Iconoclastic Controversy

In the troubled political context of the early eighth century in Byzantium, the production and veneration of *icons came under attack from the emperors Leo III and Constantine V. Leo III published an edict ordering the destruction of icons in 726, which policies were carried out and renewed by his son with the banning of all figurative imagery in Page 126  churches at the Synod of Hiereia in . The movement was motivated by a complex variety of factors, not the least of which was a struggle between ecclesiastic and imperial authority. Wealthy monasteries (where icons were produced and displayed and which attracted *pilgrims) were attacked; the iconoclasts destroyed icons and mosaics in churches and monasteries and persecuted and killed monks and other icon supporters . A respite occurred during the reigns of Leo IV and Empress Irene; the veneration of icons was officially restored in , but iconoclasm again came into effect in 814 during the reign of Leo V and his successors. This second phase lasted until 842. The writings of authors such as Theodore the Studite and Saint *John of Damascus clarify the significance of icons for the Byzantine church. Following the period of iconoclasm, the arts in Byzantium flourished in the “Macedonian Renaissance.”