Oxford history of the christian church

3. The second phase of iconoclasm.

Leo V (813-20) hoped to emulate the military successes of the North Syrian iconoclast emperors whose memory was so revered in military circles and among many of the people. He kept the Bulgars at bay and was able to conclude a long-term treaty with them. He then set about reintroducing the religious policy which in the popular mind was closely linked with the victories of the eighthcentury iconoclast leaders. It was clear that the decisions of Nicaea II had by no means succeeded in rooting out the heresy. The efforts of the orthodox towards this end had indeed been weakened by schism within their ranks caused by the violent feuds of the monks with the Patriarch over his policy of compromise or oeconomia. Meanwhile the not inconsiderable party of iconoclasts were awaiting their opportunity. Their earlier attempts in the late eighth century to oust Irene with the help of the late Emperor Leo IV's brothers, and then the young Emperor Constantine VI, had failed. But now was their opportunity and in Leo V they had a leader of very different calibre.

Backed by the army and soon to be fortified by a comparatively successful foreign policy, Leo V intended to revert to the iconoclasm of the North Syrian emperors. Something of the strength of iconoclast support may have been suspected by the Patriarch Nicephorus who appears to have approached Leo in 813 before he was yet in the capital, asking him to affirm his orthodoxy. Leo, wishing to put no obstacle in the way of his coronation, evidently temporized. Nicephorus then seems to have drawn up a more detailed profession of faith which the Emperor, once crowned, did not sign. ⁵² In the following year 814 Leo set up a small commission of iconoclasts headed by John Hylilas (John the Grammarian). They worked in the imperial palace in over-luxurious conditions (so the anti-iconoclast press alleged) and their task was the compilation of a florilegium from biblical and patristic sources in order to refute the claims of the iconophiles. According to Nicephorus ⁵³ and the Scriptor Incertus de Leone Bardae Armenii filio ⁵⁴ their work was based on that of Constantine V and they used the acta of the iconoclast council of Hieria of 754 (not always identical with the more extreme views of Constantine V). At the same time Leo tried to win over the Patriarch Nicephorus. He pointed out that icon veneration was widely regarded as a reason for military disasters and indicated divine displeasure. He suggested that an acceptable solution would be to remove those icons which were hung low (and could therefore be venerated and kissed by the devout) while retaining those placed higher up but solely for purposes of edification and instruction.

Nicephorus rejected the Emperor's proposal and refused to enter into any discussion (though a number of bishops and abbots evidently did so). He gathered together his supporters to oppose the Emperor's designs and just before Christmas they all met in the patriarcheion. The iconoclast florilegium was read out and rejected and those present signed a promise to stand firm in their opposition. ⁵⁵ An all-night service was then held in Hagia Sophia. The Emperor countered this by summoning the Patriarch to the palace. At first they met alone and when the Emperor tried to convert Nicephorus to his point of view Nicephorus (according to his Vita) replied with a learned exposition of the iconophile theology. Then the Patriarch's party and the Emperor's armed supporters waiting in the wings were admitted and iconophile sources report strong words on either side. Aemilianus, the bishop of Cyzicus, stated that it was customary for ecclesiastical enquiries to be held in church and not in the imperial palace. Theodore Studites, like John of Damascus before him, denied the imperial right to intervene in ecclesiastical questions. 'Your responsibility, Emperor, is with affairs of state and military matters. Give your mind to these and leave the Church to its pastors and teachers.' ⁵⁶ Thus the monastic party challenged the traditional relationship between church and state in Byzantium.

At the Epiphany services Leo omitted the usual icon veneration. He had already succeeded in winning to his side many of the Patriarch's supporters and he openly demanded that Nicephorus should either agree to remove low-hanging icons or else resign. Nicephorus himself had also been trying to plead his cause in influential quarters by appealing to the Empress ⁵⁷ and to high officials. ⁵⁸ Though by now a sick man, he stood firm and refused to resign. ⁵⁹ Without his consent and while he was still ill and virtually under house arrest, the permanent (endemousa) synod of Constantinople met. It sent a deputation to Nicephorus to summon him to appear before it to answer for his crimes and urged him to accept iconoclasm. Nicephorus refused and evidently retaliated by condemning the bishops and clergy involved in this exercise. ⁶⁰ His name was then removed from the diptychs. Finally under pressure he resigned on or about 13 March and went into exile on the Asian side of the Bosphorus. Though an exponent of moderation, and where possible compromise (oeconomia), when his basic principles were opposed to those of the Emperor no one could taunt him with being 'Caesar's steward'.

