian" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Vasiliev 1958, p. 234; Gregory 2010, p. 198 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  10. Wikipedia, "Leo III the Isaurian" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Gregory 2010, p. 198; Gero, "Notes on Byzantine Iconoclasm in the Eighth Century", Byzantion, 1974, p. 23–42; Head, "Who Was the Real "Leo the Isaurian"?", Byzantion, 1971, p. 105–108; "Constantinople in the early eighth century: the Parastaseis syntomoi chronikai: introduction, translation, and commentary", E.J. Brill, 1984, p. 168-169 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  11. Martindale, J. R. (2001), "Leo 3". Prosopography of the Byzantine Empire. facts only, no text reused. pbe.kcl.ac.uk

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Leo III the Isaurian (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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