726 to 843Documented
Iconoclasm
Εἰκονομαχία
Two periods of imperial war on the icons, during which the Orthodox withdrew communion from iconoclast bishops before and until the councils ruled.
Established chronology
- 726 to 787First Iconoclasm; ended by the Seventh Ecumenical Council (Nicaea II, 787).
- 815 to 843Second Iconoclasm under Leo V and successors; ended by the “Triumph of Orthodoxy” in 843.
Synodal decisions
- Nicaea II (787) restored the icons and defined the distinction between veneration and worship; 843 confirmed the restoration.
Actions of the saints
- St John of Damascus defended the icons doctrinally; St Theodore the Studite refused communion with the iconoclast hierarchy and suffered exile.
Competing interpretations
- Whether the confessors' preconciliar withdrawal is a model that generalises, or a case bound to its specific conditions of open, imperially imposed heresy.
Related councils
Related saints
Bibliography
- ACO ser. 2, tom. 3 (Nicaea II).
- St John of Damascus, Three Treatises on the Divine Images.