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==Iconoclasm==
In February 754 Constantine convened a [[synod]] at Hieria, which was attended entirely by Iconoclast [[bishop]]s. The council approved of Constantine's religious policy and secured the election of a new Iconoclast [[patriarch]], Constantine II, after the death of Patr. [[Anastasius of Constantinople|Anastasius]]. It was followed by a campaign to remove images from the walls of churches and to purge the court and bureaucracy of [[Iconodule]]s.
Since monasteries tended to be strongholds of [[Iconodule|Iconophile]] sentiment, Constantine specifically targeted the [[monk]]s, pairing them off and forcing them to marry nuns in the Hippodrome and expropriating monastic property for the benefit of the state or the army. The repressions against the monks (culminating in 766) were largely led by the emperor's general Michael Lachanodrakon, who threatened resilient monks with blinding and exile.
