Iconoclasm has been given full rein under Theophilos.
To weaken the political influence of Greek Orthodox monasticism, the Emperor and his former teacher John "the Grammarian", now patriarch of Constantinople as John VII, have mounted a persecution against the users of icons in Orthodox liturgy and devotion.
Support for Iconoclasm soon wanes, however, and the vast majority of the Greek Christians rally to the defense of their sacred art.
The cultural revival stimulated by Theophilos includes two significant advances in the area of classical studies: the gradual substitution of the minuscule, or smaller, cursive hand for the uncial, or larger, script, and the increase in the number of scriptoria, or copyists' workshops.
Theophilos has also restored the University of Constantinople after its eighth-century decline and appointed the brilliant teacher Leo the Mathematician as its new rector.
In the aftermath of the sack of Amorium, Theophilos had sought the aid of other powers against the Abbasid threat: embassies had been sent to both the western emperor Louis the Pious and to the court of Abd ar-Rahman II, Emir of Córdoba.
The imperial envoys had been received with honors, but no help has materialized.
The Abbasids, however, have not followed up on their success.
Warfare will continued between the two empires with raids and counter-raids for several years, but after a few imperial successes, a truce and prisoner exchange—which excludes the high-ranking captives from Amorium—is agreed in 841.
