Medieval Christianity and the Schism of the East

Medieval Christianity

The Evangelization of Europe

When the Western Roman Empire collapsed (476), the Eastern Roman Empire could not defend the Romans from barbaric harassment. At that time, the Pope became the only real moral authority to address the problems of Rome. Thus, the structure of the Church served not only to guide the Church but also to lead civil society. The Popes possessed the surrounding territories of Rome (Papal States) and were endowed with a religious and political organization.

The Papal States

At the time of Constantine, properties were granted to the Popes for his residence and the maintenance of the Church. Later, Pope Gregory the Great put in order the administration of the properties of the Church of Rome. But in the mid-eighth century, many of these properties were lost because of the Lombard invasion. Under such pressure, Pope Stephen II traveled to France and agreed with Pepin the Short, who anointed and crowned him as king of the Franks. Pepin destroyed the Lombard kingdom and restored the Pope’s territories of Central Italy. They were born the so-called “Papal States” that lasted until 1870, the year of the reunification of Italy. Possession of a State meant independence for the Pope from other political domains and, consequently, more leeway to carry out pastoral work aims.

Christianity in Spain

The Christian faith was introduced into Spain through traders, travelers, and soldiers coming from the east, Italy, and North Africa. There is an old tradition that explains how the apostle James preached the Gospel in the Iberian Peninsula. After the fall of the Roman Empire, the Visigoth period started in Spain. They took possession of the peninsula (from 411 to 711) and were Arians, who maintained that Christ was not God. This made coexistence between them and the Catholics difficult. In fact, they ended up persecuting the Catholics. However, the conversion of King Recaredo in the Third Council of Toledo, and with it, all the people involved the integration of Visigoths and Hispano societies.

Expansion of Islam

While the Visigoths were in the Peninsula, they were invaded by Muslims in 711. On the eastern side, they took Jerusalem and Alexandria, and in the west, they took Carthage and entered the peninsula, reaching Poitiers (in central France). Thus, a new Muslim state called al-Andalus was constituted. Part of the Hispanic population adopted Islam, while Christians who remained faithful to the faith were subdued by the Arabs and were called Mozarabic. These could practice the Christian religion but were forced to pay high taxes and could not hold positions of importance. They also retained some of their churches, but the rest were converted into mosques. Finally, Don Pelayo, in 722, defeated the Muslims at Covadonga. This battle was the beginning of the Christian reaction that ended with the expulsion of Muslims eight centuries later.

The New Millennium and the Schism

Around the year 1000, spread throughout the Christian world, according to ancient millennial prophecies, was the idea that the world had to end. The confusion and fears that accompanied these prophecies did not prevent the new millennium from bringing great expectations. Yet, all this history ended in the Schism from the East, i.e., the separation between the Christians of the East (Orthodox) and the West (Catholic). This division was due to profound differences that occurred in three areas:

Cultural Differences: The language in the East was Greek, while in the West, it was Latin.

Political Differences: In the West, new towns were converted to Christianity. The Church grew and looked toward the future. The East stagnated in an atmosphere of luxury and ostentation and lost ground to Islam. The Church itself was locked.

Religio-cultural Differences: The East argued that the category of the bishops was a function of the category of their city. So the patriarch of Constantinople was more important than Jerusalem. This criterion was against the authority of the Pope of Rome, the successor of Peter. In the West, celibacy among priests was rooted, while in the East, priesthood and marriage were compatible. The Western religious calendar did not coincide with the East. In the West, they highly appreciated the fact of Jesus’ birth celebrated at Christmas, while in the East, they gave more weight to the fact that Jesus would be known to all mankind, especially celebrating the feast of the Epiphany.

But we can say that the causes of the separation between the Church in the East and the West were more cultural and political than religious.