Which Byzantine emperor was the last iconoclast and reigned 829-842?

The Byzantine emperor who was the last iconoclast and reigned from 829 to 842 was Theophilos. He was the second ruler of the Amorian dynasty and inherited his father Michael II’s opposition to the religious use and veneration of icons.

Theophilos became sole emperor on 2 October 829. He continued the second period of Byzantine Iconoclasm, which rejected sacred images as objects of Christian devotion. In 832, his government issued an edict against the veneration of icons, and later sources portray him as a particularly committed iconoclast. His policies made him the final Byzantine emperor to support the movement officially.

Theophilos also faced serious military pressure from the Abbasid Caliphate in the east and the Aghlabids in Sicily. He personally led campaigns in Asia Minor, while court sources remembered him as an educated ruler interested in justice, administration, music, and architecture.

After his death in January 842, his wife Theodora governed as regent for their young son Michael III. Theodora supported the restoration of icon veneration, formally ending Iconoclasm in 843. This is why later Byzantine tradition marks Theophilos as the last iconoclast emperor, even though the restoration occurred during his family’s regency.