726–843 CEReputable sourceWell documented
The Iconoclasm Controversy
On the timeline · around 726–843 CE ·
What happened
For over a century the empire was torn by a bitter dispute over religious images, or icons. Beginning with Emperor Leo III around 726, iconoclast emperors who believed icons were idolatrous ordered them destroyed, while their opponents venerated them. The conflict convulsed church and state until the veneration of icons was finally and permanently restored in 843, an event still celebrated as the 'Triumph of Orthodoxy.'
Why it matters
The iconoclasm controversy shaped Orthodox Christianity's distinctive theology of the icon and revealed the deep entanglement of religion and imperial politics in Byzantium — a defining feature of the empire.
Sources
- World History Encyclopedia. Byzantine Icons · Reputable source