Patriarch John VII of Constantinople
John VII Grammatikos or Grammaticus (* 780, † before 867, Greek Ιωάννης Ζ Γραμματικός, Ioannes VII Grammatikos ) was Patriarch of Constantinople Opel January 21 until March 4, 837 843
John came from an aristocratic family probably Armenian origin. His father was Pankaratios Morocharzanios and his brother Arsaber married a sister of the Empress Theodora II. Johannes sister was the mother of the future Patriarch Photios. 811, at the beginning of his clerical career, John operated as an icon painter; he was Ἀναγνώστης ( Anagnostes ) in the Hodēgoi monastery and a pupil of Theodor the Studite. 814 was John and iconoclast Emperor Leo V commissioned him to prepare documents to support this theological position, which should serve to introduce the iconoclasm again at the Synod of 815. John was rewarded for his efforts by being appointed abbot of the prestigious Sergios and Bacchus monastery, where unruly Ikonodulen were re-educated.
John was known for his zeal for learning (hence the nickname Grammatikos ), and for his persuasive rhetoric in the endless theological debates that accompanied the second phase of Byzantine iconoclasm. John was in charge during the reign of Michael II with the education of his son, the future Emperor Theophilos. He was responsible for the developed strong sympathies for the iconoclasm his pupil in the subsequent period. After the accession of Emperor Theophilus in 829, was John Synkellos (Wizard of the patriarch ), a position that made him a candidate for the office of patriarch. 830 John was with a message to the court of the Caliph al-Ma'mun, was sent, but could not prevent the outbreak of violent conflicts between the Byzantine Empire and the Abbasid. He brought from his trip, however, a plan of the palace of the Abbasids in Baghdad, which impressed his Emperor and oversaw the construction of a similar palace in Bithynia.
John VII Grammatikos was appointed patriarch by his disciple Theophilus 837 and is probably responsible for the further intensification of the persecution of the Ikonodulen. 843 he was deposed by Theophilos ' widow Theodora ( his own relatives ). It initiated a change of course in church policy, which led to a synod in March 843 the official restoration of the veneration of images. At the beginning of 860 years of the deposed patriarch was still alive.