East–West Schism

The gradual separation of the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches, traditionally dated to mutual excommunications in 1054. It grew from disputes over authority, theology, ritual, and political power.

Pentarchy: A model of church governance recognizing five major patriarchal sees: Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem. The competing claims of Rome and Constantinople developed within this older framework of shared leadership.
Papal primacy: The claim that the bishop of Rome holds a unique governing authority over the universal Christian Church. Disagreement over whether Roman primacy meant universal jurisdiction lay at the center of the division.
Pope Leo IX: Pope from 1049 to 1054 who pursued church reform and asserted Roman authority. His delegation to Constantinople led to the confrontation traditionally associated with the schism.
Great Schism of 1054: The exchange of excommunications between representatives of Rome and Constantinople in 1054. This confrontation supplies the traditional date for a separation that developed over centuries.
Eastern Orthodox Church: A communion of autocephalous churches that share Byzantine liturgical and theological traditions. It emerged as the eastern Christian communion distinct from the Roman Catholic Church.
Acacian Schism: A rupture between Rome and Constantinople from 484 to 519 over Christological policy and papal authority. It showed centuries earlier that doctrinal and jurisdictional disputes could divide the two sees.
Caesaropapism: A system in which a ruler exercises substantial authority over the church in his realm. Eastern imperial involvement in church affairs contrasted with western arguments for papal independence.
Humbert of Silva Candida: An eleventh-century cardinal and papal legate who led the Roman delegation to Constantinople in 1054. He placed the bull of excommunication against Cerularius on the altar of Hagia Sophia.
Council of Lyon II: A church council held in 1274 that proclaimed a union between the Eastern and Western churches. Its union agreement failed to gain durable support in the Byzantine Church.
Roman Catholic Church: The worldwide Christian church in communion with the bishop of Rome. It developed on the western side of the lasting ecclesial division.

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