Byzantine Iconoclasm
For more than a century the emperors and the Church of Byzantium fought over the veneration of icons: two periods of iconoclasm (c. 726–787 and 815–843) ended with the “Triumph of Orthodoxy” in 843.
- Date
- between 726 and 730 – 11 March 843start: exact date unknown: an interval is given; end: exact date · duration: ≈ 115 years
- Place
- Constantinopletoday: Istanbul, Turkey · Balkans and Anatolia
- Participants
- Byzantine Empire, Leo III the Isaurian, Irene of Athens
- Threads
- Early medieval Europe (500–1000)
- Also known as
- Iconoclasm; Иконоборчество; Triumph of Orthodoxy; Торжество православия; Council of Hieria
According to the traditional account, Leo III ordered the removal of the image of Christ over the Chalke Gate of the palace between 726 and 730 and banned the veneration of images in 730; modern research (L. Brubaker, J. Haldon) sees the beginnings as more gradual. Constantine V had iconoclasm endorsed by the Council of Hieria in 754 and persecuted monks who defended icons. Empress Irene restored their veneration at the Second Council of Nicaea (787), but Leo V revived iconoclasm in 815.
On the first Sunday of Lent, 11 March 843, the regent Theodora and Patriarch Methodios restored the icons for good — the feast still kept by the Orthodox Church as the Triumph of Orthodoxy. The controversy deepened the rift between Byzantium and the papacy, which condemned iconoclasm and turned to the Franks for protection.
Connections
Includes
- Second Council of Nicaea24 September – 23 October 787 · Balkans and Anatolia
Related events
- Donation of PepinApril 754 – 756 · Western and Central EuropeThe quarrel over icons helped turn the papacy away from Byzantium towards the Franks
Same participants
- Second Arab siege of Constantinoplebetween 15 July and 15 August 717 – 15 August 718 · Balkans and Anatoliavia Byzantine Empire
Same place
- Founding of Constantinople11 May 330 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Council of Chalcedon8 October – 1 November 451 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Corpus Juris Civilis7 April 529 – 16 November 534 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Construction of Hagia Sophia23 February 532 – 27 December 537 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Plague of Justinian541–549 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Jordanes and Procopius describe the Sclaveni and the Antesbetween 550 and 554 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Avar–Persian siege of Constantinople29 June – 7 August 626 · Balkans and Anatolia
- First Arab siege of Constantinople674–678 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Rus’ attack on Constantinople18 June – 4 August 860 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Oleg’s campaign against Constantinople907 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Rus’–Byzantine Treaty of 9112 September 911 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Igor’s campaigns against Byzantium11 June 941 – 944 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Rus’–Byzantine Treaty of 944between 944 and 945 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Olga’s visit to Constantinople and her baptism9 September – 18 October 957 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Sack of Constantinople12–13 April 1204 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Reconquest of Constantinople25 July 1261 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Fall of Constantinople29 May 1453 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Accession of Suleiman the Magnificent30 September 1520 · Balkans and Anatolia
Adjacent events in the thread
- Battle of Roncevaux Pass15 August 778 · Western and Central Europe
Meanwhile in the world
Other regions, within a year of this event
Western and Central Europe
- Saxon Wars772–804
- Battle of Roncevaux Pass15 August 778
- Viking raid on Lindisfarne8 June 793
- Siege of Pavia and fall of the Lombard kingdomSeptember 773 – June 774
- Coronation of Charlemagne25 December 800
+ 4 events
Eastern Europe
- The Khazar rulers adopt Judaismbetween 740 and 861
- Founding of Ladoga753
- Construction of Sarkelbetween 833 and 841
The same period
Sources
- Wikipedia (English): Byzantine Iconoclasm
- Wikipedia (Russian): Иконоборчество в Византии
- Brubaker L., Haldon J. Byzantium in the Iconoclast Era, c. 680–850: A History. — Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011.
- Wikidata: Q1018769