Council of Constantinople (843)

In AD 815, iconoclasm was officially reinstated in the Byzantine Empire by Leo the Armenian. This period is generally referred to as the Second Iconoclasm and lasted until of the Council of Constantinople in 843. In 829, Theophilos became the sole emperor and began an intensification of iconoclasm with an edict in 832 forbidding the veneration of icons. After the death of Theophilos in January of 842, the empire was inherited by the infant Michael III and managed by his mother Theodora until 856. The eunuch and Logothetes tou dromou Theoktistos was appointed as coregent with Theodora and was her aid during her regency. It is unclear whether or not Theophilos, being an iconoclast, had known that his wife Theodora was an iconophile. Theoktistos (who as coregent became a driving force against iconoclasm according to the historians Theophanes Continuatus, Genesios, John Skylitzes, and Zonaras) advocated for the replacement of the iconoclast patriarch John the Grammarian with Methodios I who had earlier been imprisoned by Theophilos. Theodora consented, and Methodios was chosen to become the patriarch of Constantinople during the council on March 3 or 4, 843. After he was elevated (probably a week later on March 11), he immediately disposed of and replaced a great number of iconoclast bishops in the empire. ==Proceedings==

On March 3 or 4 of AD 843, a council was convened by Theodora. Little is known about the details of the council, and the lengthiest extant description of it comes from the Vitae of Sts. David, Symeon and George. The actual location of the synod is a point of dispute. The Synodicon Vetus and many other authorities name the Kanikleiou Palace, the home of Theoktistos, but there is some indication that this was the location of a pre-council meeting, while the actual synod location was held at the Blachernae Church. Notable attendees of the council were Patriarch Methodios, Theodora, Theoktistos, Sergios Niketiates, and several iconoclast clergymen. The objective of the council was principally to reaffirm the canonical decisions regarding the proper veneration of icons that the Second Council of Nicaea, the seventh ecumenical council, had already made in AD 787. To do this, the council condemned two iconoclast councils, Hieria (754) and Constantinople (815), and disposed of any bishops who did not respect the resolutions of the Nicea council. These bishops were replaced by iconophile bishops who had been exiled during the Second Iconoclasm. The Council of Hieria had also previously been condemned by the 787 Nicea council. As a condition for signing the resolution of the 843 council, Theodora required that the anathema that the Church had placed on her late husband be lifted. Beginning in the mid-eleventh century and then increasingly during the Komnenian era (1081–1185), the document received a series of additions. The Synodikon serves as a fundamental piece of the theology and doctrine of icons in the Eastern Orthodox Church. ==See also==