With the Byzantine-Norman Wars draining what little money remained in the imperial treasury, and Robert Guiscard marching across the Balkans, Alexios was forced to assemble a synod of Greek ecclesiastics who authorised him to employ the wealth gathered as offerings in the churches for public service.
This act was violently opposed by many of the clergy, with Leo, Bishop of Chalcedon being among the most prominent.
Leo declared that the government had committed sacrilege in melting down sacred objects which were entitled to the adoration of Christians.
In 1086 another synod was convened in which the emperor's brother, the sebastokrator Isaac played a leading role, assembling the Patristic texts for the trial,[1] and Leo's opinions were condemned as heretical.
Though Alexios published a decree justifying the secularization of church treasures, the public outcry was so great that he issued a golden bull ordering restitution to be made for all the sacred plate already employed for the state, and declaring it to be sacrilege for any one in future to apply church treasures for secular uses.