754 Council of Hieria

The Council of Hieria was an assembly held in 754 AD by Byzantine Emperor Constantine V to address theological disputes within Christianity, particularly about the veneration of icons. It upheld an iconoclast stance, rejecting the use of religious images, which was controversial. This council was not recognized as an ecumenical (world-wide) gathering, unlike earlier councils, and it marked a period of intense conflict over religious imagery. Its decisions contributed to nearly a century of iconoclasm, where the use of icons was prohibited, before the church later restored veneration of icons.