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Middle Byzantine

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From the 8th to the 9th century, Byzantium was troubled by a lively debate over whether it was proper to make and venerate religious images. In 843, the veneration of images was restored and even enshrined as an identifying mark of orthodox worship, a fact that led to the codification of Christian imagery in certain formulae, such as the twelve liturgical feasts, the Deesis, and the type of the Virgin and Christ Child known as the Hodegetria. These forms developed in relationship with the ripening traditions of Western Medieval Europe, even as political tensions mounted.