Mary as living relic

As I was looking into Daniel for the AD 740s, I peeked over at what the Romans were up to. The first thing they were up to, was crowning a son of Leo as "Constantine V". This man remembered his forebear Constantine III, also from an unpopular family, who got unalived when he stayed home. So the younger Constantine, figuring himself healthy-enough, marched out on campaign.

This guy got coup'ed anyway ("damned if you do..."). So Constantine had to embark upon a civil war to get his throne back. Which gave the Arabs their opportunity to raid Anatolia as usual.

We own several sources for this; which reach back to sources we don't own, but can surmise. There's that "Syriac Common Source" but also Nicephorus, implying a Greek iconodoule history (now lost to us) up to AD 775.

These sources tell that Constantine, home again, enacted upon an iconoclastic purge. Meanwhile he'd called the blessed Mother an "empty purse", so they say. How does the policy align with this comment?

I hold Mary's status more to that of relics, than of icons. But "Artifacts and Relics", per AD&D, are similar inasmuch as to Christ (and God) alone is the glory. Icons are physical matter. Mary, after birthing Jesus, became physical matter. Not much point in venerating either, say some. Especially since there aren't any Marian relics on account of Dormition.

Constantine grew up aware of iconodoules who disliked that his father Leo had disassembled the Pantocrator from the main gate, along with his other disregard of "graven images". Said iconodoules could also look across the border to Yazid II, with horror. Saecular iconoclasm incidentally provides a ready excuse for a government to raid churches, for metals (and maybe artwork).

I would be unsurprised if the plotters in the capital had reached out to the old guard of churchmen, promising to reverse Leo's policies. The antijubilee! The plotters of course would announce all this as "veneration of our blessed saints" and other such tommyrot. Which would go up to Mary herself.

We're not here to side with one side or th'other. The whole of Constantinople is gone now. I confess a bias toward not starting chaos at home whilst a hostile caliphate sits next door (there'd come time for that when the caliphate is having its own little problems, in a few years...). And I generally agree with jubilee whatever motives are offered. The Blessed Virgin, I expect, can take care of herself.