The Age of Iconoclasm

711 – 857 A.D.

The First Iconoclasts

Irene

Charlemagne

Krum

The Return of Iconoclasm

Theophilus

The Images Restored

While the chaos following by the death of Justinian II was relatively short lived, the Empire would soon be plagued by a new form or religious turmoil more far reaching than any known so far. Thus began the Iconoclastic age of Byzantine history, to be followed by devastating conflicts that raged towards the end of this period.

After Justinian II three Emperors ruled in rapid succession (~2 years each). After this rather anarchic period, a new hope arose in the form of the Emperor Leo III. As a young man he had entered into the service of Justinian II and years later when serving as the governor of the Anatolikon Theme managed to turn back an invasion by two Saracen armies through negotiation.

The Empire at the Ascension of Leo III

He was able to do this due in part to his in-depth knowledge of Arab psychology and language (it is speculated his mother tongue may indeed have been Arabic). In 717 A.D. he marched on Constantinople and through diplomacy managed to have the reigning Emperor deposed, and was crowned in his place. Emperor Leo III

That very summer an Omayyad army marched through Anatolia, crossed the Hellespont, and laid siege to Constantinople, while their fleet arrived to blockade the city in September. The city held out well however, and the Byzantine fleet inflicted horrific losses on the opposing navy.

That winter was also the coldest anyone could recall, leading to famine among the besiegers (and it was rumoured, cannibalism). To top it all off, The Bulgar king Tervel led a massive force to attack the Arabs in the flank, and allegedly killed 22,000 of them. Ultimately the Omayyad forces retreated back to Syria, while their fleet was completely annihilated by storms en route. The Siege of Constantinople, in conjunction with the Battle of Tours a few years later, served to put an end to the Arab Conquests in the west and saved the interior of Europe from invasion.

Despite all this Leo III was best known for initiating the policy of Iconoclasm (the smashing of Icons). Icons are essentially religious works of art, in Orthodox Christianity often depicting Christ, the Virgin Mary, or any number of saints and other religious subjects.

But the popularity of Icons had in some places verged into actual worship, and as such was condemned by some as idolatry. In 726 A.D. Leo III ordered the destruction of a major Icon of Christ, causing massive unrest in the western provinces of the Empire (and mutiny in the Exarchate of Ravenna, where subsequently the Venetian Republic would be founded).

In 730 A.D. a general order went out ordering the destruction of all Icons, and many monks fled with these precious works to the west, where the Church was not at all in favour of this policy. This further exacerbated tensions between the western and eastern churches, which would continue until the final schism some three centuries later.

While Leo III had secured Byzantium at last against its eastern foes, with his death in 741 A.D. he had left the Empire more bitterly divided than ever before. His successor Constantine V developed an almost pathological hatred of Iconodules (those who supported Icons), but moved more cautiously to persecute them. Likewise, the monasteries of the Empire suffered under his rule: while there was no excuse for the violence, the monasteries were an unproductive drain on the Empire, and one that was never totally solved.

In military affairs Constantine V was highly successful, partly due to the ongoing Omayyad civil war.

The end of that conflict saw the downfall of the Omayyad Caliphate, and the emergence of the Baghdad centered Abbasid Caliphate, which being more focused on the east of their empire, allowed the Byzantines in turn to focus on their western borders.

Italy however was primarily left to fend for itself, and the Exarchate was extinguished by Lombard invaders.

The Empire c.754 A.D.

In response to the Pope's desperate appeal the Frankish King Pepin the Short defeated the Lombards and entrusted the former Imperial lands to the Pope in the mid 750's, creating the medieval institution of the Papal States.

With the death of Constantine V, the leadership of the Empire effectively passed into the hands of Irene, his son's wife. Upon her husband’s death, the Emperorship passed to Irene's own son, Constantine VI, who was likewise dominated by his mother.

Irene fought hard to moderate Iconoclasm, but had to deal with foreign attackers and internal political and religious disputes. She was however successful in improving relations with the western church by opposing Iconoclasm, and its condemnation at the Seventh Ecumenical Council in787 A.D. is thought to have been major factor in keeping Byzantium connected theologically to the West.

