a religious-political movement directed against the Christian worship of images.
In Byzantium, Iconoclasm dates from the eighth to the first half of the ninth century. It reflected at various stages the interests of different social groups; the forerunners of Iconoclasm were the heretical movements at the turn of the seventh century (particularly pronounced in Armenia and Phrygia), whose protest against the ruling church was accompanied by a rejection of the veneration of images. Within the Byzantine ruling class the struggles over the worship of images were in effect a struggle for power. In 730, Emperor Leo III prohibited the veneration of images and simultaneously confiscated the church’s property, thereby giving important material resources to the government and the original supporters of Iconoclasm, the provincial nobility. The nobility of the capital declared themselves against Iconoclasm and were supported by the papacy, which hoped to use the polemics over the worship of images to free southern Italy from Byzantium’s political and ecclesiastical leadership. The most resolute opponents of Iconoclasm were the monks, who had close ties with the nobility of the capital. In 754 at a church council in Hiereia (a suburb of Constantinople) the basic principles of Iconoclasm were formulated, and the veneration of images was declared a heresy. To the Iconoclasts the worship of images was idolatry. At the end of the eighth century Iconoclasm declined (this was furthered by the consolidation of the capital nobility and the loss of the populace’s support for official Iconoclasm), and in 787 the Council of Nicaea reinstated the veneration of icons.
The second stage in the movement began during the reign of Leo V (813–20) and was a more democratic movement; the populace actively opposed the church’s domination, the monks, and the nobility of the capital. However, the provincial nobility withdrew from the movement since at this time their demands had for the most part been met. The danger of a growing antifeu-dal popular movement led the provincial and capital nobility to join forces. The movement was finally defeated, and in 843 veneration of images was reinstated.
Iconoclasm also appeared in western Europe in the 16th century during the Reformation (Karlstadt’s speeches in Germany, the Iconoclast Rebellion of 1566 in the Netherlands).