Oxford history of the christian church

The opening conflict under Leo III.

The reasons for the flare-up of the controversy in the eighth century are still disputed and to such an extent that assessments vary from considering it as the most significant event in Byzantine history to regarding it as of almost only peripheral importance. In examining the causes (and course) of the struggle interpretations to some extent seem to reflect the individual interests of scholars, the more secularminded historian regarding the movement as part of wider imperial policies while to the Orthodox the fight for icons was so closely related to the basic Christological position as to involve the presentation of an integral part of their belief. Lossky even went as far as to say that icons were the expression of Orthodoxy as such. Moreover it is difficult to get a fair picture of the iconoclasts partly because their writings were destroyed except in so far as extracts were preserved because refuted in Orthodox councils, and partly because they understandably had a bad press in Orthodox chronicles and histories, though surviving oriental sources have done something to correct the Greek bias. ⁹

In attempting to discover why the movement against icons took official form under the eighth-century North Syrian (mistakenly called Isaurian) Emperors, Leo III and his son Constantine V, scholars have noticed a similar tendency among Muslims whose power was increasing so rapidly at this time. The two religions, Islam and Christianity, were now face to face. To some extent they shared common ground and had common roots and their relations were marked by more than perpetual antagonism, as the fruitful cross-fertilization in the long history of Byzantino-Arab relations was to reveal. It is therefore necessary to consider contacts, and debts if any, between Byzantium and Islam in initiating the policy of banning the use of icons.

Leo III, originally called Conon, was himself of North Syrian origin, born at Germaniceia (Marash). Thus he began life in a Jacobite milieu, though he must later have professed himself a supporter of Chalcedon since he held official positions in Byzan tium. Armenian sources seem to show him as a protector of Chalcedonian Orthodoxy, something that iconophile Byzantine sources would hardly stress. ¹⁰ Whether or not he was transplanted to Mesembria in Thrace by Justinian II in the late seventh century, as the Greek chronicler Theophanes says, ¹¹ appears to be uncertain and is not supported in the Patriarch Nicephorus' writings or in the oriental sources. Germaniceia was the scene of Byzantino-Arab warfare and it is probable that in his early years Leo may have been open to Muslim influence and he probably spoke Arabic.

It has often been claimed that there is a more direct link than this rather general early influence and that when Leo III made his first open move against icons in 726 he was motivated by the example of the Muslim ruler Yazid (720-4). But in fact very little is known about the Muslim edict against images. Theophanes makes brief mention of an edict promulgated in the year in which Yazid died (that is, between the beginning of the year, 1 September 723 and his death on 27 January 724), and he then adds 'Most people had not heard of his devilish edict'. ¹² It is unlikely that this little-known edict sparked off the action of Leo III, though he was known to have had a renegade Syrian, Beser, as one of his advisers. Yazid seems to have been engaged in a 'smear campaign' against the Christians and was subsequently made a scapegoat for Byzantine iconoclasm, as shown by John of Jerusalem's somewhat exaggerated account of the iconoclast movement at the council of Nicaea II in 787. But in the early Syriac and Arabic sources Leo III is not linked with Yazid's policy. ¹³ There is in fact eighth and ninth-century evidence that the Byzantines attributed iconoclasm to Jewish rather than Muslim influence, and with a good deal of legendary accretion, such as the introduction of an odd figure called Tessaracontapechys (forty cubits). ¹⁴ The connection between the Old Testament prohibition and the Jewish religion was understandably stressed in iconophile polemic and is found in a work attributed to Germanus, ¹⁵ as also in John of Damascus. ¹⁶ In this connection a Jewish soothsayer was said to have promised Leo a long reign if he banned images. It is this Jewish theme which was elaborated in John of Jerusalem's Narratio which he produced at the fifth session of Nicaea II, ¹⁷ only here he specifically described the Jew as a magician from Tiberias called Tessaracontapechys who made the promise not to Leo but to Yazid, and who thus caused the heresy to arise whereby the pseudo-bishop of Nacoleia imitated the lawless Jews and the impious Arabs. This variation was in keeping with the understandable desire of the council of Nicaea to avoid casting any kind of official blame on Leo III, who was after all the founder of the reigning house and the great-grandfather of the young Constantine VI.

Even so, the legendary embroidery in iconodule literature was already obscuring the motives and influences behind the controversy, though some corrective of this can now be found in the less biased oriental sources which also do justice to the North Syrian rulers' military achievements, even representing them as defenders of the faith. Added to this, the comparative paucity of sources and the survival of iconoclast material only in an iconophile setting must inevitably increase the difficulties of fair appraisal. The possibility of cross-currents of general Semitic influence, particularly on the eastern borders, if not proven, at least cannot be ruled out. But there is no evidence of direct contact between Leo and Yazid. There is however sufficient internal evidence to account for the movement on two grounds: popular practice and imperial policy. The growing use of icons, and particularly its abuse, had increasingly concerned churchmen, as has already been shown, and is reflected in the measure of support which the iconoclasts Leo III and Constantine V received. And the imperial aspect of the policy is revealed in an analysis of the two main phases of the movement in the eighth century.

