When Constantine Copronymus (741-775) succeeded his father, Leo, he not only continued the same policy of war on the images, brutally blinding or cutting off the noses of any monks who disobeyed his decrees; but also outstripping his father in presumption, summoned on his own authority a so-called Ecumenical Synod in 754, in order to condemn all those who held the contrary opinion. But this Synod, from which the five Patriarchs of Christendom were missing, could have little claim to oecumenicity; and although the kings of the Isaurian dynasty, with the support of army and court, spared no effort to carry out their purpose, although many clergymen were found ready to bow to the wishes of their rulers, and Constantine's son, Leo IV, the Khazar (775-780) zealously carried on the iconoclastic work of his father and grandfather, yet in the end the sound conscience of the Church prevailed. In 787, under the regency of the Empress Irene, widow of Leo IV, with Tarasius as Patriarch, and suitable representatives from the other Patriarchates, the Seventh Ecumenical Synod was convened at Nicaea. Avoiding either extreme, this Council chose the golden mean and laid down that the figure of the Cross and holy images, whether colored or plain, whether consisting of stone or of any other material, many be represented on vessels garments, walls or tables, in houses or in public roads; especially figures of Christ, the Virgin, angels or holy men. Such representations it is observed, stimulate spectators to think of the originals, and, while they must not be adored with that worship which is due to God alone (λατρεια) deserve respect and adoration (προσκυνησις).

Orthodoxy Sunday.

   Even after the decision of the Seventh Ecumenical Synod, the Byzantine Emperors, Leo the Armenian (813-820), Michael the Stammerer (820-829), and Theophilus (829-842), waged incessant war against the images. After the death of the latter, therefore, his widow Theodora, with her brother-in-law, Manuel, her brother Bardas and the Chancellor Theoctistus, realizing that only the recognition of the decisions of the Seventh Ecumenical Council could bring peace to the troubled realm, summoned a great Synod to Constantinople on the first Sunday of Lent in 842. It was presided over by the Ecumenical Patriarch Methodius, and declared that the Decree of the Seventh Ecumenical Synod was binding upon all, and upon this basis the opposing parties were reconciled. With great pomp, the images were then carried back into the churches, and the places of public worship at last recovered their old adornments. That day was known as “Orthodoxy Sunday,” and was henceforth appointed as a yearly festival. Protests against the images still continued, but gradually they became weak and spasmodic, until at last they disappeared entirely.

The Paulician Heretics.

   During the Middle Ages the Eastern Church was harassed not only by the image-breakers, but also by various other heretics, among whom the most important were the Paulicians and the Bogomils. The Paulicians appeared in Armenia during the seventh century, and survived as a religious system until the twelfth. Their leader was a certain Constantine who took upon himself to continue the work of the Apostle Paul, thus giving this heresy its name, and tried to reproduce the activity of the Apostle to the Gentiles by giving himself the name of Paul's fellow-worker, Silvanus, and by calling the centers of his heresy Macedonia, Achaia, Corinth, Colossae and so forth. He maintained that only he and his followers represented the true Church founded by Jesus Christ, while all others were “Romans” and not Christians. The basis of the Paulician heresy was dualism, or the belief in two gods: the Good God and the Prince of this World, or “Cosmocrator.” Further, the Paulicians taught that priesthood was universal, accepted only the New Testament as Holy Writ, and rejected the icons, the intercession of saints, the monastic life, and every form of pomp and mystery in religion. In 752 Constantine Copronymus transplanted the Paulicians to Thrace. After his time, they were mercilessly persecuted by Michael Rhangabe (811-813) and Leo the Armenian (813-820), who set up an inquisition against them and thus forced them to return to Armenia, whence they made constant destructive raids into Byzantine territory. John Zimiskes established them around Philippopolis in 970 to defend the frontiers of the Empire, but from 1118 onwards Alexius Comnenus set out to exterminate them by persuasion and force.

The Bogomil Heretics.

   The Bogomils, or Beloved of God, appeared in Bulgaria in the twelfth century, and were most active in that region. The head of this sect was Basil, whom in 1119 Alexius Comnenus arrested, and tried to make him reveal the secrets of his heresy. Finding, however, that violence was of no avail, the Emperor changed his tactics, and treated Basil as a friend and table-companion until his silence was conquered and he unfolded all his mysteries. Then the curtains suddenly parted, and the Patriarch appeared with the Senate to sentence Basil to death at the stake. The conduct of Alexius was hardly honorable; some excuse may, however, be found for him in the fact that the populace was raging against the Bogomils, and that by condemning their leader to the flames, Alexius at least rescued his followers from the hands of the mob. But fire cannot burn out heresy, and more than a century later Bogomils were still to be found, often, indeed, hidden under a monk's cowl. The Bogomils limited Holy Writ to the books of the New Testament, the Prophets and the Psalms, and the only Sacrament they acknowledged was Baptism by the Spirit, and not by water. They, too, believed that two principles governed the world: Christ on the one hand, and on the other Satanael.