On Easter Day (1 April 815) a new patriarch, Theodotus Mellissenus Cassiteras, was enthroned. He was reputed to be of some virtue though of unclerical habits, and he was inevitably an iconoclast. Leo would have liked to appoint John the Grammarian but was dissuaded on the grounds that he was not old enough nor of sufficiently distinguished lineage. Soon after Easter a synod was held in Hagia Sophia. The acta of this council were destroyed on the restoration of orthodoxy but something of the content can be gathered from the detailed refutation made by the Patriarch Nicephorus in his Refutatio et Eversio. ⁶¹ The synod reaffirmed the iconoclast council of Hieria-Blachernae (754) and annulled the act of Nicaea II (787) specifically censuring the folly of the Empress Irene and the Patriarch Tarasius. The florilegium of the iconoclast committee was read and accepted. The dogmatic Definition (Horos) drawn up by the council had a florilegium appended, but it is not clear whether this was identical with that of the committee. The Horos condemned the untraditional veneration and the unedifying manufacture of icons, but abstained from calling them idols, 'for there are many degrees of evil'.

This ninth-century revival of iconoclasm was in effect less harsh and uncompromising than that of Leo III and Constantine V. Unlike the council of 754 it did not introduce the argument from idolatry. But to judge from the content of Nicephorus's Refutatio the Christological implications raised by Constantine V were still important, since he deals with these at some length. The ninthcentury iconoclasts also set store by the 'ethical theory of icons' ⁶² linked with the 'argument from holiness', ⁶³ again not a new line of thought. It was maintained that the only real and living icon of the saint was the reproduction of his virtues in the soul of the individual, rather than some meaningless figure in material colours which could only express the mortal body and not the saint's real inner holiness. Dead matter could not reveal the glorious state of the saint enjoying eternal life with God. The revived iconoclasm may have provided more precise, or fuller, references for sources cited at the 754 council, but it was essentially based on the eighth-century movement. ⁶⁴

It is difficult to assess to what extent obstinate iconophiles suffered persecution in the ninth century because accounts of this derive from partisan and probably exaggerated sources, such as the Vita Nicephori or the letters of Theodore Studites. In the 815 council an attempt was made to win over certain orthodox bishops and when this failed they were then and there subjected to unseemly physical assault and then exiled. The ex-Patriarch Nicephorus persistently refused discussion with heretics and he remained across the Bosphorus in exile until he died in 828. He was comparatively unmolested. He stood his ground but was far less belligerent than Theodore Studites. Leo V had evidently hoped to inaugurate a policy which, though iconoclast, would make as few demands as possible upon its opponents. He did win over a substantial number of bishops, as well as abbots who were increasingly being appointed to bishoprics. Support for iconoclasm was not confined to Constantinople but ranged from Otranto in South Italy to the cities and monasteries of Asia Minor. The acceptance of iconoclasm by a number of monastic houses was in contrast to the earlier eighthcentury movement. There were instances of monasteries which defected in Constantinople, on Bithynian Mount Olympus, and among the Cappadocian rock pinnacles. This may have been due to the minimal nature of the demands made. Provided that they did not teach or assemble, and accepted the Patriarch Theodotus, the monks were unmolested.

But for Theodore Studites it was an obligation to proclaim orthodox views openly, loudly, and unceasingly. ⁶⁵ He and his hard core remained a constant source of irritation; hence the increasing severity of the conditions imposed on the Studite leader who was moved from prison to prison in Asia Minor. Theodore nevertheless managed to maintain an excellent system of underground communication. His letters show him encouraging his followers, lamenting desertions, rallying support from Palestinian monasteries and from the orthodox Patriarchs of Jerusalem and Alexandria (possibly also from Antioch though no letter has survived). He also did not hesitate to seek help from Rome. Here in the old capital there were Greek monasteries and Greek communities as well as a number of iconodule refugees, including the future Patriarch, Methodius. Theodore wrote both to the archimandrite of the Greek house of St Sabas and to the Pope asking for help. ⁶⁶ With his excellent intelligence service he was evidently aware of proposed missions to Rome from the capital, hence his hurried approach to the Pope putting his case and possibly hoping for a formal synodal condemnation of the heresy. The banning of icon veneration and the forced resignation of Patriarch Nicephorus had created a rift between Rome and Constantinople and in keeping with his desire for unity and reconciliation Leo V also tried to win over the Pope. An imperial embassy appears to have gone to Rome, probably with the other mission from Theodotus with the Patriarch's synodica. ⁶⁷ In Theodore's second letter to the Pope he praises him for refusing to receive the Patriarch's legates (apocrisiarii) and thanks him for meeting his own two envoys, who seem to have arrived soon after the iconoclast deputation. The Emperor evidently wished to maintain that he was essentially orthodox and that the use to which icons were put was not a cause for general discussion, but a matter for each church to decide for itself. He may also have made the point that the ex-Patriarch Nicephorus had resigned of his own free will. The embassy probably went some time after the death of Pope Leo III (16 June 816) since this Pope had recognized the Patriarch Nicephorus and the orthodox Byzantine predecessors of Leo V and would hardly be sympathetic to the intruded Patriarch Theodotus and the iconoclast Emperor. The most likely time would have been the late autumn of 816 or spring of 817, that is after Stephen's short pontificate and during Pascal I's time. It was Pascal who turned down Emperor Leo's overtures, as noted in Theodore's second letter to the Pope ⁶⁸ and in Pascal's own letter to Leo. He might refuse to meet the ecclesiastical envoys but he had to receive those from the Emperor, and it was to the Emperor and not to the Patriarch that a papal embassy was sent. The Patriarch Nicephorus described how the legates demanded the restoration of the icons and obstinately refused to eat at the imperial table since the heretical Byzantine churchmen were also invited. ⁶⁹ The firm papal stand did not succeed in altering Leo V's policy but it did give moral support to the iconophiles and dashed any hopes that Leo might have had of a general council which would set aside Nicaea II and propound a more flexible policy with regard to the use of icons.