Some of the few surviving documents of the very early phase refer to disquiet in Asia Minor. Patriarch Germanus of Constantinople (715-30) wrote to three prelates, Metropolitan John of Synnada, Bishop Constantine of Nacoleia (both of Phrygia), and Bishop Thomas of Claudiopolis (one of Leo III's close advisers), reproaching them with iconoclast views and, in the case of Thomas, with the actual destruction of icons. ¹⁸ These bishops were known to have visited Constantinople but there is no evidence as to whether they did, or did not, discuss their problem with the Emperor. All that can be said is that certain churchmen in Asia Minor held iconoclastic views. In the De Haeresibus et Synodis attributed to Germanus the author makes Constantine of Nacoleia the main leader of those departing from the traditions of the Fathers. ¹⁹ He regards supporters of such views as undesirable innovators rather than heretics and there is no hint of any kind of doctrinal implication. Nor is there any assertion of ecclesiastical independence, or outspoken criticism of the Emperor, though there is a suggestion that certain people (unspecified) at court ²⁰ are also acting against the devout. This attitude may have been politic on the author's part and was later stressed at the council of Nicaea (787) by Patriarch Tarasius who also castigated Constantine of Nacoleia as the originator of the movement. Such writings and letters, whether by Germanus or not, certainly indicate that there was local iconoclast feeling and action in AsiaMinor, but the authoritative lead was to come from the Emperor.

Leo III's first dramatic action against icons was to order the removal of the mosaic image of Christ above the Chalce entrance to the complex of imperial palace buildings. This was in the early autumn of 726 after a volcanic eruption which threw up a small island off Thera (Santorin) and Therasia, an event regarded by some as an expression of divine displeasure (presumably at the use of icons). The chronicler Theophanes says that Leo had already begun to speak out against icons, ²¹ but just how far his iconoclast views had previously been publicized is unknown, or whether such pronouncements (if made) did in fact cause the rebellion in the Helladic theme and the Cyclades which some historians attribute to purely economic reasons. The Chalce episode of 726 certainly provoked violent opposition from the Constantinopolitans. It has been suggested that there is evidence that an edict was also issued in this year, ²² in which case the Patriarch Germanus presumably temporized from 726 to 730 (the year of his deposition), which might account for his being described as 'two-faced' by the iconoclast council of 754. But on the whole the consensus of opinion supports 730 as the date of the first formal edict. On 17 January a silentium or imperial council was held in the palace in the Hall of the Nineteen Divans and a decree issued for the destruction of the icons of the saints. Germanus, who had hoped to change Leo's views, refused to put his signature to any decree of this kind and he therefore had to retire from office and went to live on his private estates where he died in 733. He was succeeded by his syncellus, Anastasius (730-54) who supported Leo. Something of the ravages of the iconoclasts at this time is known from the De Haeresibus et Synodis. These despoilers not only broke up and burnt images but destroyed or removed altar furniture and cloths and stripped relics of their valuable reliquaries, all of which was later condemned and forbidden by the iconoclast council of 754, thus confirming the account in the tract. On the nature of persecution against iconophiles there is relatively little information for Leo III's reign, and also very little on early iconoclast tenets. The infringement of the second commandment, the cult of icons with burning of candles and incense, worship rather than veneration of the saints, were all condemned. Christ was to be represented not in human form but by the Cross, and it is possible that the series of short iambic poems on the Cross by iconoclasts, preserved because they were commented on by the iconophile Theodore Studites, can be dated to this early period. ²³
Constantine V and the council of 754.

Under Leo III's son and successor Constantine V (741-75) the struggle was intensified both in action and in theory. Persecution if spasmodic, could be severe and the iconoclasts greatly widened their field of argument. No longer content with the charge of idolatry, they reinforced their position by developing a much more sophisticated theological approach recognizing that the relationship of icons to Christological teaching must be taken into account. The out standing champion of the iconophiles, John of Damascus (†749) had already launched a defence of icons on Christological grounds, though, writing as he did from Muslim territory, it is not clear whether his work was known to Constantine V, the theologian of the iconoclasts.

