Byzantine Iconoclasm

Okay little one, let me explain Byzantine Iconoclasm to you.

So, a long time ago, in the land of Byzantium (which is now called Turkey), people used to make paintings and statues of Jesus, Mary, and the saints. This was a way to show their respect and love for them. These were called icons.

But then, some people started to say that these icons were not good because they thought people were starting to worship the icons instead of the people they represented. They believed that making or worshiping icons was a sin.

This created a big problem because some people really liked the icons, and others wanted to get rid of them.

So, the leaders of the Byzantine Empire, who were called the emperors, had to make a decision. Some emperors said that making and worshipping icons was okay, while others said it was not okay. This went back and forth for a long time, with emperors coming and going and changing their minds about icons.

This period of time is called Byzantine Iconoclasm, which means the debate or fight over icons.

Eventually, some emperors decided to get rid of all the icons and ordered them to be destroyed. They thought that removing the icons would stop people from worshiping them. But, this made some people very angry, and there was a lot of fighting and unrest in the Byzantine Empire.

Many years later, the emperors changed their minds again and said that making and worshiping icons was okay. They even made some new rules about how to make icons properly, and those rules are still used today.

So, there you have it, my little one. Byzantine Iconoclasm was a time when people disagreed about making and worshiping religious pictures, and it caused a lot of problems in the Byzantine Empire.