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What role did St. John of Damascus play in the Iconoclastic Controversy?

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In the Iconoclastic Controversy of the 7th and 8th centuries, St. John of Damascus defended the veneration of sacred images (icons) against the Iconoclasts and the Byzantine emperor Leo III. His writings led to his condemnation at the Council of Hieria in 754, which was reversed at the Second Council of Nicaea in 787.