Constantin V was an able ruler who has been maligned in iconophile sources. Like his father he was a good general and administrator, but in temperament he was something of a contrast, passionately fond of horses (probably the origin of his nickname Copronymus rather than Germanus' murky baptismal story — he was also called Caballinus or 'Horsey'), much addicted to music and theatrical displays, more sophisticated and bolder in his metaphysical ventures than Leo had been, and opposed to monasticism as a way of life. In the early years of his reign he was faced with a major rebellion from his brother-in-law Artabasdus and he had to undertake continual campaigns against the advances of Muslim and Slav. It was understandable that he found it difficult to face additional commitments in Italy where both Pope and Byzantine governor were being pressed by the aggressive Lombards, hence the fateful papal request to the Franks for help in 753.

Thus the political pressures of his early years left Constantine little time for any iconoclast policy and there may even have been a temporary relaxation. Stephen the Younger's Life mentions confiscations and white-washed walls, but there was clearly nothing like the more severe persecution of the years after 754. Like his father, Constantine seems to have organized a certain amount of propaganda by holding meetings in the provinces and he got his episcopate to help him in looking out relevant iconoclast passages in patristic texts. But he took his father's work a stage further by attempting to get synodal approval for an iconoclast policy. A council was therefore summoned and it met in the imperial palace in Hieria on the Asian shore opposite Constantinople from 10 February to 8 August 754, and then on 8 August it moved to the church of the Blachernae in the capital for the final session. No patriarch was present until the last session. Anastasius, who had died early in 754 was only replaced on 8 August when ConstantineII (754-66) was installed; the three eastern patriarchs, all now living in Muslim territory, had been unable to send legates; nor had any come from the Pope, embroiled as he was with the Lombards and then forced to flee to Frankish territory. But 338 bishops were present so that it was hardly an unrepresentative assembly, though subsequent events seemed to indicate that a number of the bishops could scarcely have been dedicated iconoclasts and probably merely found it politic to conform. An avowed iconoclast, Theodosius, bishop of Ephesus, presided, assisted by two vice-presidents, Sisinnius, bishop of Perge in Pamphylia, and Basil, bishop of Pisidian Antioch.

The minutes of the council have not survived, though it is known that the three iconophiles specifically anathematized were Patriarch Germanus, 'the two-faced, the worshipper of wood', Mansur 'the Saracen-minded' (John of Damascus), and George of Cyprus (the author of the Nouthesia, or The admonition of an old man concerning the holy icons, written under Constantine V). ²⁴ The Definition (ӧροξ) can however be reconstructed as it was cited and refuted section by section in the sixth session of Nicaea II which restored Orthodoxy in 787. On that occasion each section was read out by Gregory, bishop of Caesarea and was then answered by Epiphanius, a patriarchal official, under the heading 'The refutation of the patched-up and falsely so-called Definition of the disorderly assembled crew of the Christianity-detractors.' ²⁵ .

The iconoclasts, who held that their council of 754 was the seventh oecumenical council, began with the traditional profession of belief in the apostolic and patristic traditions and in the preceding six general councils. The arguments of the iconoclasts, set out at length with supporting evidence and summed up at the end in the Anathemas, ²⁶ were directed against idolatry (condemned by the Bible and the fathers) and against the material nature of images. It was stressed that an image of Christ either circumscribed an uncircumscribable Godhead and confused the two natures (monophysite), or divided the human from the divine Person To the iconoclasts the only true image of Christ was the eucharist. They maintained that the true image of a saint was the reproduction of his virtue, that is, an ethical image within the believer and not any kind of material representation. ²⁷

In certain respects the council toned down Constantine V's more extreme views which were evident in his theological writings probably produced before the council met. Surviving evidence has had to be reconstructed from fragments cited in iconophile works refuting his views. ²⁸ Some of Constantine's wording on the two natures of Christ seems to indicate monophysite tendencies, and this gains support from Michael the Syrian's praise of him as 'orthodox' (that is, monophysite). Nor were his views on the Mother of God and the saints and relics those accepted by the six general councils. Hence explicit statements correcting these views in the definitions of the 754 council. For instance Definition 15 confessed Mary to be rightly and truly the Theotokos, our mediator with God. Constantine had not forbidden the cult of relics, though he was evidently opposed to this and was unwilling to use the title of 'saint' or 'holy', for instance thus speaking simply of the Church 'of the Apostles'.

