Ferraro-Florentine Union: year, participants, chronology of events and consequences

2024 Author: Miguel Ramacey | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 06:11

The Union of Ferrara-Florence of 1439 was an agreement made between representatives of the Western and Eastern Churches in Florence. According to its provisions, these two churches were united on the condition that the Orthodox side recognized the primacy of the Pope, while maintaining their Orthodox rites. At the same time, Latin dogma was recognized.

Signing

The Greek bishops signed the union at the Ferrara-Florence Council, with the exception of the Patriarch of Constantinople Joseph. He died before this event. It is noteworthy that Metropolitan Isidore of Ferrara-Florentine also signed the Union of Ferrara, he was a Russian metropolitan. Subsequently, for this act, he was deposed by the Grand Duke Vasily II the Dark. This document never entered into force either in Russia or in Byzantium. Through the eyes of Orthodox Christianity, the Ferraro-Florentine union was a real betrayal, a surrender to Catholicism.

Returning to their homeland, many Orthodox figures who signed the document refusedFrom him. They stated that they were forced to sign such a document. Both the clergy and the people, having learned about what had happened, were very annoyed. Everyone who was at that council was recognized as heretics.

The consequence of the Ferraro-Florentine union was in 1443 the excommunication in Jerusalem from the church of all those who were involved in the signing of the document. For a long time, these people were very actively condemned. Patriarch Gregory of Constantinople was deposed in 1450, and Athanasius ascended the throne in his place. After the capture of Constantinople in 1453, the document was no longer remembered.

Historical setting

Better appreciate the significance of the Ferrara-Florence Cathedral of 1438-1439. It will help to get acquainted with the situation that existed then in the world. In the 15th century, Byzantium was actively subjected to the conquests of the Turks. The country's government tried to find help among Western countries, including popes.

It is for this reason that the last emperors of Byzantium often came to the West. But the latter was in no hurry to help.

Then John VIII Palaiologos (1425-1448), realizing the precarious situation of the country, its inevitable end under the onslaught of the invaders, decided on the last desperate step - he offered to unite the churches in exchange for the help of the West. For this reason, negotiations began with the Pope. The latter agreed.

It was decided to hold a council, where representatives of Orthodoxy and Catholicism would decide the issue of unification under the leadership of the Western Church. The next step was to convince the Western rulers to help Byzantium. After long negotiations, it was decided to sign the Ferraro-Florentine Union. The Pope agreed to personally pay the fare and support all the Orthodox priests who arrived here.

When Emperor John Palaiologos went to Ferrara in 1437 with the bishops, the Russian Metropolitan Isidore, all those who arrived faced a fairly tough policy of the pope. He put forward a demand that the Patriarch of Constantinople Joseph kiss the pope's shoe according to the Latin custom. However, Joseph refused. Before the opening of the cathedral, there were many meetings between the fathers about all sorts of disagreements.

Negotiations

During the meetings, Mark, Metropolitan of Ephesus and representative of the Patriarch of Jerusalem, actively showed himself. Mark refused to make concessions to the pope. In October 1438, the cathedral was opened, despite the fact that the Western rulers did not appear.

The most controversial issue was the procession of the Holy Spirit from the Son, there were many disagreements regarding the amendments made once by the Latin Church to the Nicene symbol. While Western priests claimed that they did not distort the symbol, but only revealed its original essence. 15 meetings were held in this spirit. Some Greek priests, including Mark of Ephesus, never backed down. Then dad reduced their content.

After the plague

In 1438, the plague broke out, and then the cathedral was moved to Florence. Disputes about dogma continued for a long time. The holy fathers were arguing about passages of the Holy Scriptures, which were interpreted differently by the Western and Eastern churches.

John Palaeologus did not like that Orthodox priests were uncompromising. He urged them that it would be necessary to agree with the representatives of the Catholics. Then Bessarion of Nicaea, who was an opponent of the Catholics, agreed that the Latin expression "and from the Son" is the same as the Orthodox one "through the Son." However, Mark of Ephesus called Catholics heretics. Paleolog contributed to the unification in every possible way.

Greek priests persisted in their revision and rejected others. Then the emperor, by persuasion and threats, forced them to accept a different version. They had to agree with the demands of Palaiologos. Then those who gathered came to an agreement on the Ferraro-Florentine Union. The Latin side agreed to allow both Greek and Latin rites. Thanks to this, the agreement came to a logical end. The primacy of the pope was recognized, as was purgatory. This act was signed by everyone, with the exception of Mark of Ephesus, Patriarch Joseph, since he had already died.

