The Great Schism
The Great Schism occurred in 1054 AD. The church split in two, the Catholic church or western church and the Orthodox church or eastern church. The church had survived over 1,000 years of co-existence under the one leader, but there was almost constant dissent amongst the ranks during that time. After the Roman Empire had fallen there were a whole heap of different leaders, including barbarians and regional governments. Europe had basically began to fall apart.
In the western part of the empire Latin was the dominant language and the eastern part of the empire Greek was the dominant language. The west also lost the high quality arts, education, decent living standards and formal religious cohesion, whilst the east did not, causing the west to fall into the dark ages. The remains of the Roman Empire were kept alive for a short period of time in the east and especially in the capital of Constantinople. By the time the west fell into the dark ages the east was now known as the Byzantine Empire. The Byzantine Empire was strategically placed so that the Muslims of the Middle East could not attack Europe.
After the fall of the Roman Empire the Germanic tribes spread out over western Europe, settling in three main areas; Italy, Gaul (France) and Britannia (Britain). As a result the west became more and more dependent on the Latin language and literature as the main way to communicate amongst the educated.
The eastern church was smaller and weaker, but still there and speaking predominantly Greek, with the strong and vibrant Greek culture that came along with it. The eastern church did, however have a few theologians that were produced, showing that they were not as affected by the run into the dark ages that the rest of the church had gone into.
Years before the actual split of the whole of the church, their administration had split and been controlled by their own factions. At the start of the second millenium the whole church decided to split. The western church vehemently believed that to get your sins absolved you had to speak to the pope or one of his representatives, as the pope was the one representative of God on earth. The east believed what is written in the old testament, which is that everyone was a leader of the church and, therefore, everyone was able to forgive each other's sins and their own. They also believed, because of the idea of everyone being a representative of God, that one person should not be in control of the whole of Christianity, such as the pope was and still is. They renounced the pope and had no leader after the split.
The actual split took place in 1054 when Pope Leo IX and the patriarch of Constantinople, Michael Cerularius, were fighting and Leo IX sent a message to Cerularius, excommunicating him from the western church. Cerularius was so mad that he responded by excommunicating Leo IX from the eastern church. Both men had very large followings and opposing ideas and so, from then on the church was split, with the headquarters of the western church being in Rome and the headquarters of the eastern church being in Constantinople. Both men died soon after the split, Cerularius within the year and Leo two years later, which left the church in a state of flux.
In the western part of the empire Latin was the dominant language and the eastern part of the empire Greek was the dominant language. The west also lost the high quality arts, education, decent living standards and formal religious cohesion, whilst the east did not, causing the west to fall into the dark ages. The remains of the Roman Empire were kept alive for a short period of time in the east and especially in the capital of Constantinople. By the time the west fell into the dark ages the east was now known as the Byzantine Empire. The Byzantine Empire was strategically placed so that the Muslims of the Middle East could not attack Europe.
After the fall of the Roman Empire the Germanic tribes spread out over western Europe, settling in three main areas; Italy, Gaul (France) and Britannia (Britain). As a result the west became more and more dependent on the Latin language and literature as the main way to communicate amongst the educated.
The eastern church was smaller and weaker, but still there and speaking predominantly Greek, with the strong and vibrant Greek culture that came along with it. The eastern church did, however have a few theologians that were produced, showing that they were not as affected by the run into the dark ages that the rest of the church had gone into.
Years before the actual split of the whole of the church, their administration had split and been controlled by their own factions. At the start of the second millenium the whole church decided to split. The western church vehemently believed that to get your sins absolved you had to speak to the pope or one of his representatives, as the pope was the one representative of God on earth. The east believed what is written in the old testament, which is that everyone was a leader of the church and, therefore, everyone was able to forgive each other's sins and their own. They also believed, because of the idea of everyone being a representative of God, that one person should not be in control of the whole of Christianity, such as the pope was and still is. They renounced the pope and had no leader after the split.
The actual split took place in 1054 when Pope Leo IX and the patriarch of Constantinople, Michael Cerularius, were fighting and Leo IX sent a message to Cerularius, excommunicating him from the western church. Cerularius was so mad that he responded by excommunicating Leo IX from the eastern church. Both men had very large followings and opposing ideas and so, from then on the church was split, with the headquarters of the western church being in Rome and the headquarters of the eastern church being in Constantinople. Both men died soon after the split, Cerularius within the year and Leo two years later, which left the church in a state of flux.