Leo III and the Beginning of Iconoclasm
Leo III, defended a Muslim attack in 718, but only achieved victory agains the Muslims with the major help of the Bulgarians. Arabian raids against Constantinople would persist all through Leo III’s reign. In 12 short years Leo III went from a Syrian peasant to the Emperor of the Byzantines.
At the start of the eighth century the Byzantines felt that religious symbols stopped being about praising God, and became about praising themselves. Thus, started a period of iconoclasm. Iconoclasm is the purposeful destruction of one’s own religious icons, symbols, or monuments.
In 726, Leo III removed the golden Christ from Chalke Gate. The were build during the reign of Anastasius I (491-518) the gates were meant to celebrate the victory during the Isaurian War. After they were destroyed in the Nika riots, they were rebuilt by Justinian I, and a big golden statue of Christ was placed on the gate. Iconoclasm was more popular in Anatolia and the Levant, rather than in Europe. In 730, Leo III released an order which made an official iconoclasm policy across the whole empire.
Constantine V to Michael I
Constantine V (741-775), Leo III’s son, would strengthen his father’s iconoclast policies. A revolt caused by the iconodule (pro-icon) Artabasdus in 742. For a few months Artabasdus actually held power, but Constantine V was shortly returned to power.
Constantine V’s son, Leo IV (775-780) was also an iconoclast. But his wife, Irene, dominated his policies and she believed in iconodulism. In 787, Irene (797-802) reinstated a policy of iconodulism at the Council of Nicaea, thus revoking Leo III’s contradictory policy in 730. After Irene came a long chain of rulers, from Nicephorus I (802-811), Stauracius (811), to Michael I Rhagabe (811-813).
Social Studies for Fun 