The Great Schism Between the Orthodox East and Itself the Roman Empire, It Was Rare for a Byzantine to Speak Latin
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Mediterranean became far more difficult. Record: 1 The great divorce. (cover story). By: Galli, Mark. Christian History. Geo-political realities complicated things. For centuries, the popes had turned naturally to Constantinople 1997, Vol. 16 Issue 2, p10. 9p. Reading Level (Lexile): 1050. and its emperor for military and economic help. But in 754, Pope Stephen II, cut off from the East and in Database: MAS Ultra - School Edition need of help to defend his papal states from attacks by the Lombards, turned north and sought help from the Frankish ruler, Pepin. Henceforth, the papacy began to pass increasingly under Frankish influence. Notes: This title is held locally THE GREAT DIVORCE A half-century later, a more symbolic and dramatic event took place. On Christmas Day in the year 800, Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne, king of the Franks, as emperor of the "Holy Roman Empire." For centuries Christians East and West lived as strangers to one another. Then Catholics violated Charlemagne immediately sought recognition from the emperor at Byzantium. The Byzantine emperor, the Orthodox. however, considered himself ruler of a still united Roman Empire. Charlemagne he regarded as an One summer afternoon in the year 1054, as a service was about to begin in the great Church of the Holy intruder, and the papal coronation, an act of schism. He didn't recognize Charlemagne for years. Wisdom, or Hagia Sophia, at Constantinople, Cardinal Humbert and two other legates of the Roman pope entered. They made their way to the sanctuary. They placed a sealed papal document--called a Becoming strangers "bull"--on the altar and marched out The bull proclaimed the patriarch of Constantinople and his With the reign of Charlemagne, the schism of civilizations first became apparent. For all the cultural associates excommunicated, no longer in communion with the church, no longer allowed to receive the renaissance promoted by Charlemagne's court, it was marked at its outset by a strong anti-Greek grace of God through the sacraments. prejudice in literature, theology, and politics. The Byzantines, for their part, remained enclosed in their own world of ideas and failed to take Western learning seriously. They dismissed all Franks as When the cardinal passed through the western door, he shook the dust from his feet and said, "Let God barbarians. look and judge." A deacon, guessing the contents of the bull, ran after Humbert in great distress and begged him to take it back. Humbert refused, and the deacon dropped the document in the street. This mutual prejudice was reinforced by language. The days when educated people were bilingual were over. By the year 450, few in the West could read Greek, and after 600, although Byzantium still called This incident is usually portrayed as the key moment in the Great Schism between the Orthodox East and itself the Roman Empire, it was rare for a Byzantine to speak Latin. Photius, the greatest scholar in ninth- the Latin West. But this incident is but one of many on the path to permanent schism--though surely the century Constantinople, could not read Latin. In 864 a "Roman" Emperor at Byzantium, Michael III, called bloody events of 1204 put a seal on a break that lasts to this day. the language of Virgil a "barbarian" tongue. The schism's causes are manifold and complex, and they reveal much of the uniqueness of what we now In addition there was a significant difference between the educated. Byzantium was a civilization of great call the Eastern Orthodox Church--and how the Orthodox understand this chapter of Christian history. wealth and learning, and many educated laymen took an active interest in theology. The lay theologian Geo-political realities has always been an accepted figure in Orthodoxy: some of the most learned Byzantine patriarchs-- During the time of the apostles, the Roman Empire was a close-knit political and cultural unity. The Photius, for example--were laymen before their appointment to the patriarchate. empire embraced a variety of ethnic groups who spoke a variety of languages and dialects. Yet all were In the West, mired in political confusion and cultural retreat, the only effective education that survived the governed by the same emperor; all shared in a broad Greco-Roman civilization. Either Greek or Latin early Middle Ages (often called the "dark" ages) was given solely to the clergy. Theology became the was understood almost everywhere, and Latin was commonly used as the political language of the preserve of priests. Most of the laity were illiterate; most could not comprehend the nuances of empire. theological discussion. Beginning in the late 200s, the empire was still theoretically one but was usually divided into two parts, an So theology took different paths, East and West. In general the Latin approach was