What were icons in the Byzantine Empire?

Related questions

1. How was the investiture controversy resolved?
2. What caused Schism of 1054?
3. Why did the Ottoman Empire fall?
4. Who banned the use of icons?
5. What was the controversy over icons?
6. What does the term iconoclasm describe?
7. How do Orthodox Christians use icons?
8. What is an iconoclast today?
9. What is an iconoclast person?
10. What did Emperor Leo 3 do to the church?

Tags

1. #empire
2. #general
3. #representations
4. #images
5. #byzantine
6. #orthodox
7. #church
8. #christian
9. #icons
10. #toward
11. #visual
12. #iconoclasm
13. #iconoclastic
14. #controversy
15. #hostility
16. #shook
17. #years
18. #refers
19. #specifically
20. #typify
21. #destruction