Western Civilization I / Unit 9 WC1 0814 short lesson, about 20 seconds
Iconoclasm, 726 to 843
Captions available
The idea
Icons, images of Christ and the saints, focused worship for the illiterate; Leo III read the Santorini eruption of seven twenty-six as a sign against them. Riots and revolts followed; Pope Gregory II excommunicated Leo. The ban was lifted in eight forty-three.
In practice
Leo stripped the pope of authority over Byzantine Italy.
Where people slip
Trivial in hindsight, enormous at the time, the anchor says.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
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