To understand what caused The Great Schism of 1054, it is important to first have a background knowledge of who was involved. The divide occurred among the land, with a west side and an east side. The western side was inhabited by Romans and spanned from current Portugal over to Hungary, also including the more northern countries from Ireland to Sweden. These borders were frequently changed throughout history, although their principal area was always that of the German states. This area was referred to as the Holy Roman Empire. The Eastern area, on the other hand, were inhabited by Greeks and the area was often referred to as the Byzantium Empire. The empire included current Russia and Bulgaria. These countries together formed the Eastern Slavic Principalities, with their capital based out of Constantinople. Apart from the geological differences, there were also political and lingual differences between the East and West. Communication was difficult between the Greek-speaking East and the Latin-speaking West, as the church and other leaders no longer read, let alone spoke the language of the other half of the Christian world. The language barrier separated the civilizations greatly. Apart from lingual differences, there were also political differences within both the church and the empires. Both sides had differing views on who should hold power in the church. On the eastern side, the Byzantine emperor was also the leader in the church. His name was Michael Cerularius,
Besides theological differences between the two churches there were also political and cultural controversies. Before the split the Western church had begun to push for the solidification of papal authority. The push for papal authority would cause the churches to become more autocratic and centralized (Dennis, The East-West Schism, para. 10). This push had taken a damper on the entire church and the hostility began to grow. “Problems arose in Southern Italy (then under Byzantine rule) in the 1040s, when Norman warriors conquered the region and replaced Greek [Eastern] bishops with Latin [Western] ones” (Dennis, para. 5). After Cerularius was informed that the Normans were forbidding Greek customs in southern
During the late 14th century and the early 15th century there was a great division in the Catholic Church. The Papacy was becoming blurred. The center of the Roman Catholic Church had been moved from Rome to the city of Avignon during the reign of Pope Clement V; and there was now a movement to return the center of power back to Rome. This movement was first truly seen under Pope Gregory XI and his successor Pope Urban VI. Earlier Pope Urban V had moved the center to Rome but it had been proven to be no more than a temporary idea; he had gone back to Avignon to die and there his replacement, Pope Gregory XI was elected . This along with other political problems and circumstances created a split in the loyalty among
When Constantine moved the capital to Constantinople the Christian churches of Rome and Constantinople found themselves at odds. They ended up differing on many subjects. Over the years they gradually grew apart until the final split happened in 1054. This continues to today. The differences are slight but significant. The Roman church continued with using Latin as the official language, giving the Pope the ultimate authority, but not allowing priests to get married (Doc C). Whilst the Eastern Orthodox church decided to have Greek as the official language, instead of a Pope they had a ceremonial leader, also known as the Patriarch (who could marry); this is because Constantinople failed to see the Pope as the supreme authority. Their interpretation of the bible was also a bit different (Doc C). In the world there are about 120,845,374 people who worship Orthodox Christianity. Though there are many branches of it. Most of the religion stays in the Eastern side of the world, except the 5,000,000 or so Americans (Doc C). If it hadn’t been for the Byzantines stepping out
The centers of the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches were surrounded by very different influences, causing substantial differences in culture, which bred and built up conflict when the two empires interacted. The surrounding cultures of each empire were crucial in the shaping of culture. For instance, in the Eastern Orthodox Empire, had a base for their culture formed by a mixture of Greek, Western Asian, and Egyptian qualities, but
Christianity experienced notable change during the Byzantine Era as a result of the fact that new ideas were introduced into the religion and because more and more cultural values from across the world started to pervade it. The religion was very different in Byzantium from how it was in the West principally because a series of Eastern ideas were adopted by Christian leaders. Christianity experienced a different development in the East when compared to the evolution that it experienced in the West. In the centuries lasting between the beginning of the Eastern half of the Roman Empire and the end of a small medieval state Christianity has practically been bombarded with Eastern ideas and with ideas that generally differed from the ones promoted in the West, eventually making it possible for "a distinct system of religious practice and devotion" (Krueger, 1) to emerge.
