Oxford history of the christian church

2. Michael VIII and the council of Lyons II (1274).

It was against this background of opposition, or at best unwilling co-operation, from the majority of the bishops and others that the Byzantine envoys set out. The Patriarch of Constantinople had been invited but neither replied nor went. There were no representatives from the three eastern Patriarchs. There was however the former Patriarch of Constantinople, Germanus III, and one metropolitan of standing, Theophanes of Nicaea. The most authoritative figure was Michael VIII's chief minister, the grand logothete George Acropolites, described to the Pope by the friars accompanying the delegation as the 'primus secretarius imperatoris'. There were also two other senior officials, the finance minister Nicholas Panaretus and the head of the interpreters George Tzimisces Berriotes, together with the usual staff and suitably valuable presents. Unfortunately the boat containing a number of the staff and the gifts was caught off the southern Peloponnese in one of those sudden storms which plague the Aegean and foundered with almost total loss of life. The other vessel with the chief envoys reached Brindisi and with the help of the papal letters of safe conduct the delegates continued their journey by land and arrived at Lyons on 24 July 1274 in time to take part in the fourth session of the council.

Without waiting for the arrival of the Greeks the council (Lyons II, the Fourteenth general council in the Roman Church) had been formally opened on 7 May 1274 in the cathedral of St John. It was a splendid. gathering, probably about 400 bishops ³⁶ as well as other clergy and representatives of the rulers of six countries. King James I of Aragon came in person. Charles of Anjou was notably absent. Gregory X inaugurated proceedings with a sermon on the text 'With desire I have desired to cat this Passover with you' (Luke 22:15). He reminded his audience of the threefold purpose of the council. It had met to take part in the longed for union of the Greek and Latin Churches. This, though, greatly desirable in itself, was also an essential preliminary to the fulfilment of Gregory's dearest wish, the recovery of the Holy Land to be achieved by the crusade which the council would organize. Then, thirdly, there was the need to institute long-needed reforms within the Latin Church, including revised procedures for conducting and speeding up papal elections (it had taken three years for Gregory X to be elected).

The first three sessions (7 May, 18 May, and 4 June) were occupied with preliminaries, and more particularly the organization and financing of the proposed crusade. It was however known, from a letter dispatched en route by Jerome of Ascoli (who was travelling with the delegation), that the Greeks were on their way and after the third session on 4 June the council was temporarily suspended pending their arrival.

The Byzantines reached Lyons on 24 June. They were escorted with due honours to the palace where the Pope was staying and with splendid ceremonial they received the kiss of peace from Gregory X. They clearly stated that they had come to express their obedience to the Holy See, and they had brought documents confirming this, a chrysobull from Michael VIII agreeing to the papal conditions and a similar profession of obedience from Michael's son, the co-Emperor Andronicus, ³⁷ as well as the letter from the Greek clergy, though these did not commit themselves so specifically as the Emperor did. Michael had also sent a more personal note to the Pope, claiming that the union had been his dearest wish from youth onwards. He emphasized how he had pressed on to achieve this amid overwhelming administrative and military cares. After all, he maintained, Greek and Roman beliefs were really the same and controversy had only arisen by reason of misinterpretation of certain small words (verbula). ³⁸

To Gregory X this was a joyful occasion and on 29 June it was celebrated in the festal mass for St Peter and St Paul. As a sign of reconciliation the Gospel and Epistle were read in both Greek and Latin. The Latin creed was also followed by the Greek (with the filioque), intoned by the ex-Patriarch Germanus of Constantinople and other Greek-speaking clergy, mostly from Calabria, together with the Dominican William Moerbecke and the Franciscan John Parastron (who both knew Greek).

The formal submission and reunion took place during the fourth session of the council on 6 July with the Greek envoys seated to the right of the Pope. ³⁹ It was emphasized that Greek acceptance of the papal terms had been freely undertaken without thought of temporal advantage, though this was regarded by some, if not most, as being exceedingly doubtful, ⁴⁰ for the gravity of the Anjou threat and Michael VIII's need for papal mediation must have been obvious. It was now that the statements from the Emperor, ⁴¹ his son Andronicus, ⁴² and the Greek clergy ⁴³ were read in Latin translation. Except for its ending, Michael VIII's profession of faith was virtually identical with the contents of Clement IV's letter of 4 March 1267. ⁴⁴ It began with the creed (with filioque), expressed belief in the seven sacraments, recognized Roman teaching on purgatory, the use of unleavened bread in the communion service and the differing Latin canon law on marriage. And freely and without compulsion he promised obedience to the Roman faith and above all accepted papal primacy, plenitude of power, and appellate jurisdiction. But he ended by pleading for the retention of Greek rites and usages.

We beg your Great Sanctity that our church should recite the holy creed as it has been recited from before the schism up to the present day, and that the rites which we used before the schism should be kept provided that they are not contrary to the faith which we have professed above, nor to the divine commandments, nor to the teaching in the Old and New Testament, nor to the doctrine of the holy general councils, nor to the holy fathers approved by the holy councils held under the spiritual leadership of the Church of Rome. This is not a matter of importance to your Great Sanctity nor contrary to usage. But it is a matter of difficulty for us because of the vast multitude of our people. ⁴⁵

This was in accordance with Michael VIII's frequent assurances to the Byzantine clergy that the proposed concessions to Rome would really mean very little in practice since Greek rites and usages would be retained, as indeed appeared to be the practice in the years immediately following the union of 1274. Something of this kind had in fact been suggested earlier on during negotiations between the papacy and John III Vatatzes.

