Menu
Home
People
Places
Arts
History
Plants & Animals
Science
Life & Culture
Technology
Reference.org
Iconodulism
open-in-new
<h2 id="history">History</h2> <p>In contrast to moderate or respectful <a href="/facts/Adoration/qmIQpUfY">adoration</a>, various forms of <a href="/facts/Latria/suY3DJy4">latria</a> of icons (<i>iconolatry</i>) were also starting to appear,[<i>when?</i>] mainly in popular worship. Since <a href="/facts/Latria/suY3DJy4">veritable (full) adoration</a> was reserved for God alone, such an attitude towards icons as objects was seen as a form of <a href="/facts/Idolatry/VRA0DKEd">idolatry</a>. In reaction to that, the idolatrous misuse of icons was criticized and by the beginning of the 8th century some radical forms of criticism (<i>iconoclasm</i>) were also starting to emerge, arguing not only against adoration of icons, but also against any form of adoration and use of icons in religious life.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3"><sup>3</sup></a> </p><p>The <a href="/facts/Iconoclastic_controversy/Cv3hwLSx">iconoclastic controversy</a> emerged in the <a href="/facts/Byzantine_Empire/njEELXWF">Byzantine Empire</a> and lasted through the 8th and the 9th centuries. The most famous <i>iconodules</i> (proponents of the veneration of icons) during that time were saints <a href="/facts/John_of_Damascus/PtPyfYq1">John of Damascus</a> and <a href="/facts/Theodore_the_Studite/1fa9k2ao">Theodore the Studite</a>. The controversy was instigated by the Byzantine Emperor <a href="/facts/Leo_III_the_Isaurian/V8zhxbSK">Leo III</a> in 726,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a> when he ordered the removal of the image of Christ above the <a href="/facts/Chalke_Gate/0dVedJHU">Chalke Gate</a> of the imperial palace in Constantinople.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a> A wider prohibition of icons followed in 730. St. <a href="/facts/John_of_Damascus/PtPyfYq1">John of Damascus</a> argued successfully that to prohibit the use of icons was tantamount to denying the <a href="/facts/Incarnation_(Christianity)/6sVzRAnK">incarnation</a>, the presence of the Word of God in the material world. Icons reminded the church of the physicality of God as manifested in <a href="/facts/Jesus_Christ/1q0H0m4n">Jesus Christ</a>. </p><p>Kissing and respected worship (<a href="/facts/Greek_language/pzDd6eIz">Greek</a>: «ἀσπασμόν καί τιμητικήν προσκύνησιν»; <a href="/facts/Latin_language/pM3Kge85">Latin</a>: <i>«osculum et honorariam adorationem»</i>), incense and candles<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6"><sup>6</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7"><sup>7</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:8" href="#fn:8"><sup>8</sup></a> for icons was established by the <a href="/facts/Second_Council_of_Nicaea/YQfFv44k">Second Council of Nicaea</a> (Seventh <a href="/facts/Ecumenical_Council/I9e3cFPL">Ecumenical Council</a>) in 787. The Council decided that icons should not be destroyed, as was advocated and practiced by the <a href="/facts/Byzantine_iconoclasm/Cv3hwLSx">iconoclasts</a>, nor veritable (full) worshiped or adored <a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:9" href="#fn:9"><sup>9</sup></a> (<a href="/facts/Greek_language/pzDd6eIz">Greek</a>: «ἀληθινήν λατρείαν»; <a href="/facts/Latin_language/pM3Kge85">Latin</a>: <i>«veram latriam»</i>), as was practiced by <a href="/facts/Iconolatry/2K1Hvr0w">iconolatrists</a>, but they needed to be kissed and they needed respectful worship as symbolic representations of God, angels or saints.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:10" href="#fn:10"><sup>10</sup></a> Such a position was approved by <a href="/facts/Pope_Adrian_I/vQyPnQcW">Pope Adrian I</a>, but due to mis-translations of conciliar acts from Greek into Latin, a controversy arose in the <a href="/facts/Frankish_kingdom/0fNvWt3n">Frankish kingdom</a>, resulting in the creation of <a href="/facts/Libri_Carolini/WeXIhLVR">Libri Carolini</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:11" href="#fn:11"><sup>11</sup></a> The last outburst of iconoclasm in the Byzantine Empire was overcome at the <a href="/facts/Council_of_Constantinople_(843)/WpMmbzkF">Council