Finally, the rulings of the Council of Hieria were rejected, and the practice of devotion to icons was confirmed (see iconoclasm). In 770, Stephen was asked to confirm the election of Michael, a layperson, as archbishop of Ravenna. In fact, Michael, in league with the Lombard king Desiderius and the duke of Rimini, had imprisoned Leo I, who had been elected first. Stephen refused to confirm Michael’s election; citing the conventions of the Lateran council, he sent letters and envoys to Michael, demanding that he stand down. Michael refused, and the stand-off continued for over a year, until the arrival of the Frankish ambassador in Ravenna along with the papal legates encouraged Michael’s opponents to overthrow him, and send him to Rome in chains. Leo followed soon after, when Stephen consecrated him as archbishop. Frankish-Lombard alliance Throughout his pontificate, Stephen was apprehensive about the expansionist plans of the Lombards. Placing his hope in the Franks, he attempted to mediate in the quarrels between Charlemagne and Carloman I, Pepin's sons and successors, which were only helping the Lombards' cause in Italy. In 769, he helped them reconcile, and pressured them to support the still infant Papal States, by reminding them of the support that their father had given the papacy in the past. He also begged them to intercede on his behalf by entering into discussions with the Lombards. Consequently, an embassy was sent to the Lombard king, Desiderius, in 770, which included Charlemagne’s mother, Bertrada of Laon. Their intervention achieved a result favourable to the papacy by restoring to the pope the parts of Benevento that the popes claimed. To Stephen’s consternation, however, Desiderius and Bertrada entered into discussions about a possible marriage between Desiderius’ daughter, Desiderata, and one of Bertrada’s sons. It is also possible that discussions took place around the marriage of Charlemagne’s sister, Gisela to Desiderius’ son, Adalgis. Stephen therefore wrote to both Charlemagne and Carloman, protesting about the proposed alliance. Apart from noting that both men were already married, he reminded them of their promises to previous popes, that they would consider the pope’s enemies as their enemies, and that they had promised to Saint Peter to resist the Lombards and restore the rights of the Church. He wrote: ”You who are already, by the will of God and the commands of your father, lawfully married to noble wives of your own nation, whom you are