Oxford history of the christian church

Conflicting currents 787-843.

The restoration of icons under Irene in 787 did not immediately provide a universally acceptable solution to the controversy which had rent the East Roman Empire under the North Syrian rulers. Whether from conviction or expediency a number of churchmen had obviously accepted iconoclasm; many people had long felt that the popular use of icons was giving rise to much superstition; and above all the military successes of Leo III and Constantine V had endeared them to the army and indeed to the general public. The troubled years 787-843 saw an uneasy acceptance of orthodoxy followed by a short-lived and milder form of iconoclasm before the final restoration of the icons in 843. Throughout this period were to be seen the often conflicting currents which were to determine the future course of East Roman fortunes. Monasticism was eventually to grow in strength as foreshadowed by the activities of the intimidating Abbot Theodore Studites (759-826) who was sternly opposed to ecclesiastical moderation or imperial intervention in church affairs. Then relations with the West began to take a different turn and the emergence of a powerful Frankish kingdom was to pose a challenge to Byzantine imperial claims to universal supremacy in the Christian world. This vigorous western political growth affected papal relations with Constantinople and to some extent pointed the way to future misunderstandings between the two great Christian centres. Within the Byzantine Empire the very success of iconoclasm, though of a temporary nature, had shown the strength of the imperial authority which was able for a time to maintain this unorthodox policy fortified by the prestige engendered by effective leadership in the face of Arab and Bulgar attacks.