The controversy over the images
continued to rage (A.D. 780). Leo IV, the son of Copronymus, seemed to be less
harsh in the beginning; but he renewed the persecution as soon as he believed
himself to be in control. He soon died. Constantine, his ten-year-old son,
succeeded him and reigned under the guardianship of his mother, Empress Irene.
At this point, things began to take a different turn (A.D. 784). Paul, the
patriarch of Constantinople, declared toward the end of his life that he had
combatted the veneration of images against his conscience, and he retired to a
monastery. There, in the presence of the empress, he deplored the misfortune of
the Church of Constantinople, separated as it was from the four patriarchal
sees, and told her that the holding of an ecumenical council would be the only
remedy for this unhappy situation. His successor Tarasius maintained that the
question had not been judged in the proper order; since the point of departure
had been a decree from the emperor, an improper council had ensued, while, in
matters of religion, it is the duty of the council to initiate the procedure
and the duty of the emperors to support the judgment of the Church. For this
reason, he accepted the patriarchate only on condition that the ecumenical
council be held; and in fact it was begun at Constantinople (A.D. 787) and
continued at Nicaea. The pope sent his legates, and the council of the
iconoclasts was condemned. Henceforth we detest them as men who, following the
example of the Saracens, accused the Christians of idolatry. It was decided
that images should be honored in memory and out of love for the originals; this
is called by the council "relative worship, veneration, and honorary
salutation" as opposed to "supreme worship and veneration of the
image, or entire submission," which the council reserved for God alone.
Not only the legates of the Holy See and the patriarch of Constantinople in
person were present, but also legates of the other patriarchal sees which at
that time were occupied by the infidels. Their mission has sometimes been questioned;
but no one has questioned that, far from disavowing their legates, all these
sees have accepted the Council without voicing any opposition, and that it has
been accepted by the entire Church. (Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet, Discourse on Universal History, ed. Orest
Ranum [trans. Elborg Forster; Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1976], 105-6)
