STEPHEN III., pope from August 1, 768 to January 24, 772, was a native of Sicily, and, having come to Rome during the pontificate of Gregory III., gradually rose to high office in the service of successive popes. On the deposition of Constantine II., Stephen was chosen to succeed him. Fragmentary records are preserved of the council (April 769) at which the degradation of Constantine was completed, certain new arrangements for papal elections made, and the practice of image-worship confirmed. The politics of Stephen’s reign are obscure, but he inclined to the Lombard rather than to the Frankish alliance. He was succeeded by Adrian I.