ABSTRACT
INTO THE HEAVY and sultry atmosphere which enveloped the relations between the papacy and the imperial government a fresh and cleansing breeze blew at the time when at the head of both institutions stood two new men-the second Gregory, a true Roman, and the third Leo (717-741), a Syrian, founder of a new dynasty and as an army leader the saviour of Constantinople in the face of deadly Arabic onslaughts which if not repelled might well have changed the course of history. In order to execute his plan of reestablishing Byzantine sovereignty in Italy Leo III issued stern taxation decrees for Italy and Sicily and thereby gravely affected the economic position of the papacy which was the biggest single land owner. Once again, the papacy refused to bow. The native population was wholly on its side. This open defiance was all the more courageous as the pope was to all intents and purposes the emperor’s vice-roy in Italy. Understandably, the threat of serious charges to be brought against the pope produced only further stiffening on the part of the papacy. The imperial government-perhaps wisely in view of earlier experiences-offered to abstain from pressing any charges if the pope would promise to publish the imperial decree forbidding the veneration of images. The dogmatic scene had changed from christological pronouncements to liturgical and doxological questions. In the East there had always been some opposition to the use of images for religious worship, first by the orthodox Jews, then by Islam and also by some Christians who considered it pure idolatry to represent pictorially the Son of God. In his decree Leo III ordered first the removal, and in 726 the destruction of all images demanding at the same time from the bishops a declaration of support. Though there was even some opposition to this law in Constantinople, the West unanimously condemned it.
