What was the Iconoclastic Controversy?
The “Iconoclastic Controversy” over religious images was a defining moment in the history of the Eastern Roman “Byzantine” Empire. Centered in Byzantium’s capital of Constantinople (modern Istanbul) from the 700s–843, imperial and Church authorities debated whether religious images should be used in Christian worship or banned.
What is the difference between icons and iconoclasm?
Icons (Greek for “images”) refers to the religious images of Byzantium, made from a variety of media, which depict holy figures and events. Iconoclasm refers to any destruction of images, including the Byzantine Iconoclastic Controversy of the eighth and ninth centuries, although the Byzantines themselves did not use this term.
Who were the iconoclast Thomas of Claudiopolis?
Germanus, the first of the heroes of the image-worshippers (his letters in Hardouin, IV 239-62), then wrote a defence of the practice of the Church addressed to another Iconoclast, Thomas of Claudiopolis (l. c. 245-62). But Constantine and Thomas had the emperor on their side.
What did the iconoclasts do to the monasteries?
Monasteries were destroyed, monks put to death, tortured, or banished. The Iconoclasts began to apply their principle to relics also, to break open shrines and burn the bodies of saints buried in churches. Some of them rejected all intercession of saints.
Iconoclastic Controversy, a dispute over the use of religious images (icons) in the Byzantine Empire in the 8th and 9th centuries.
When did the iconoclasm start and end?
The opposition to religious images known as Iconoclasm began during the reign of Leo III (717–741), but may not have become official policy until his son Constantine V banned the making of icons in 754. The prohibition was lifted from 787 to 815, but reinstated thereafter.
What happened after the iconoclasm of 843?
After Iconoclasm ended in 843, writers opposed to the ban reported that huge numbers of icons had been destroyed, but their claims were likely exaggerated to discredit Iconoclast emperors. Iconoclasm stemmed from the second commandment given to Moses (“Thou shalt not make any graven image . . . thou shalt not bow down before them”).