Oxford history of the christian church

4. The restoration of orthodoxy in 843: the Synodicon.

In directing the regency for the two-year-old Michael III (842-67) his mother Theodora was assisted by a small council of which Theoctistus, the logothete of the drome, was the most influential member. Theodora's personal religious views were well known, though possibly she may have hesitated to introduce any immediate reversal of her husband's policy. Iconoclasm seemed to have been accepted in a quiet way by the army and the civil service as well as by many bishops and some monasteries. The able Patriarch John the Grammarian was a dedicated iconoclast. On the other hand it was likely that many who had accepted iconoclasm under pressure as a matter of expediency, particularly in its more tolerant and modified form, would be ready to reverse their allegiance. As previously, the restoration of icons was strongly supported by outstanding and powerful monastic leaders, such as Joannices, doyen of the communities on Bithynian Mount Olympus, and though Theodore Studites had died in 826 the movement had not weakened. The steps whereby orthodoxy was restored are variously described in the different sources. ⁷⁶ There seemed to be two elements on the iconodule front — the regent's party and the monastic party. Theodora (no doubt fortified by Methodius) was supported by the logothete Theoctistus and possibly her uncle Manuel, her brothers Bardas and Petronas, and another relative, Sergius Nicetiates. ⁷⁷ But already there could be perceived that latent antagonism between Theoctistus and Bardas which was to erupt later in the reign. Personal and political ambitions were closely interwoven with religious policy, and the underlying rift between seculars and monks and their respective partisans long remained, despite the return to orthodoxy.

It was more than a year before orthodoxy was formally restored on the first Sunday of Lent 843, to be known in future as Orthodoxy Sunday. Unlike the restoration of 787 no general council was held. After preliminary discussions, a local ecclesiastical assembly having no claim to oecumenicity met in Constantinople. ⁷⁸ This took place in the Kanikleion, the palace of Theodora's minister Theoctistus. It appears to have been attended by clergy, monks, and laymen. John VII the Grammarian, who was then still Patriarch, was summoned, but refused to attend and remained entrenched in the patriarcheion. He was deposed on 3 March 843 and was only with difficulty dislodged from his apartments. His successor was Methodius (843-7), elected the next day and enthroned a week later on Sunday, 11 March 843. Methodius, for a time an iconodule refugee in Rome, had been imprisoned and ill-treated by Michael II, apparently because he happened to be the bearer of an unwelcome letter to the Emperor from Pope Pascal I. Theophilus later on had somewhat inconsistently restored him to favour, iconophile though he was. Theophilus admired his learning and allowed him to live in the imperial palace. ⁷⁹

There are few details on the procedure of the council of 843. The acta are not extant and it is doubtful whether documents can be assigned to this council. ⁸⁰ There appeared to be general agreement on the confirmation of Nicaea II and the restoration of the icons, and florilegia supporting the traditional veneration were at hand. The only obstacle, according to a persistent tradition, which may or may not be legendary, was the Empress Theodora's desire to avoid any slight on her husband's memory. Various devices to get round this problem are recorded, ranging from a supposed deathbed repentance to Theophilus' appearance in a dream to one Symeon appealing from the next world for mercy. If Theodora did press this point it is easy to appreciate at least one of her motives: she desired to remove any taint of heresy from the father of her son, the reigning Emperor. It may have been for this reason that, though in practice an iconodule, she was, as Bury thought, hesitant about overturning iconoclasm. Bury considered that the sources suggested Theoctistus, possibly with the magister Manuel, as the driving force. ⁸¹ In the event, there was no mention of Theophilus: the iconoclast councils were abrogated and Nicaea II restored.

The first formal celebration of the return to orthodoxy took place on the day of Methodius's enthronement, the first Sunday of Lent, 11 March 843, and there are varying accounts as to what happened on this occasion. In the tenth-century De Cerimoniis of Constantine VII protocol was described 'as it used to be', and then 'as it is now'. In the first part of the ceremony no change is noted and this account may well represent what actually occurred in 843. 'On the Saturday evening the Patriarch goes to the church of the all-holy Theotokos in Blachernae. And with him are the metropolitans, archbishops and bishops who happen to be in the City then, as well as the clergy of the Great Church and of the churches outside, together with all those leading the solitary monastic life within the God-guarded City, and all those who are to celebrate the mid-night office in the holy church.' The next day the Patriarch and all with him leave the church which was situated near the north-west land walls and process through the city to Hagia Sophia on the eastern side. There they would meet (on this first occasion) the Empress Theodora and the little Emperor and the court who enter the church from the palace. ⁸² Then the festival is celebrated, the statement read out with its anathemas and also its remembrances for the orthodox dead and its acclamations for the orthodox living. ⁸³ Afterwards Theodora gave a banquet, but, as the De Cerimoniis recounts, this subsequently became the privilege of the Patriarch.

The core of the Synodicon was probably written by Methodius for the first anniversary of the event. ⁸⁴ The commemoration appears to have taken definite shape by the last quarter of the ninth century at latest. It is attested for the year 899 in the Cletorologion of Philotheus and by then had become part of the annual liturgical cycle. Its place in the office varies: for instance, it might be proclaimed from the ambo before or after the Epistle during the Divine Liturgy, or during or after Orthros. ⁸⁵ As the festival of Orthodoxy took root throughout the Empire many variant practices arose and many different recensions, according to the individual needs of the Great Church in the capital or the smaller churches in the provinces. Further, as later generations met new problems of heresy, the original Synodicon had to be expanded to deal with these. So there came into existence the three main groups described as the Macedonian, the Comnenian, and the Palaeologan versions. ⁸⁶ In this way the Synodicon became a living witness to the orthodox life of the Church.