GREGORY II., pope from 715 to 731, succeeded Constantine I. whom he accompanied to Constantinople in 71o. To spread Christianity in Germany, Gregory gave special encouragement to the mission of St. Boniface, whom he consecrated bishop in 722. He was a staunch adherent of the East Roman empire, which still exercised sovereignty over Rome, Ravenna and some other parts of Italy, and he impeded as far as possible the progress of the Lombards. About 726, however, he came into conflict with the emperor Leo the Isaurian on account of the excessive taxation of the Italians, and, later, on account of his iconoclastic edicts. Leo endeavoured to rid himself of the pope by violence, but Gregory, supported by the people of Rome and by the Lombards, succeeded in eluding the emperor and died peacefully on Feb. I r,