Leo was murdered on Christmas Day 820. His successor, Michael was a vigorous but uneducated soldier from Amorium in Phrygia. He tried to eliminate dissension by forbidding discussion and adopting a policy of conciliation. He recalled the iconophile exiles. Led by Theodore Studites, they still protested vehemently.

When they approached Michael he made it clear that they could do what they liked provided that they were outside the capital, but he himself was not prepared to venerate icons and would leave the Church as he found it. Finally, since the Emperor would not make any further concessions or consider the reappointment of Nicephorus as patriarch, there was deadlock and all further discussion on icons was prohibited. ⁷⁰ As Theodore Studites remarked early on in Michael's reign, 'The winter is past, but spring has not yet come'. ⁷¹ When Theodotus died Michael chose as patriarch Antony Cassimatas (c. January 821) who as bishop of Syllaeum in Pamphylia had been a leading member of the commission which drew up the florilegium for the 815 synod of Hagia Sophia. The ex-Patriarch Nicephorus still stood firm or he might possibly have been reinstated as a conciliatory gesture. He won the grudging praise of his old enemy Theodore Studites and he died in exile in 828. He had made a twofold contribution to the Church, first by his moderate policy in the days of orthodoxy, and then by his steadfast opposition to heresy supported by his theological writings. ⁷² Theodore never really gave Nicephorus the credit due to him, whatever belated tributes he paid. He certainly recognized him as 'the true Patriarch' who had shown courageous resistance, ⁷³ but it was not in rallying round the ex-Patriarch that he thought peace and orthodoxy would be found, but rather through the action of the Elder Rome. The old lurking mistrust between Theodore the monk and the secular clergy seemed to poison relations even in adversity. The significance of Theodore's appeals to Rome has been much debated, but it was a move which did not necessarily imply any more than the recognition of the value of support from the see which had always been accorded primacy of honour. Pope Pascal I reacted to Michael II as he had to Leo V. He sent a document defining orthodox doctrine and asking for the restoration of the Patriarch Nicephorus and of orthodoxy. His demands were refused and his legate, the Greek iconodule Methodius, was imprisoned. ⁷⁴ Michael did however attempt to solicit the good offices of the western Emperor, Louis the Pious, explaining his views and asking Louis to support the Byzantine embassy which was going to Rome. ⁷⁵ Louis however merely took the view of Charlemagne and the council of Frankfurt which was no help to Michael. In any case Michael had other pressing problems and could not allow the question of the icons to over-dominate his programme. Early in his reign with Bulgarian help he had successfully foiled the dangerous revolt in Asia Minor led by Thomas the Slav, joined by many dissident elements. But he had been unable to prevent the strategic islands of Crete and Sicily from falling to Muslim forces from Africa and Spain.

Michael II died in 829 leaving as his successor his son Theophilus who had been associated with him as co-Emperor from 821. Theophilus was a contrast to his father. Educated by the learned John the Grammarian (who later became Patriarch in 837), he was a cultured man, greatly attracted to Muslim civilization. As an iconoclast and an Amorian he did not receive fair appraisal in proMacedonian sources. Theophilus was rather more extreme than his father in his support of iconoclasm and he inflicted some cruel and much publicized punishments. But in general iconophiles could go their own way outside Constantinople. It was however significant that icon veneration evidently went on unchecked within the imperial household. Theophilus was aware of his wife Theodora's proclivities but he seems to have taken no effective steps to counter such tendencies. This was symptomatic of the general weakening of the iconoclast movement and though traces of iconoclasm probably lingered for some time there was no obstinate or widespread resistance when the death of Theophilus in 842 left a minor and a regency headed by the iconodule Empress Theodora who was bent on the restoration of orthodoxy.