Basil of Jerusalem was the Patriarch of Jerusalem of the Church of Jerusalem from 821 to 842. During his episcopate, Basil actively opposed the

iconoclasm Iconoclasm ()From . ''Iconoclasm'' may also be considered as a back-formation from ''iconoclast'' (Greek: εἰκοκλάστης). The corresponding Greek word for iconoclasm is εἰκονοκλασία, ''eikonoklasia''. is the social belie ...

that was supported by the

Byzantine emperor The foundation of Constantinople in 330 AD marks the conventional start of the Eastern Roman Empire, which Fall of Constantinople, fell to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 AD. Only the emperors who were recognized as legitimate rulers and exercised s ...

Theophilus Theophilus is a male given name with a range of alternative spellings. Its origin is the Greek word Θεόφιλος from θεός (''theós'', "God") and φιλία (''philía'', "love or affection") can be translated as "Love of God" or "Friend ...

Life

Basil, who was a follower of his predecessor Patriarch

Thomas I of Jerusalem Thomas I of Jerusalem, also known in Persian as Tamriq, was the Patriarch of Jerusalem of the Church of Jerusalem from 807 to 821. Patriarch Thomas held a firm Orthodox theological position and opposed both the iconoclasts and the filioque. He is ...

, was elected Patriarch of Jerusalem in 821. He actively opposed iconoclasm. In 836, he convened a council in Jerusalem that defended the veneration of

icon An icon () is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, in the cultures of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Catholic Church, Catholic, and Lutheranism, Lutheran churches. The most common subjects include Jesus, Mary, mother of ...

s. From the council, Basil sent this position of the council to emperor Theophilus in a letter carried by

syncellus ''Synkellos'' (), latinized as ''syncellus'', is an ecclesiastical office in the Eastern Rite churches. In the Byzantine Empire, the ''synkellos'' of the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople was a position of major importance in the state, and ...

Michael. Theophilus, who was a confirmed iconoclast, jailed Michael upon his arrival. In 841, Basil was able to fend off an attack on Jerusalem by the Arab rebel Abu Harb al-Mubarqa and his army of thirty thousand by buying him off. Basil died the following year, 842, and was succeeded by Sergius I who was made the

patriarch The highest-ranking bishops in Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, the Roman Catholic Church (above major archbishop and primate), the Hussite Church, Church of the East, and some Independent Catholic Churches are termed patriarchs (and ...

by the Arabs.

Sources

The History of the Church of Jerusalem
* 9th-century patriarchs of Jerusalem Eastern Orthodox Christians from the Abbasid Caliphate 842 deaths Byzantine Iconoclasm Palestine under the Abbasid Caliphate {{EarlyChurch-bishop-stub