What caused the split in Christianity during byzantine empire?

Answer 1

The mass effect of too many excommunications or ( being kicked out from a church ) in these times, that meant you were going straight hell. In the early days of Christianity, mainstream Christianity was made up of the Latin/Western Church and the Greek/Eastern Church (later they came to be called Catholic and Orthodox respectively). The former was the main church in the western part of the Roman Empire and the latter was the main one in the Eastern part. The two churches originally considered themselves as two branches of the same church which was called Catholic, which means universal and, which constituted mainstream Christianity. They both subscribed to the Nicene Creed, which endorsed the concept of the trinity and which was opposed by dissident Christian doctrines in the early days of Christianity. Eventually, the dissident doctrines were persecuted by Roman Emperors who supported mainstream Christianity and disappeared.

Theological changes made by the Latin Church and liturgical differences created tensions between the two churches. These tensions escalated in 1053-54. The Normans invaded southern Italy, which had been a Byzantine territory. Following this, Greek churches in the area were forced to close and to conform to Latin liturgy. In response to this, in 1053, Michael Cerularius, the Patriarch of Constantinople, ordered the closure of all Latin churches in Constantinople. In the same year Leo of Ohrid, the (Eastern) Archbishop of Ohrid wrote to a letter intended for all the Latin bishops, including the pope, in which he attacked Western practices such as using unleavened bread for the Eucharist, and fasting rules and other minor issues of ritual that differed from those in Constantinople. Pope Leo IX (1049-54) claimed the papal primacy over the Pentarchy. The most important leaders of Certainty were five Patriarchs. For of these, the Patriarchs of Constantinople, Antioch, Jerusalem, and Alexandria were leaders of the Greek/Eastern church. The fifth was the Bishop of Rome (the pope) who was the head of the Latin/Western Church.

In 1054 a papal delegation headed by Cardinal Humbert went to Constantinople. It refused to recognise Celarius as a patriarch and demanded that he recognise the pope's claim that he was the head of the churches and that Rome was their mother. Celarius rejected this and Humber excommunicated him. In turn, Celarius excommunicated Hubert and the other members of the delegation.

These events have been called the Great Schism of 1054 and it was the first step in the East-West Schism in which the two churches drifted further and fort her apart over the next few centuries

Answer 2

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