In a decree issued from the seventh session of the Fourth Ecumenical Council (the Council of Chalcedon) in 451 the Bishop of Jerusalem was elevated to the rank of Patriarch, ranked fifth after the Sees of Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria, and Antioch (see Pentarchy). Since then, the Church of Jerusalem has remained an autocephalous church. Jerusalem was established as a patriarchate because of the holiness of the place; the special significance acquired between the First and Fourth Ecumenical Councils; the erection of magnificent churches; the conversion of a large proportion of the population of Roman and Byzantine Syria-Palestina to Christianity; the coming together of pilgrims from around the world; the importance of outstanding bishops, monks, and teachers of the Church of Jerusalem; the struggles of the Brotherhood of the Holy Sepulchre on behalf of Orthodoxy; and the support of various Emperors of Byzantium.