Saint Nikephoros the Confessor, Patriarch of Constantinople

Nikephoros was born in Constantinople in 758, son of Theodore and Eudokia. His father, a high official, was exiled by the iconoclast emperor Constantine V for defending the veneration of icons, and died at Nicaea.

Nikephoros himself served as an imperial secretary and took part in the Seventh Ecumenical Council of Nicaea in 787, before withdrawing to a monastery he founded on the Bosphorus. He later directed the great poorhouse of Constantinople, and in 806, while still a layman, was elected patriarch.

In 813 the iconoclast emperor Leo V the Armenian turned against him for defending the icons; Nikephoros was deposed in 815 and exiled to a monastery, where he wrote works in defence of icon veneration until his death.