Editing Constantine IV (section)

==Later reign==
[[File:Solidus of Constantine IV.png|thumb|left|180px|[[Solidus (coin)|Solidus]] of Constantine IV, c. 681–685]]
With the temporary passing of the Arab threat, Constantine turned his attention to the Church, which was torn between [[Monothelitism]] and Orthodoxy.<ref name="Norwich, p. 326">{{harvp|Norwich|1990|p=326}}</ref> In November 680 Constantine convened the [[Sixth Ecumenical Council]] (also known as the Third Council of Constantinople).<ref name="harvp|Moore|1997"/>  Constantine presided in person during the formal aspects of the proceedings (the first eleven sittings and then the eighteenth), surrounded by his court officials, but he took no active role in the theological discussions.<ref>{{harvp|Bury|1889|p=317}}</ref> The Council reaffirmed the Orthodox doctrines of the [[Council of Chalcedon]] in 451.{{Citation needed|date=August 2018}}  This solved the controversy over [[monothelitism]]; conveniently for the Empire, most monothelites were now under the control of the [[Umayyad]] [[Caliph]]ate.<ref name="harvp|Moore|1997"/> The council closed in September 681.<ref>{{harvp|Bury|1889|p=316}}</ref>
[[File:45-manasses-chronicle.jpg|thumb|Constantine IV convenes the 3rd Council of Constantinople, miniature from the 12th century [[Constantine Manasses|Manasses Chronicle]].]]
Due to the ongoing conflicts with the Arabs during the 670s, Constantine had been forced to conclude treaties in the west with the [[Lombards]], who had captured [[Brindisi]] and [[Taranto]].<ref name=odb/> Also in 680, the [[Bulgars]] under Khan [[Asparukh of Bulgaria|Asparukh]] crossed the [[Danube]] into nominally Imperial territory and began to subjugate the local communities and Slavic tribes.<ref name="harvp|Moore|1997"/> In 680, Constantine IV led a combined land and sea operation against the invaders and besieged their fortified camp in [[Dobruja]].<ref>{{harvp|Bury|1889|p=333–334}}</ref> Suffering from bad health, the Emperor had to leave the army, which panicked and [[Battle of Ongal|was defeated]] by the Bulgars.<ref>{{harvp|Norwich|1990|p=325}}</ref> In 681, Constantine was forced to acknowledge the [[First Bulgarian Empire|Bulgar state]] in [[Moesia]] and to pay tribute/protection money to avoid further inroads into Byzantine [[Thracia|Thrace]].<ref name="Norwich, p. 326"/> Consequently, Constantine created the [[Theme of Thrace]].<ref name=odb/>
[[File:Аспарух преминава Дунава и се установява в Мизия Н. Павлович.jpg|thumb|Khan Asparukh crosses the Danube and settles in Moesia, by [[Nikolai Pavlovich]] (ca. 19th century).]]
His brothers [[Heraclius (son of Constans II)|Heraclius]] and [[Tiberius (son of Constans II)|Tiberius]] had been crowned with him as ''[[Augustus (title)|augusti]]'' during the reign of their father,<ref name="do" /> and this was confirmed by the demand of the populace,<ref>{{harvp|Bury|1889|p=308}}</ref> but in late 681 Constantine had them [[Political mutilation in Byzantine culture|mutilated]] by slitting their noses so they would be considered ineligible to rule.<ref name="harvp|Moore|1997"/> Some argue that he then associated [[Justinian II]] to the throne,<ref name="odb" /> but all contemporary evidence indicates that he became emperor only after Constantine's death on 10 July 685.<ref name="do" />{{efn|"Constantine's death is usually placed in September 685 on the ground that the sources attribute to him a reign of 17 years... Since such a figure can be taken only as a round number, there is no objection to accepting the date 10 July given the ''Catalogus''."<ref name=mango>{{harvp|Grierson|1962|p=50}}</ref>}}