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1. Definition and medieval developmentThe term  iconoclasm denotes the repudiation and destruction of cultic images. The great iconoclastic controversy of the 8th and 9th centuries [2] was the background and reference framework for early modern iconoclasm. In it the potential for theological and political conflict that had always been inherent in the early Christian cult of images exploded with a vengeance.The initial spark igniting the iconoclastic controversy of the early Middle Ages was kindled by the sermons preached by the Byzantine emperor Leo…