of Constantinople (843)</a>, which reaffirmed the adoration of icons in an event celebrated as the <a href="/facts/Feast_of_Orthodoxy/NdBwh30N">Feast of Orthodoxy</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:12" href="#fn:12"><sup>12</sup></a> </p><p>The <a href="/facts/Council_of_Trent/vRPIBssJ">Council of Trent</a> (XIX Ecumenical Council of the Catholic Church) in 1563 confirmed iconodulism. But this council, unlike the Council of Nicaea, used a different expression in relation to icons: "honour and veneration" (<a href="/facts/Latin_language/pM3Kge85">Latin</a>: <i>honorem et venerationem</i>). Its decree reads: "we kiss, and before which we uncover the head, and prostrate ourselves, we adore Christ; and we venerate the saints, whose similitude they bear" (<a href="/facts/Latin_language/pM3Kge85">Latin</a>: <i>«ita ut per imagines, quas osculamur, et coram quibus caput aperimus, et procumbimus, Christum adoremus, et Sanctos quorum illae similitudinem gerunt, veneremur»</i>).<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:13" href="#fn:13"><sup>13</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:14" href="#fn:14"><sup>14</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="see-also">See also</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Byzantine_iconoclasm/Cv3hwLSx">Byzantine iconoclasm</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Iconoclasm/wHLUL1Kk">Iconoclasm</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Iconography/YUcIQLN7">Iconography</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Idolatry/VRA0DKEd">Idolatry</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Iconolatry/2K1Hvr0w">Iconolatry</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Council_of_Constantinople_(843)/WpMmbzkF">Council of Constantinople (843)</a></li></ul> <h2 id="sources">Sources</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/John_Meyendorff/wUuvmWVu">Meyendorff, John</a> (1989). <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=6J_YAAAAMAAJ"><i>Imperial unity and Christian divisions: The Church 450–680 A.D.</i></a> The Church in history. Vol. 2. Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir's Seminary Press. <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 9780881410563.</li> <li><a href="/facts/George_Ostrogorsky/T7gf7gMY">Ostrogorsky, George</a> (1956). <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=Bt0_AAAAYAAJ"><i>History of the Byzantine State</i></a>. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.</li> <li>Barnard, Leslie William (1974). <i>The Graeco-Roman and oriental background of the iconoclastic controversy</i>. Vol. 5. Brill. <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 90-04-03944-9.</li> <li><a href="/facts/John_Mendham/49SATMYA">Mendham, John</a> (1850). <a href="https://archive.org/details/seventhgeneralc00mendgoog/page/n70"><i>The Seventh General Council, the Second of Nicaea, Held A.D. 787, in which the Worship of Images was Established: With Copious Notes from the "Caroline Books", Compiled by Order of Charlemagne for Its Confutation</i></a>. London: W.E. Painter.</li></ul> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>Ostrogorsky 1956. - Ostrogorsky, George (1956). History of the Byzantine State. Oxford: Basil Blackwell. <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=Bt0_AAAAYAAJ" target="_blank">https://books.google.com/books?id=Bt0_AAAAYAAJ</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>Mendham 1850, p. LIX. - Mendham, John (1850). The Seventh General Council, the Second of Nicaea, Held A.D. 787, in which the Worship of Images was Established: With Copious Notes from the "Caroline Books", Compiled by Order of Charlemagne for Its Confutation. London: W.E. Painter. <a href="https://archive.org/details/seventhgeneralc00mendgoog/page/n70" target="_blank">https://archive.org/details/seventhgeneralc00mendgoog/page/n70</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:3"><p>Ostrogorsky 1956. - Ostrogorsky, George (1956). History of the Byzantine State. Oxford: Basil Blackwell. <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=Bt0_AAAAYAAJ" target="_blank">https://books.google.com/books?id=Bt0_AAAAYAAJ</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:4"><p>Ostrogorsky 