Why an Atheist Thinks the Shroud of Turin is the Real Deal

Leo III, who had served

Leo III

Leo III, who had served Justinian II as a diplomat, ascended to the throne in 717. Then sometime between 726 and 729 he launched an iconoclastic campaign to prohibit the veneration of icons. He had an image of Jesus removed from the ceremonial entrance to the palace and replaced it with a cross. He destroyed the image of Christ in The Golden Pavilion, which is why we have no idea what it looked like. He issued an edict against the use of icons. But this was not well received among clerics in the eastern part of the empire or by pretty much anyone in the West. Pope Gregory III condemned his actions as heretical and in 730 excommunicated the supporters of iconoclasm.