Byzantine Empire · 726-843

Byzantium's battle over icons

For more than a century Byzantine emperors, monks and empresses fought over whether holy images were sacred or forbidden. Students follow iconoclasm from Leo III to Empress Theodora and discuss why images stir such strong feelings.

Teach it live New Open on the map
Length
50 minutes
Ages
13–16
On the map
3 steps, AD 726 to AD 800
Live lesson
7 rounds, 3 on the map
Worksheet
Two A4 pages, with Classroom
You need
A projector; phones for live

Live lesson · new in Classroom

Teach it live. The class answers on their phones.

Put the board on the projector. Students join with a six-digit code, no account needed, and tap the map: where was the frontier, where did the grain come from. Their pins drop in together when you reveal, and the closest student takes the round.

€19 per month: every lesson live, every worksheet, cancel anytime. Rome at its height runs live for free.

A live lesson on the projector: the class's pins on the map around Alexandria, the closest students listed beside it A student's phone: the question and a map to tap
7 rounds
3 places to find on the map, quiz questions, a class vote and a one-line answer.
About 15 minutes
Run it as the map step, or to open the discussion. You move on with the space bar.
A report
Every answer, per student and per round, to read back or print after the lesson.
1

Introduction

5 min

Read aloud

For more than a century Byzantine emperors, monks and empresses fought over whether holy images were sacred or forbidden. Students follow iconoclasm from Leo III to Empress Theodora and discuss why images stir such strong feelings.

By the end of the lesson, students can

  • Explain what icons are and what the iconoclasts objected to.
  • Describe the role of two empresses, Irene and Theodora, in ending iconoclasm.
  • Discuss how the dispute widened the gap between Constantinople and Rome.
2

Explore the map

15 min

Project the map, or let students follow on their own devices. Each step opens the map at the right year and place.

a

AD 726

An empire under pressure

Open the map in 726. Compare the Eastern Roman Empire with the Umayyad Caliphate next to it. Which lands has the empire lost since the time of Justinian?

Open this view on the map
b

AD 787

Nicaea, 787

Set the year to 787 and zoom in on Nicaea, southeast of Constantinople, where a church council restored icons. Why hold such a council so close to the capital?

Open this view on the map
c

AD 800

Rome turns west

Zoom out in 800 and find the Papal States and the Carolingian Empire. The popes defended icons. How might this quarrel have pushed Rome closer to the Franks?

Open this view on the map
3

Class discussion

15 min

Pick two or three. They run from what happened to why it mattered.

  1. Iconoclasts said that praying before images broke the commandment against idols. How did the defenders of icons answer them?
  2. Many monks defended icons, and some suffered for it. Why would monks care so much?
  3. Some historians link the start of iconoclasm to military defeats and a volcanic eruption. Why might disasters make people question their worship?
  4. Empress Irene ruled alone from 797. Why did some people in the West say the imperial throne was empty?
  5. Orthodox Christians still celebrate the return of icons in 843 every year. Why do some events become yearly celebrations?
4

Game round

10 min

Play Rule History as Charlemagne, who was crowned emperor in 800 while Irene ruled in Constantinople. Afterwards, discuss: did the quarrel over icons make it easier for the pope to crown a Frankish emperor?

Open Rule History
5

Worksheet

5 min

This worksheet comes with Classroom

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