Before 1450 The Byzantine and Islamic Empires both had their similarities and differences in the way they governed. Islamic caliphates and the Byzantine Empire both appointed their political leaders as religious leaders why? Because they both have more power over their people. They would control the areas laws and duties but also their religion. The big difference of the two empires was their religious practices, The Islamic caliphates consisted of Islam and Muslims but the byzantine empire believed in orthodox Christians.
Despite the collapse of the Roman Empire, Europe still stood, separating into two different areas, governed two different ways. Western Europe and the Byzantine Empire had very different government structures. The Western half became Western Europe with popes, and princes ruling at that time. The Eastern half became The Byzantine
This also cause the split between the Eastern and Western orthodox churches to deepen. Some believe that one of the wars was based on some wanting to impose the authority of the Roman church to the east, though this assumption has never been proven. The great schism divided Christendom into Eastern orthodox churches and Roman catholic churches. The tension between the split of these two types of churches was heightened then heightened by the pope and patriarch by not allowing the Greek and Latin languages in their churches. “Both the Byzantine Orthodox church and the Roman catholic church attempted to wipe out divergent practices and beliefs…” (Paine 12). There was also tension over which church held more authority.
It is believed that the Pope is in a direct line from St Peter who
In the year 330 Constantine founded a new imperial city in the east, which became known as Constantinople. Accompanying Diocletian's system of tetrarchy, the creation of this new city affirmed the separation of the Roman Empire into the east and the west. The Eastern Roman Empire held a series of advantages over the west both socially and economically. The Western Roman Empire was the weaker empire and a bad leadership and government along with attacks from barbarians led to the demise of the Western Roman Empire.
Vandal, Visigoth, and Ostrogoth people all had cultures heavily influenced by Rome and its Religion. During this era, feudalism developed, and Christianity divided in two - the Catholic Church in the west and the Eastern Orthodox Church in the east. In both cases, the Church grew to have a great deal of political and economic power.
Before 1450 The Byzantine and Islamic Empires both had their similarities and differences in the way they governed. Islamic caliphates and the Byzantine Empire both appointed their political leaders as religious leaders why? Because they both have more power over their people. They would control the areas laws and duties but also their religion. The big difference of the two empires was their religious practices, The Islamic caliphates consisted of Islam and Muslims but the byzantine empire believed in orthodox Christians.
The Byzantine emperor had to be ordained and was head of the church and state. Military expansion was greater in the Abbasid government than in the Byzantine. The Abbasids spread out through North Africa, Persia, and of course, Arabia. The Byzantines, who were based in Constantinople, were pretty much where the Roman Empire previously was. Throughout time, there were more than a few times when the Byzantines had conflicts with each other. The Abbasids frequently invaded the Byzantines and
Due to the collapse of the Roman Empire, it split into two separate regions: the Byzantine Empire and Western Europe. Both empires followed different paths of development. For example, Western Europe was isolated from the rest of the world due to Europe’s geography, but due to suitable farming conditions, they had the ability to farm, which in turn supported a growing population. Meanwhile, the Byzantine Empire is much more prosperous than its western counterpart due to the efforts of Justinian, whose goal was to bring back the lifestyle of Ancient Rome. There are many similarities and differences between the political and religious institutions of medieval Western Europe and the Byzantine Empire.
The difference of religion had a huge impact on both of the empires. Christianity in the Byzantine Empire was the most popular religion in the world with Islam right after. Judaism is a monotheistic religion and while most Christians believe they are monotheistic as well, many Muslims think upon Christians as polytheistic because they believed both God and Jesus are gods. In comparison, both empires were ruled by a pope. The Byzantine Empire was impacted through Christianity because the pope was the head of the empire, such as Constantine who became pope in 708. The Islamic Caliphate was also impacted through Islam because they too were ruled by a pope. This meant if you had a religious ruler, many people of the empire would follow suit and either convert or become more involved in the religious practices that the emperor/pope would do. Both religions were quite simple. Islam has no official clergy, and follows only one single sacred text, the Koran. However, Muslims do believe in the validity of the Old Testament. Muslim's