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What caused the first major split in Christianity?

What Caused the First Major Split in Christianity?

By the fall of Rome in 476 C.E., Christianity had weathered many storms and controversies.

This map shows the split in the Christian Church after the Great Schism of 1054.

This map shows the split in the Christian Church after the Great Schism of 1054.

Basilica of San Vitale [CC BY-SA 4.0], [via Wikimedia Commons]

After becoming the official religion of the empire in the 4th century C.E., Christianity immediately saw a division because of Arianism, a heresy that challenged the doctrine of the divinity of Jesus. This doctrine had some heavyweight supporters, including emperors. After nearly a century of debate and in-fighting, the church established a set understanding of doctrine at Nicaea, creating the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed. Despite a few more heresies, the church was relatively united. However, ripples of difference began to appear after Rome fell.

The Bishop of Rome, the pope, was seen as the head of the church, the successor of Peter, Jesus's chief apostle. In the western lands, believers viewed the pope as the official head of all Christianity. However, in the East, bishops and patriarchs were torn between honoring the pope as “primus inter pares”, or first among equals, and acceding to the whims and dictates of the Byzantine emperor. Additionally, some doctrinal differences on the Trinity began to arise, as well as differences in the liturgy, or public worship. The Roman leadership of Pope Gregory the Great in the 6th and 7th centuries placed more pressure on the leading eastern bishop, the Patriarch of Constantinople. After presenting a united front against the iconoclastic attacks of Emperor Leo Saurian and his hatred for religious images, the Eastern and Western branches of the church began to slowly slide apart once again.

The biggest barrier became language. The Western church adopted Latin, while the East used Greek and various Slavic languages. Finally, in the 1050s, the Patriarch of Constantinople began to refuse orders and accept decisions from the pope in Rome. In 1054 C.E., the pope sent a legate, a representative, to Constantinople to meet with the patriarch to patch things up. The difference in language proved too much, tempers flared, and the patriarch excommunicated the legate, the pope, and the West. (Excommunication severs a person form the life of the church, including participation in liturgy and the sacraments, essential acts needed for salvation.) In return, the legate excommunicated the patriarch and the emperor in the name of the pope. This event, the Great Schism, led to two churches, with both sides viewing themselves as the rightful church.. The western side would become known as the Roman Catholic Church, and the eastern side as the Orthodox Church.

Textbook Reading

Select the tab for the version of the textbook that you have available.

6th edition

7th edition

In your textbook, read Chapter 16, focusing on the following sections:

  • The Quest for Political Order

    • The Early Byzantine Empire

    • Muslim Conquests and Byzantine Revival

    • The Rise of the Franks

    • The End of the Carolingian Empire

    • The Age of the Vikings

  • Economy and Society in Early Medieval Europe

    • The Two Economies of Early Medieval Europe

    • Social Development in the Two Worlds of Christendom

  • The Evolution of Christian Societies in Byzantium and Western Europe

    • Popes and Patriarchs

    • Monks and Missionaries

    • Two Churches

In your textbook, read Chapter 16, focusing on the following sections:

  • The Quest for Political Order
    • The Early Byzantine Empire
    • Muslim Conquests and Byzantine Revival
    • The Rise of the Franks
    • The End of the Carolingian Empire
    • The Age of the Vikings
  • Economy and Society in Early Medieval Europe
    • The Two Economies of Early Medieval Europe
    • Social Development in Early Medieval Europe
  • Religious Developments in Byzantium and Western Europe
    • Popes and Patriarchs
    • Monks and Missionaries
    • Two Churches

Be sure to take notes on key concepts, vocabulary, and questions you might have for your instructor. Upon finishing the reading and note-taking, test your understanding of the material with the activity provided below.

Constantinople
new capital of the Roman empire and the capital of the Byzantine empire; known today as Istanbul
Justinian
one of the most famed emperors of the Byzantine empire; he created a central government for Byzantium
Theodora
wife of Justinian and one of his greatest advisers
caesaropapism
the rule of the emperor not only over temporal issues but also over the affairs of the church
Greek fire
a powerful weapon with flames that could not be put out by water
Franks
Germanic peoples who would build the largest empire in Europe since the Romans
Charlemagne
known as Charles the Great; crowned by the Pope as the leader of the new Roman empire
Vikings
people form the Scandinavian regions of Northern Europe who were known to attack as well as trade with Western Europeans
feudalism
the social structure used in the kingdoms of the Middle Ages
manor
the area of land that a vassal or lord was in charge of, including both the freemen and serfs on it
chivalry
the system under which knights worked and the code they lived by
Treaty of Verdun
agreement that divided Charlemagne's empire among his grandsons, which was the beginning of the major countries of Europe
monasticism
the growth of religious societies of men and women who lived in common as monks and nuns
missionaries
monks and priests sent by the church to convert non-believers
icons
images of sacred figures, such as Christ and the saints, used as a focus for prayer
Eastern Orthodoxy
branch of Christianity that began and was practiced by the Byzantines
Roman Catholicism
branch of Christianity that began and was practiced by Western Europeans
papacy
the rule of the Bishop of Rome; seen as the head of the Christian religion by Roman Catholics
patriarch
a high-ranking bishop; the Patriarch of Constantinople was the guiding force for the Eastern Orthodox

Cards remaining:

Question

What issues drove the wedge between Eastern and Western Christianity?

Differing political environments involving the eastern emperor and western kings became a divisive issue in the church, leading to the East refusing to honor the pope as the head of the religion. Additionally, slight evolutions in doctrine and a massive language barrier led to the formal split, or schism, in 1054 C.E.