Traditionally, the beginning of iconoclasm
is attributed to Leo III (r. 717-741), in particular, on the occasion of a
volcanic eruption on or around 726, which may have been interpreted as a sign
of divine displeasure. In 730, Leo held a silention, a meeting of court
and church officials theoretically meant to advise, but in reality to receive
the words of the emperor, at which bishops may have been asked to sign a decree
declaring the cross to be the only true object worthy of veneration. The
problem with this account is there no contemporary evidence. There is no
surviving iconoclastic decree of Leo III, no account of the silention.
All evidence is derived from later iconodule, or pro-veneration sources. The
only evidence of an imperial edict comes from an account in the Liber
Pontificalis where a vague reference or an order regarding icons is mentioned
in the life of Gregory II, and only involves possible personal correspondence
between the emperor and pope. While it is not impossible, all evidence is
circumstantial and problematic, and accounts of contemporary resistance to Leo’s
policies can be easily explained by fiscal policy.
While Leo may have been
ambivalent towards images, and perhaps took some actions to curtail their
widespread recognition, it was Leo’s son, Constantine V (r. 741-775), who would
become the most infamous iconoclastic emperor. In addition to theologically attacking
the great defender of icons John of Damascus, who ironically wrote his defence
from the safety of Islamic-held Syria, Constantine convened the synod of Hieria
in 754 to formally condemn icons. Due to a vacancy in the see of
Constantinople, the council was presided over by Theodosius, the bishop of
Ephesus. With Rome not receiving an invitation and the remaining three
patriarchates under Islamic control, it was the first time an imperially convened
ecumenical council was held without any patriarchal representation, a factor
that assisted in its future rejection. (Ryan W. Stickler, “Dissidence and Persecution,”
in The Cambridge Companion to the Byzantine Church, ed. Andrew Mellas
and Bronwen Neil [Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2026], 120-21)
Further Reading:
Answering
Fundamentalist Protestants and Roman Catholic/Eastern Orthodox on Images/Icons