Irene however continued to have political problems, and after a series of back and forth manoeuvrings, Irene had her own son blinded so brutally that he died of the injury. She then reigned as Byzantium's first ever Empress, ruling fully in her own right. That rule however seemed destined to implode at any time, as the economic, military, and political systems were in chaos. What finally pushed things over the edge was a marriage proposal.

Son of king Pepin the Short, Charlemagne had turned his semi-tribal kingdom into an imperial realm unrivalled in the west since the days of Imperial Rome.

He also continued his father's policy of aiding the Popes, and in gratitude Pope Leo III crowned him as Emperor on Christmas Day 800 A.D.

In doing so the Pope established his ability to bestow imperial crowns upon rulers and by extension his superiority over them. While Charlemagne may have been displeased by this turn of events, it did have two immediate effects, transforming the realm of the Franks into the Carolingian Empire, while also allowing Charlemagne to propose marriage to Irene.

Charlemagne had power and the energy of his newly imperious people behind him, while Irene headed the only stable, long-term major power in the Mediterranean world, as well as enjoying the dignity of Imperial Rome. Moreover there was the possibility of such a union producing an heir who could inherit both realms. This would unite the territories of the two Empires under one crown, recreating the glory of the old Roman Empire, an incredibly tantalizing prospect.

To the Byzantines however this was anathema: in their view there was one God in Heaven and one Emperor on Earth, and all others were usurpers and heretics. Moreover, unlike the Franks they lacked Salic Law, so while in the west only a man might rule, the Byzantines never questioned Irene's right to rule because of her gender (fitness yes, right no).

Thus to prevent a semiliterate barbarian from inheriting their Empire, the authorities arrested Irene and exiled her, and her death a year later put the issue to rest. While it may seem an insignificant technicality to us, to the Byzantines the existence of two Christian empires challenged their entire world view. Henceforth the Christian world would never again be the same.

With the end of Irene's reign, a series of generally unlucky or inept successors followed. The return of stability and success however went hand in hand with the return of Iconoclasm, before that force was finally, mercifully, extinguished.

Irene was replaced by her former Grand Logothete (official in charge of finance), the new Emperor Nicephorus I. The new Emperor was said to have been of Arab descent, his ancestors originally hailing from Syria. Emperor Nicephorus I

He better than anyone knew the deplorable state of the Imperial finance, as well as the problems caused by the large scale movement of refugees into the Capital (a degradation of the tax base and manpower pool, with an increase in the number of urban poor). Nicephorus I managed through expensive and unpopular measures to put the economy onto a sounder footing and bring peace with the Abbasids.

However, the menace of the Bulgarian ruler Krum threatened the Empire's European territories, having destroyed a Byzantine army and utterly destroyed a powerful fortress at Serdica.

Krum (The Fearsome)

Nicephorus I led two expeditions against Krum, destroying the Bulgar capital twice in the process, but in the end his army was trapped and destroyed in 811 A.D.

Nicephorus himself was killed (the first Emperor to die in battle since Valens), and his skull coated in silver and used by Krum as a drinking cup.

His legacy however did include the creation of the Pax Nicephori, a peace treaty with the Carolingian Empire recognizing its authority in the west (albeit that Empire's disintegration a few decades later made this largely academic).

Europe Shortly After the Death of Nicephorus I, c.814 A.D.

Unfortunately, his immediate successors proved unable to stem Krum's inexorable tide.

Ultimately it was only with the ascension of Leo V in 813 A.D. that any sort of effective resistance was mounted.

While the Byzantines were still unable to best Krum in combat, a sudden case of death took care of the problem for them. After this, the Empire was, for once, actually at peace with everyone.

Leo V proceeded to re-establish Iconoclasm: not out of religious conviction, but because after several Iconodule Emperors (and Empress) the people pined for the glory days of the Iconoclast Emperors.

While there was no vicious persecution, the losses to Byzantine art must have been immense.

Several years into Leo V reign his best friend Michael was implicated in a plot against him, and was sentenced to die in December 820 A.D. However, Michael managed to escape his prison and with his supporters, murder the Emperor and assume the throne as Michael II.