1956, p. 143. - Ostrogorsky, George (1956). History of the Byzantine State. Oxford: Basil Blackwell. <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=Bt0_AAAAYAAJ" target="_blank">https://books.google.com/books?id=Bt0_AAAAYAAJ</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:5"><p>Lowden, John. (1997) Early Christian and Byzantine Art. London: Phaidon Press, p. 155. ISBN 0714831689 <a href="/wiki/John_Lowden" target="_blank">/wiki/John_Lowden</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:6"><p>Sacrorum conciliorum nova et amplissima collectio. Tomus 13 col. 378 <a href="http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k515954/f195.image" target="_blank">http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k515954/f195.image</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:7"><p>"The Nicene Council nullified the decrees of the iconoclastic Synod of Constantinople, and solemnly sanctioned a limited worship (proskynesis) of images." – Philip Schaff. «History of the christian church» / Volume III / FOURTH PERIOD: THE CHURCH AMONG THE BARBARIANS. From Gregory I. To Gregory VII. A. D. 590–1049 (1073). / CHAPTER X. WORSHIP AND CEREMONIES. / § 102. The Restoration of Image-Worship by the Seventh Oecumenical Council, 787. <a href="/wiki/Council_of_Hieria" target="_blank">/wiki/Council_of_Hieria</a> <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:8"><p>Mendham 1850, p. 440. - Mendham, John (1850). The Seventh General Council, the Second of Nicaea, Held A.D. 787, in which the Worship of Images was Established: With Copious Notes from the "Caroline Books", Compiled by Order of Charlemagne for Its Confutation. London: W.E. Painter. <a href="https://archive.org/details/seventhgeneralc00mendgoog/page/n70" target="_blank">https://archive.org/details/seventhgeneralc00mendgoog/page/n70</a> <a href="#fnref:8" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:9"><p>"true worship of faith", – The Seven ecumenical councils of the undivided church : their canons and dogmatic decrees, together with the canons of all the local synods which have received ecumenical acceptance / by Percival, Henry R, / 1900 / p. 550 <a href="https://archive.org/details/sevenecumenicalc00perc/page/550" target="_blank">https://archive.org/details/sevenecumenicalc00perc/page/550</a> <a href="#fnref:9" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:10"><p>Ostrogorsky 1956, p. 158. - Ostrogorsky, George (1956). History of the Byzantine State. Oxford: Basil Blackwell. <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=Bt0_AAAAYAAJ" target="_blank">https://books.google.com/books?id=Bt0_AAAAYAAJ</a> <a href="#fnref:10" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:11"><p>Ostrogorsky 1956, pp. 163–165. - Ostrogorsky, George (1956). History of the Byzantine State. Oxford: Basil Blackwell. <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=Bt0_AAAAYAAJ" target="_blank">https://books.google.com/books?id=Bt0_AAAAYAAJ</a> <a href="#fnref:11" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:12"><p>Ostrogorsky 1956, p. 189. - Ostrogorsky, George (1956). History of the Byzantine State. Oxford: Basil Blackwell. <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=Bt0_AAAAYAAJ" target="_blank">https://books.google.com/books?id=Bt0_AAAAYAAJ</a> <a href="#fnref:12" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:13"><p>Sacrosanctum Concilium Tridentinum / p. 579 <a href="http://www.documentacatholicaomnia.eu/03d/1781-1781,_AA_VV,_Sacrosanctum_Concilium_Tridentinum,_LT.pdf" target="_blank">http://www.documentacatholicaomnia.eu/03d/1781-1781,_AA_VV,_Sacrosanctum_Concilium_Tridentinum,_LT.pdf</a> <a href="#fnref:13" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:14"><p>The Council of Trent. The Twenty-Fifth Session. On the invocation, veneration, and relics of saints and of sacred images./ The canons and decrees of the sacred and oecumenical Council of Trent, / Ed. and trans. J. Waterworth (London: Dolman, 1848), 232–289. <a href="https://history.hanover.edu/texts/trent/ct25.html" target="_blank">https://history.hanover.edu/texts/trent/ct25.html</a> <a href="#fnref:14" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>