Nevertheless the statement contained in Michael VIII's gold bull was on the face of it an impressive surrender to Rome. In the name of the Emperor, his plenipotentiary, George Acropolites, stood up in the assembly and swore adherence to the complete profession of faith which had just been read. This he did for himself and for the Emperor whose 'full mandate' he had. ⁴⁶ He had brought a letter of authorization from Michael VIII ⁴⁷ and although later on the papacy raised problems because of the general character of this letter the good faith of the Emperor and his envoys was accepted by the council. Once George Acropolites had made his statement the union was considered to have been achieved. There was a striking absence of any discussion. Indeed the whole procedure simply consisted of the statements from the Byzantine Emperors and synod which were read, and then the official acceptance in the council when the plenipotentiary George Acropolites on oath affirmed these statements. In the papal view there was evidently no place for debate, for, as Clement IV had pointed out when he refused to consider Michael VIII's request for a general council to be held on Greek soil, Roman doctrine was 'pure' and 'the purity of the true faith' could not be the subject of any doubts. ⁴⁸

This somewhat authoritarian approach did not mean that the differences, apparent and real, between the Latin and Greek Churches had not been carefully considered over the years. The papacy had repeatedly tried to explain its doctrine and usages to the Byzantines, particularly through the good offices of the friars. Members of these new orders had proved invaluable papal agents in Constantinople and elsewhere, both during the Latin domination of the capital and particularly after 1261. ⁴⁹ Some, such as the sympathetic and tolerant Franciscan John Parastron, who was greatly liked in Constantinople, went far towards understanding the Greek outlook. Parastron, who was equally at home in Greek or Latin, had tried to explain unfamiliar aspects of Roman belief to the Byzantines, such as its teaching on purgatory, a doctrine as yet unarticulated in the Greek Church. In his papal correspondence Michael VIII himself paid tribute to Parastron's efforts. Both from the Latin side and from the Greek unionists, considerable attempts were made to demonstrate that the Latin procession of the Holy Spirit from the Father and the Son did not differ basically from Greek doctrine. In fact one of the main Greek objections to the filioque, forcibly presented in Patriarch Joseph anti-unionist Reply, was the fear that this addition might imply two causes and two spirations for the Holy Spirit. This was emphatically denied by the West, as the council of Lyons II took the trouble to demonstrate in its first canon. ⁵⁰

Though in general the Roman point of view seemed somewhat inflexible, some effort was made in authoritative circles to understand how the schism had arisen and had been aggravated, and why the Greeks were, on the whole, so obstinately opposed to coming to terms with Rome. Perhaps one of the most perceptive analyses -from the Roman point of view — was offered by a former Master General of the Dominicans, Humbert de Romanis. In the second section of his work on the ecclesiastical problems of his day, known as the Opus Tripartitum and probably written in 1272-3, he discusses the schism with the Greeks. ⁵¹ He touches on doctrinal issues and he assumes the papal primacy but he discusses the practical and historical as well as the dogmatic reasons for this primacy which was unusual as the Latins usually kept to the argument from apostolicity and Christ's commission to St Peter. He also finds historical causes for Greek pride and assumption of superiority, going far back to Constantine the Great and beyond, as well as recognizing the aggravation of the post-1204 situation when the Byzantines were oppressed by the Roman Church and 'treated like dogs' by their Latin conquerors (this last point being something of an exaggeration once the Franks were established on Greek soil, witness relations in the Morea). He maintained that it was essential to foster understanding by mastering the Greek language and translating Latin works into Greek and by getting to know the Greek way of life. War must be avoided (a hit at Charles of Anjou perhaps) and the Latins 'should not demand full and entire obedience from the Greek Church, provided that its Patriarch is approved by the Pope and Roman legates received with honour'.

This was a more sensitive approach to the situation than many and in Humbert de Romanis's day there were already signs of a reciprocal linguistic movement which was to gather momentum in the fourteenth century. But the Greeks as a whole could not accept the Roman claims and the Opus Tripartitum has to be placed besides such writings as the anti-unionist Reply of Patriarch Joseph (probably composed by Job Jasites). The Byzantines claimed the sanction of ancient tradition and conciliar approval for their doctrine and church government. They found that the primacy of honour which was freely accorded to the bishop of Rome had in course of time developed into something different which undermined the position of the other four major patriarchates and overturned government by the pentarchy in the general council. Nor was appellate jurisdiction the normal practice of the four eastern patriarchates. Individual Byzantines did on occasion use it, but only when it suited them. Patriarch Joseph did not gloss over his concern, expressing his extreme views in somewhat unfraternal terms. 'Why' he asked 'should the Pope have any authority over us? We do not take part in electing him and he should not interfere in our affairs.' ⁵² 'According to the Gospel we have only one master and that is Christ.' ⁵³ Joseph's views were those of the majority in Byzantium. The explanations offered by unionist advocates were unacceptable. In addition any signs of tolerance or of conciliatory minor concessions vanished as papal demands after Gregory X's death (1277) gradually grew more peremptory. The only achievement of Michael VIII's acceptance of the Roman faith was to win temporary papal support against Charles of Anjou.