Emperor Michael II

Though brutish and uneducated, his reign was one of moderation and common sense. The very next year however, the Empire suffered a massive rebellion under the Emperor's one time comrade, Thomas the Slav.

While this rebellion (possibly the largest and most important in Byzantine history) was defeated within a few years, two major losses struck the Empire shortly thereafter can be directly blamed upon the damage it inflicted upon the state.

The first was the loss of the island of Crete to a group of Arab exiles from Iberia, who turned it into a nest of piracy.

The second was the invasion of Sicily, starting a war which culminated 50 years later with the fall of Syracuse to the Saracens.

Though the Empire attempted to deal with both issues, the proximity of Crete meant that it ultimately took priority.

While Michael II was an Iconoclast, he was even more tolerant than Leo V, and won popularity by his moderation. Upon his death in 829 A.D. he was the first Emperor in half a century to die peacefully in bed and to leave a strong, healthy son to succeed him.

Unlike his father, the Emperor Theophilus was an intellectual as well as a military man, and was both committed to justice for his people as well as the finer things in life.

Emperor Theophilus

He never drove the Empire into debt however, and as he left the Empire richer than he found it, there has been speculation ever since on just how he managed to do that.

The great irony of Theophilus life was that despite his great love of Arab art and culture, he would be at war with them for virtually his entire reign.

Shortly into his rule the Abbasid Caliphate invaded the Empire, and after several years of inconclusive back and forth campaigning, the Abbasids sacked the city of Amorium, the Imperial family's hometown and the second city of the Empire.

Only 42 prisoners survived the march back to the Caliphate, and after 7 years of refusing to renounce their faith were executed on 6 March 845 (known to posterity as the 42 Martyrs of Amorium).

The shock of this catastrophe launched the Byzantines into negotiations with the Carolingian Empire, with hopes of a joint offensive across the Mediterranean and possibly into North Africa itself. Had they succeeded the Crusades might have occurred a quarter of a millennium earlier

However, the Abbasids made no follow up to Amorium, and in early 842 A.D. both the Caliph and the Emperor died within a few weeks of each other.

While Theophilus had been a moderate Iconoclast like his father, he himself realized that for a variety of reasons the power of Iconoclasm was all but spent, and when he died, so too did the Iconoclastic age.

The new Emperor Michael III was a minor, and his mother and guardians were generally Iconodules, who through careful manoeuvring managed to have a fellow Iconodule elected Patriarch, while a council was called that confirmed the findings of the Iconodule seventh ecumenical council.

This was a triumph as essential to the Empire culturally as its struggles with the Persians and Arabs had been politically.

One of the few concessions to Iconoclasts was the seemingly tacit agreement to confine future art to the 2-D. Had Byzantium produced sculptors and carvers of the same quality as its painters and mosaicists, the world today would be far richer indeed.

Over the next 13 years or so the young Emperor's mother & her advisor Theoctistus oversaw wide ranging educational reforms that laid the groundwork for the coming Byzantine renaissance, while directing the economy and military successfully.

Where they must be condemned was in their persecution of the Paulicians, an inoffensive religious community in the Empire. Told to recant or die, 100,000 were killed, and the survivors fled to the Caliphate, where they proved to be courageous & loyal allies to the Caliph. This proved to be Byzantium's only attempt to annihilate an entire religious community (which is far, FAR more than can be said for most civilizations).

When Michael III came of age he chafed at his domineering mother, and along with his uncle Bardas killed Theoctistus and was declared sole Emperor in 856 A.D. Fortunately for the Empire Bardas was an even more brilliant leader than Theoctistus had been, and indelibly put his stamp on what many consider to be the succeeding golden age of Byzantium.

In the immediate future the Emperor and his military leaders went on the offensive, and in 863 A.D. 2 absolutely crushing victories were won over Abbasid armies within 10 weeks of each other. With this Amorium had been avenged & the tide was beginning to turn.

Since the earliest days of the Arab invasions Byzantium had been on the defensive. Now they were increasingly on the attack: stronger, better equipped, and with a new spirit & confidence in the air.