![\"holy](\"http:\/\/stmichaelarchangel.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/holy-fathers-icon.jpg\"){kind=icon}
<\/a>Emergence (717-754)\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong>\nEmperor Leo II & the Iconoclastic Council<\/i><\/strong><\/p>\n
Council of Nicaea (787)<\/strong> Full Restoration & Final Extinction (815-842)<\/strong> <\/i><\/p>\n The exact origin of the movement is obscure. By 724 two bishops supported Emperor Leo III in opposition to the traditional views of Patriarch Germanus I on the veneration of images. Historians are divided as to Leo\u2019s basic motivation. The very shallowness of the theology of\u00a0 images in the period makes any real evaluation difficult.<\/p>\n The practice of venerating icons was forbidden in Byzantium for more than a century and a half. The entire state machinery and the high offices of the Church were in the hands of men who were committed to iconoclasm.<\/p>\n In 780 Empress Irene assumed power in the name of her son, Constantine VI, who was still a minor. After much difficulty, she convoked the Council of Nicaea II (787 CE), determined to restore the veneration of icons. The Council restored icons to a place of honor. When, however, the Acts<\/i> of the Council were\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 distributed to the other four Patriarchs, Emperor Charlemagne opposed them. He\u00a0\u00a0 was upset because the engagement of his daughter to Emperor Constantine VI was broken. He therefore asked the Patriarch of Rome to oppose the Acts<\/i> of Nicaea II. The Patriarch of Rome did not immediately send his approval because the Patriarch of Constantinople\u00a0 had\u00a0 refused to restore territories in Italy and Illyria which Emperor Leo III had given to him in 773. It should be noted that even in the East the Acts<\/i> of Nicaea II were not recognized until 843. Its ecumenical status was only confirmed by the Council of Constantinople IV in 869-870. For a Council to be declared ecumenical, all five Patriarchs had to approve a Council\u2019s Acts. <\/i>In 880,\u00a0 after Rome finally approved the Acts<\/i> of Nicaea II, the entire Church embraced the legitimacy of the veneration of sacred images<\/i> and Iconoclasm was\u00a0\u00a0 finally brought to an end. As you can tell, politics played a role in this struggle.<\/p>\n We continue to venerate icons to this day<\/i>.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The term Iconoclasm refers to a period in the history of the Byzantine Church when there was extreme opposition to the\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 representation of the human figure and the veneration of images, the two being held inseparable. This historical period can … Continue reading
\nFirst Reestablishment<\/i><\/strong><\/p>\n