more practical, the eastern and a western, each under its own emperor. Constantine even founded a second imperial capital, Greek more speculative. Latin thought was influenced by Roman law, while Greeks understood theology in the East--Constantinople, the "New Rome." Then came the Germanic invasions of the fifth century, and in the context of worship. Regarding the Crucifixion, Latins thought primarily of Christ the victim on the the West was carved up among the Goths, Lombards, Franks, Vandals, and other Germanic tribes. The Cross, Greeks of Christ the victor over death. Latins talked more about redeeming sinners, Greeks, about Byzantines in the East skill regarded the Roman Empire as universal, but, in fact, the political division of the deification of humanity. the Greek East and the Latin West as now permanent. There were also a few practical differences: the Greeks allowed married clergy; the Latins insisted on Then the Avars and Slavs occupied the Balkan peninsula. Illyricum, which used to serve as a bridge priestly celibacy. The two sides had different rules about fasting. The Greeks used leavened bread in the between Byzantium and the West, instead became a barrier. With the rise of Islam in the 600s, the Eucharist, the Latins unleavened bread, or "azymes." Mediterranean now passed largely into Arab control. Cultural contacts between the eastern and western Still, these two distinctive approaches were not in themselves contradictory--each served to supplement Still, the Eastern church didn't mind--as long as the pope claimed absolute power only in the West. the other, as do the differences between husband and wife. Nicholas I was a reforming pope, with an exalted idea--at least according to the Orthodox--of the Open conflict prerogatives of his office. He believed his absolute power extended to the East. As he put it in a letter of From the sixth century on, a number of disputes erupted between Rome and Constantinople. One conflict 865, he be]ieved the pope was endowed with authority "over all the earth, that is, over every church" in the middle of the ninth century revealed just how estranged East and West had become. The incident When a dispute erupted in Constantinople, Nicholas thought it a golden opportunity to make both parties is usually known as the "Photian schism"--though the East would prefer to call it "the schism of Pope submit to his arbitration, to enforce his claim to universal jurisdiction. Nicholas." Ironically, Photius's initial submission to the legates had proved to be a problem. His action did not in It began in 858, when Patriarch Ignatius of Constantinople was exiled by the Byzantine emperor (for itself confirm the supremacy of the pope but only that Photius had shown diplomatic courtesy. To criticizing the emperor's private life). Ignatius resigned his office under pressure, and a gifted layman demonstrate his authority, then, Nicholas called a new council. named Photius was appointed patriarch of the capital city. Photius has been called "the most distinguished thinker, the most outstanding politician, and the most skillful diplomat ever to hold office as Again, the Byzantines were not troubled about appeals going to Rome but only under the specific patriarch of Constantinople." conditions laid down in Canon 111 of the Council of Sardica (343). This canon states that retrials cannot be conducted by the pope at Rome but only by bishops of the provinces adjacent to that of the Photius, as was the custom, sent a letter to the bishop of Rome, Pope Nicholas I, announcing his condemned bishop. The Byzantines believed Nicholas had violated this canon and interfered in the accession. Normally the pope would immediately recognize a new patriarch. But Nicholas balked. He had affairs of another patriarchate. heard that the former patriarch still had supporters who claimed Photius was a usurper. Pope Nicholas decided to look into the matter. In 861 he sent legates to Constantinople. On the issue of papal authority alone, then, the incident between Nicholas and Photius had explosive potential. But another issue, more subtle but equally divisive, was also at work. Photius wanted no dispute with the papacy, so he treated the legates with great deference; he even invited them to preside at a local council to settle the issue. The council decided Photius was the Missionary Politics legitimate patriarch. Both Byzantium and the West (chiefly! the Germans) were at this time launching missionary ventures among the Slavs. The two lines of missionary advance, one from the East and one from the West, soon When the legates returned to Rome, though, Nicholas accused them of exceeding their powers. He converged in Bulgaria. retried the case himself at Rome. This council repudiated Photius's claims, deposed him of all priestly dignity, and recognized Ignatius as patriarch. Bulgaria was a country both Rome and Constantinople were anxious to add to their spheres. The Bulgarian khan, Boris, was at first inclined to ask the German, i.e.