According to
Theophanes the Confessor, Germanus I was a son of a
patrician named Justinian, who was executed in 668. Germanus I was sent to a
monastery but resurfaced as the
Bishop of
Cyzicus. He took part in the Council of Constantinople in 712, a gathering which issued decisions favoring
Monothelitism, thereby abolishing the canons of the
Third Council of Constantinople (680–681). The Council followed the religious preferences of Emperor
Philippicus. In 713, Philippicus was deposed by
Anastasius II. Anastasius II soon reversed all religious decisions of his predecessor. Patriarch
John VI of Constantinople, strongly associated with Monothelitism, was eventually dismissed. On 11 August 715, Germanus I was elected Patriarch of Constantinople. Germanus I later helped negotiate Anastasius II's surrender terms to
Theodosius III. In 715, Germanus I organized a new council propagating
Dyothelitism and
anathematising various leaders of the opposing faction. He attempted to improve relations with the
Armenian Apostolic Church with a view towards reconciliation. The major issue of his term would, however, be the emerging
Byzantine Iconoclasm, propagated by Emperor
Leo III the Isaurian. Germanus I was an
iconodule, After an apparently successful attempt to enforce the
baptism of all
Jews and
Montanists in the empire (722), Leo III issued a series of edicts against the worship of images (726–729). A letter by the patriarch Germanus I written before 726 to two Iconoclast bishops says that "now whole towns and multitudes of people are in considerable agitation over this matter", but little evidence is extant as to the growth of the debate. Germanus I resigned following the ban. Surviving letters Germanus I wrote at the time say little of theology. According to Patricia Karlin-Hayter, what worried Germanus I was that the ban of icons would prove that the Church had been in error for a long time and therefore play into the hands of Jews and
Muslims. Tradition depicts Germanus I as much more determined in his position, even winning a debate on the matter with Constantine, Bishop of
Nacoleia, a leading Iconoclast.
Pope Gregory II (715–731), a fellow iconodule, praised Germanus I's "zeal and steadfastness". He was buried at the
Chora Church. The
Second Council of Nicaea (787) included Germanus I in the
diptychs of the saints. He has since been regarded as a saint by both the
Eastern Orthodox Church and the
Catholic Church. Several of his writings have been preserved. However, the church historian
Johann Peter Kirsch was dubious that the work is actually by Germanus I. == Influence ==