In spite of the ruling in the council of 754 that forbade burning, looting, and misuse of sacred buildings, in the post-conciliar years these and other measures against icons and iconophiles were eventually stepped up. As a class the prelates were to some extent open to imperial pressure and on the whole they evidently gave support — at least outwardly — to official policy, and the measure of this is shown by the petitions for readmission to the Church from penitents on the restoration of icons, and by the difficulty of staffing the Church without the clergy whom the iconoclast bishops had ordained. In assessing the extent of the persecution and the distribution of the rival parties, whether on a geographical, a social, or ethnical basis, extreme caution is necessary because of the fragmentary nature of surviving evidence. The army was not predominantly iconoclast as such; most soldiers would be unlikely to be swayed by theological arguments, but on the other hand they would tend to support successful generals, such as the two first North Syrian rulers, and to that extent were iconoclast. There seems to be no evidence that Leo III deliberately won over Anatolian soldiery or appeased an Asian populace by an iconoclast policy. Regional support for iconoclasm is hard to identify and the old contention that the European provinces were for, the Asian against, icons breaks down before contradictory fragments of evidence. Perhaps the Life of Stephen the Younger gives some clue when the saint was reported as having advised his monks to disperse in view of imperial threats. He himself was imprisoned and his house on Mount Auxentius in Bithynia became virtually depopulated, and he suggested that his monks should seek a refuge in remote regions likely to be friendly, which he named as the maritime coasts of South Italy and the northern Black Sea or the southern coast of Asia Minor and Cyprus, that is, areas at a distance from Constantinople. But not all monasteries were iconophile as the change to non-figural decoration in some of the chapels in the Cappadocian rock monasteries shows. Some monks even held office as iconoclast prelates. Persecution or otherwise depended very much on the inclinations of the provincial governors.

With the formal ecclesiastical condemnation of the icons in 754 those refusing to abandon them could be punished as heretics, clerics degraded, monks and laity excommunicated. There were some spectacular instances of persecution going beyond the prescribed punishment, but these were spasmodic and were probably played up in the reports of iconodule literature. From 760 onwards Constantine's anger seems to have been directed against the monks. These had not, as often stated, been the object of iconoclast venom from the outset in Leo III's reign and the suggestion that they were persecuted for economic reasons or because they manufactured icons cannot be accepted. It is more probable that their obstinate refusal to abandon icons, together with a clash of outlook due to the secular-minded Constantine's failure to understand the ascetic way of life, accounts for the disbandment and appropriation of certain monasteries and the imprisonment or public ridicule of their inmates during the latter part of his reign. Under Leo III the movement in the Empire had only begun to get under way and there was relatively little persecution. It is true that what was to become the classic defence of icons was voiced by a monk, but it was from one living outside the Empire in Muslim territory — John of Damascus (the 'Saracen-minded Mansur' of the 754 anathemas).

From Constantine V's reign onwards the home ranks began to close. For instance the treatise Ad Constantinum Caballinum (wrongly attributed to John of Damascus and perhaps by John of Jerusalem) was a violent attack on the Emperor. ²⁹ In certain monastic centres opposition to iconoclasm was to harden. In particular the Studite house in Constantinople, led by its abbot Theodore, played an important role in the ninth century during the later stages of the controversy.

With the death of Constantine V in 755 iconoclasm died down, however long traces of it may have lingered, and the ninth-century revival was temporary and even at times somewhat half-hearted. In examining the causes for the eighth-century movement direct Jewish and Islamic influences must be rejected, though this is not to deny that they may have indirectly contributed to create the atmosphere which generated an iconoclast outlook. ³⁰ Within the Byzantine Empire there was an age-long undercurrent of anxiety concerning the growing popular use — and abuse — of icons and this was used to support what was essentially an imperial initiative owing its effectiveness to Leo III and Constantine V. It may have been for reasons of policy that the importance of Bishop Constantine of Nacoleia in the early stages of the movement was exaggerated both by the Second council of Nicaea and in early iconophile literature; he later peters out and is not found in the non-Greek sources. This is not to say that there was no genuine iconoclast feeling in the Asian provinces, but there seems to have been no systematic local organization of eighth-century iconoclasm (either then or subsequently), though there were cruel outbursts in some regions, as that promoted by Michael Lachanodracon, the governor of the Thracesian theme in western Asia Minor. It depended on the Emperor and it was he who initiated the prohibition, though it is true that Constantine V thought it desirable to get the backing of a church council and even had to suffer it to modify certain of his more radical views. In the legal code, the Ecloga, promulgated just before his iconoclast measures, Leo III made clear his views on his own position. He was acting in the Byzantine tradition as the Viceroy of God. He had been handed the power of sovereignty and had been commanded, in the words of St Peter, to 'tend the faithful flock'. This applied not only to the promotion of justice in the spirit of a Moses or a Solomon but equally to matters of faith, and Leo, like other Byzantine rulers, felt responsible for the good conduct of ecclesiastical as well as secular affairs. This Byzantine conception of the ruler's divinely appointed mission was further reinforced by the Graeco-Roman tradition of an Emperor cult which had been adapted within the Christian framework, again stressing the Emperor's direct relationship to God. It is unlikely that the icon with its charismatic powers was really seen as a serious challenge to the imperial portrait. Constantine, even more than his father, certainly committed himself to the removal of the image from religious life and it was he who reinforced his position by building up theological support for iconoclasm. His reign is the high watermark of the movement.