He was recalled after the death of Ignatius, and presided in the general council of 869 A.D., and was banished again by the emperor Leo. The conquest by the combined forces of the Venetians and the French in 1204, A.D., was disastrous to St. Sophia. The veil of the sanctuary was torn asunder for the sake of the golden fringe, the altar broken in pieces, and the wrought silver and gold ornaments torn down. A prostitute was placed on the throne of the patriarchs, and danced and sang in derision of the hymns and processions of the Oriental rite. But this wanton sacrilege and shameless indecency disgusted the Greeks less than the celebration of the Eucharist according to the Latin rite with unleavened bread. The Orthodox patriarch fled, a Venetian prelate was installed on the vacant throne, but after a succession of six Latin patriarchs no trace of the Latin conquest was left in the church except the tomb, in the women's gallery, Of blind old Dandolo, The octogenarian chief, Byzantium's conquering foe; and the feelings of the outraged Greeks found expression in the words of the great duke: "I would rather see in St. Sophia the turban of Mohammed than the tiara of pope or cardinal." This hatred, deep and strong, of the Latins and the Latin rite effectually marred all the attempts at reunion of the two churches undertaken by John Palæologus in the hope of thus alluring to his aid the arms of Western Christendom. When Metrophanes, who had assented to the terms of union with Rome, was consecrated, the spacious church was empty--even the cross-bearers had fled. A final trial to conciliate Rome and the nations who acknowledged the pope as the Vicar of God was made by the ill-fated Constantine. On December 12, A.D. 1452, the two nations joined in communion in St. Sophia: Pope Nicholas and the patriarch Gregory were solemnly commemorated; but the dress and language of the Latin priest were objects of horror, and when he was seen to mix water with the wine and take up the unleavened wafer, the worshippers of either sex and every degree rushed forth from the lofty dome, dispersed themselves in taverns, drank confusion to the slaves of the pope, and emptied their glasses in honor of the Blessed Virgin. The polluted church was deserted by clergy and people, and "a vast and gloomy silence prevailed in that venerable dome which had so often smoked with a cloud of incense, blazed with innumerable lights and resounded with the voice of prayer and thanksgiving." But when Constantine had fallen, with the courage of a Roman, at the gate of St. Romanus, St. Sophia was sought again by the timid crowd. "In the space of an hour the sanctuary, the choir, the nave, the upper and lower galleries, were filled with multitudes of fathers and husbands, of women and children, of priests, monks and nuns," expecting the descent of an angel whose celestial sword was to exterminate the hosts of the Turks. But axes began to thunder at