When dad didn't see Mark's signature, he confessed, "We didn't do anything." Nevertheless, the Ferraro-Florentine union was solemnly read out in two languages - Latin and Greek. As a sign of unity, representatives of the Western and Eastern churches embraced and kissed. The Pope provided ships for the guests to return home.

Results

Describing briefly the Ferraro-Florentine union with its results and significance, it is worth saying that Paleolog was personally convinced that such a union on an exclusively religious, and not political, basis was extremely fragile. And ifwhen signing, the Greek priests agreed with the document, then upon arrival in Constantinople, they defiantly ignored it. The people were dissatisfied.

Everyone rallied around Mark of Ephesus, defending Orthodoxy. The signatories of the document were excommunicated from the church. Palaiologos elevated to the patriarchal throne one after another supporters of the union, but none took root for a long time, the people protested.

The Emperor did not see any help from the Western rulers, and he himself began to treat the Ferrara-Florentine Union with coldness. When he died in 1448, just before the fall of Constantinople, the Eastern patriarchs continued to curse this document. And in 1453, the Byzantine Empire fell without receiving the help that John Palaiologos sought so hard.

In Russia

There were consequences for Russia after the signing of the Ferraro-Florentine Union of 1439. Metropolitan Isidore, who was present at that council, was deposed in Moscow, he was imprisoned. He later fled from there to Lithuania. When Metropolitan Jonah was appointed instead of him, the Russian Church became a separate formation that no longer depended on the Patriarchate of Constantinople.

Process Details

The Orthodox delegation sent to sign the Ferrara-Florentine Union consisted of 700 people. It was headed by John VIII. In total, more than 30 metropolitans arrived in the West. Bulgarian and Serbian representatives refused to participate in this event. Moscow, on the other hand, specifically appointed Metropolitan Isidore for the role of ambassador, along with hima whole group of Russian priests set off.

In Venice in 1438, the audience was waiting for the arrival of the sovereigns of Europe, for this reason, the start of the meetings was postponed for several months. But the European rulers never showed up, not a single one came to Ferrara. All the strongest monarchs sat at that moment in Basel. The only one who supported the pope was England. But she had a lot to do. For this reason, the military forces that Paleologus counted on simply did not exist.

Greek side was also expecting great disappointment in the financial situation of the papacy. His treasury was empty very actively. And the emperor began to realize that he would not find enough forces for the empire here.

Composition of delegations

At the same time, the emperor made efforts - he saw no other way to save the empire. He achieved the formation of an impressive delegation. Almost the entire Orthodox world was represented at the council of 1439. However, by and large, it was only an appearance, because the millions of Orthodox Christians who lived in the Balkans, in Asia Minor, were not represented on it. After all, they were already under the rule of the Turks. From the side of the Western Church, the delegates were also impressive. The Pope coordinated the efforts of the delegation. However, this side was represented mainly by clerics of Italian roots. And only a small part of them came to the cathedral because of the Alps. It is noteworthy that many Orthodox priests who were at the council lacked qualifications. For this reason, some were elevated to the rank of bishop immediately beforedeparture for Ferrara.

In addition, the delegation of Orthodox priests at this council was split into pieces. Due to this, the delegation lost its positions. For example, Vissarion was devoted to Greek traditions, and the purpose of his life was to protect them. He felt that the days of Byzantium were coming to an end and decided that it would be his mission to save the empire. Under the rule of Islam, Orthodoxy would have suffered greatly, and he agreed to the signing of the union. At the same time, his protagonist was Mark of Ephesus, who refused to sign the document.

Vissarion

Vissarion actively urged the assembled representatives of Orthodoxy to sign the union, convincing the Russian metropolitan to sign the union as well. However, Isidore himself was closely connected with Constantinople.

It is noteworthy that Vissarion emigrated to Italy before 1453, converted to Catholicism and took a fairly high post. He became a papal cardinal.

Mark of Ephesus

To Mark of Ephesus, the majority of representatives of the Eastern Church were treated with much greater distrust. He had a separate value system. He was accused of excessive fanaticism and conservatism. Often it is Mark who is blamed for the fact that the idea of the cathedral, the last hope of the dying Byzantine Empire, did not work out in practice.

Nevertheless, the fact that he appeared at the council testifies in favor of Mark. At the same time, he believed that Rome should have yielded on more points. He was very disappointed to be at his dad's.

Sources

The main source of modern knowledge about the events that took place at the cathedral is the memoirs of Deacon Sylvester. He was their participant and displayed everyday events that took place at the meetings. The transcripts of both the Greek and Latin sides have been lost. Preserved and autobiographical essays about the events directly Mark of Ephesus, later the leader of the Orthodox.