Name: _____________________

The Church in the Dark Ages Worksheet
chapter six, pp. 350-372

Fill in the blank

1. The state of Byzantine morality in the middle of the Dark Ages was _____________.
2. In addition to immorality, Byzantium at this time was also a place of ____________ punishments.
3. ________ practices and rituals resurfaced in Byzantium as Christian influence faded.
4. As in reaction to the Nestorians, the Byzantines turned towards _________ and recognized her unique ____________.
5. This was also a time of the development and enrichment of the Byzantine ______________.
6. The practice of __________ continued to grow in Byzantium during the sixth, seventh, and eighth centuries.
7. Some monks were nothing more than __________.
8. No field in Byzantium was more excessive that Christian ________. From the sixth century onward, there was a veritable epidemic of sacred _______ (or _____ in Greek).
9. Byzantium was involved in a theological dispute over depict ions of Christ and the saints. Those who opposed such images were known as ____________.
10. Opposition to pictures of Jesus and the saints was in some ways a reaction to the heresy of _________. _________ and _______ were also opposed to visual depict ions of God.
11. In _____ A.D. Emperor ______ began the offensive against images. They were not officially _________, but the worst ‘offenders’ had to be ___________. This decision resulted in __________ opposition.
12. Emperor __________ (740-755 A.D.) launched a veritable campaign of _________ against icons. Not only were icons ________ and _________ over, but supporters of icons were _________ and __________.
13. The widow of Emperor Leo IV, _________, reestablished the cult of _____ at the second Council of ______ in ____ A.D.
14. Just before she died, the widow of the emperor considered offering herself to ___________ in marriage in order to reunite East and West.
15. In the forty years after her death, the throne in Byzantium changed hands ____ times.
16. The Iconoclastic dispute was finally ended by _______, the widow of Emperor Theophilus (829-842 A.D.) on March 11, ______ A.D.
17. The primacy of ______ was affirmed at the ecumenical church council 9f 787 A.D.
18. The Iconoclastic crisis showed the popes that they needed to turn away from _________ and to the _________ dynasty.
19. One Byzantine monk wrote, “the cause of schisms and heresies in the Church is nothing other than the fact that we have not loved ______ and our _______ wholeheartedly.”
20. St. John Climacus wrote ________, in which he explained the thirty ____ to Heaven. This book influenced St. Igantius of ________.
21. The most powerful defense of icons came from the theologian _____________. he was the last Eastern figure recognized by Rome was a ________ of the Church.
22. St. _______ (759-826 A.D.) was a Byzantine theologian who argued for the _______ and _________ of the Pope. He was the last eastern witness of a truly ________ Church.
23. Despite difficulties, the _______ efforts of the Byzantines continued.
24. Nestorian heretics were great ___________ who assisted the _________invaders.


Short answer

1. Discuss the Mass in Constantinople in the seventh or eighth centuries.






2. What monastic abuses took place in Constantinople during the Dark Ages?






3. How were icons misused in Byzantium?





4. Discuss the unrest caused by the Iconoclastic dispute.






5. What were the long-range consequences of the Iconoclastic dispute?






6. Discuss the methods and results of Nestorian missions.