West vs East: Iconoclasm, Charlemagne, and the Birth of a New Sacred Art
Defence of icons and the start of "western civilisation"
In the year 800, on Christmas Day, Pope Leo III placed a crown on the head of Frankish king, Charles - later to be called “the Great” - and declared him “Emperor of the Romans”. This was a bold and somewhat shocking move, especially considering there already was an emperor in Constantinople, who might beg to differ.
Behind this dramatic secessionist moment lay an already deep history of profound and growing rifts between East and West. The split had started between Byzantium, racked and weakened by internal strife and the bitter controversy of Iconoclasm, and the rising power of the Franks in Northwest Europe, eager to claim a legacy and lands abandoned by the East.
By the late 8th century, the Christian world was increasingly divided by political and theological rifts. In the East, the Byzantine Empire, after centuries of internal battles over Christology, was racked by the ongoing crisis of Iconoclasm, a fierce theological and political conflict over the veneration of sacred images. Emperors like Leo III and Constantine V had issued harsh edicts against icons, leading to widespread destruction of sacred art and deepening divisions within the Church.
Though the Empress Irene attempted to reverse the policy and restore icons at the Second Council of Nicaea in 787, the damage to Byzantine unity and authority was profound. Meanwhile, the papacy, staunchly defending the use of sacred images, found itself increasingly isolated from Constantinople.
We’ll explore today how this split dramatically altered political alliances and gave rise to a new conception of kingship and of sacred art that grew and shaped the culture of Western Christianity forever.
In today’s post for paid subscribers, we’re going to look at how the multiple pressures on the Byzantine Empire, including the ongoing crisis over sacred images, pushed the pope to make such a world-changing, history-making decision.
When Pope Leo III placed the imperial crown on Charlemagne’s head, he wasn’t reviving the Roman Empire, he was laying the foundation for a new identity that would gradually grow into what we now recognize as Western Christendom. Though it wasn’t an overnight transformation, that single act set the wheels in motion, solidifying a cultural and political divide that would shape Europe - and Europe’s political descendants - for centuries.
Who we “westerners” see ourselves as being, culturally and politically, as European-descended Christians, was born that day.
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