History:
The
Byzantine Papacy was a period of
Byzantine domination of the Roman
papacy from 537 to 752, when popes required the approval of the
Byzantine Emperor for
episcopal consecration, and many popes were chosen from the
apocrisiarii (liaisons from the pope to the emperor) or the inhabitants of Byzantine-ruled
Greece,
Syria, or
Sicily.
Justinian I conquered the Italian peninsula in the
Gothic War (535–554) and
appointed the next three popes, a practice that would be continued by his successors and later be delegated to the
Exarchate of Ravenna.
With the exception of
Pope Martin I, no pope during this period questioned the authority of the Byzantine monarch to confirm the election of the
bishop of Rome before consecration could occur.
Bible Prophesy::
Then I saw another beast rising out of the earth. This beast had two horns like a lamb, but spoke like a dragon.
And this beast exercised all the authority of the first beast and caused the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose mortal wound had been healed.
Bible Prophesy fulfillment:
The first beast is a governmental leader (Emperor) and the second beast is a clerical leader (Pope)
Throughout history the 1st and 2nd beast jump from one person to the next, from one dynasty to the next, from one empire to the next...
1st Beast = Justinian I "the Great" (527 - 565AD)
1st Beast = Justin II (565 - 578AD)
1st Beast = Tibernius II Constatine (578 - 582AD)
on and on...
1st Beast = Charlemagne (800 - 814AD)
on and on...
History:
Within 50 years (Christmas 800), the papacy recognised
Charlemagne as
Holy Roman Emperor. This can be seen as symbolic of the papacy turning away from the declining
Byzantium towards the new power of
Carolingian Francia.