SIGNS OF CRISIS IN THE CHURCH

[Document subtitle]

BRYAN (MYKOLAI) GARAGAN

ST. ANDREW’S COLLEGE WINNIPEG
[Company address]
 Garagan 1

Signs of the Crisis in the Church (1300-1500)

As a new century dawns in 1300 it is the events that occurred several generations previous
that will set the stage for much of the drama that unfolds from the thirteenth to the fifteenth
centuries. While Michael VIII Paleologus restored a dynasty, though tenuous in nature, in 1261 it
remained to be seen if the same could be said of a rapprochement between the Churches in the
East and West, following the Great Schism. What follows is a summary and review of the major
characteristics of the chapter, “Signs of Crisis in the Church” ,from 1300-1500, according to
Donald W. Treadgold. 1

With the emergence of the Council of Lyon, the greatest obstacle to a reunion between East
and West, Treadgold correctly acknowledges, is not the Great Schism but rather the remembrance
of the egregious Latin crusades and their sacking of Constantinople some 70 years earlier.2

Nevertheless, as an act of good faith and to ingratiate himself to the west, the legates of
emperor Michael concede the Latin’s interpolation of the filioque, into the creed. While its origins
are attributed to the Council of Braga in 675 it was not the accepted practice in Rome until
approximately 1013. The subordination of the Spirit to the Father and Son as the Orthodox assert,
aligns with the West’s aggrandizement of the papacy and its subsequent role in ecclesiology.
Treadgold considers, though in our view rather naively, that if the role of the pope could some how
be reconciled then a “formulation” of the filioque argument amenable to both east and west would
necessarily follow. I think his reasoning here is a reductive fallacy since he oversimplifies the
divisions between the two churches. 3

Our author’s observations notwithstanding, the opposition to Michael was swift and
punitive upon his return to Constantinople from the Council. He was excommunicated and refused
a church burial. In his defense, as Treadgold observes, his motivation at Lyon was influenced by
his fear that Charles of Anjou’s imperial designs would come to fruition, thereby restoring

1
Donald W. Treadgold, A History of Christianity (Belmont, Mass: Nordland, 1979).
2
Ibid., 115.
3
Ibid., 115–116. We submit that Treadgold himself is hesitant in this assertion and appends the word “might” to
“formulation”.
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Constantinople as a sovereignty of the West. In Michael’s thinking he would capitulate to the West
at the council in exchange for military assistance against Charles.4

Decades later the threat to Constantinople comes again from the east, in the form of the
Ottoman Empire, the Turkish dynasty eponymously named after its leader Osman. John VI
(Cantacuzene) who had usurped the throne from John V and his mother (the Paleologus’s)
strategized unwisely in 1349 by securing the defense of the Ottoman Turks against a conflict with
Bulgaria (who supported the regents) and in return offered his daughter with whom Osman was to
marry. This resulted in the Turks gaining a foothold in Europe instituting Adrianople as their
capital and encroaching on Constantinople’s borders. The Ottoman’s then in 1939 advanced
further west by defeating a Serbian and Bulgarian front at Kossovo. 5

Without the siege in Asia Minor by Tamerlane, Constantinople would’ve ceased to exist,
but their attack on the Turks provided a brief reprieve for Constantinople, however the Byzantines
found themselves once more surrounded by the 1420’s. This prompted more reunion discussions
and whereby the council of Ferrara-Florence was convened (1438-1439).6

Treadgold before discussing the details of the council presents some major events which
characterized the final two centuries of Byzantine history. He lauds the artistic accomplishment in
the fresco painters of Mystra and the intellectual ingenuity in the hesychast movement, on Mt.
Athos, despite the controversy. With respect to the dispute, hesychasm and the proponents thereof
had as their champion St. Gregory of Palamas, while their chief opponent was Barlaam of Calabria.
Palamas argued successfully that hesychasm is a mystical practice whereby one might experience
or participate in the Uncreated Light of the Godhead but not the Divine Essence. More will be
articulated in this regard, in our conclusion. Treadgold next tangentially references the moniker
“Moscow the third Rome” ascribing its geneses to a monk at Pskov (1500) and dispels the modern
notion concerning the title. He explains that it is in fact a Muscovite rejection of the pseudo
rapprochement between the east and west on the grounds that the Greeks had abnegated Orthodoxy

4
Ibid., 116.
5
Ibid.
6
Ibid., 117.
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and embraced reunion with the Latin’s, whereby in muscovite thinking, Constantinople had
received due punishment in being overthrown by the Turks. 7

On May 26, 1453, Constantine XI, the final emperor of Constantinople received the
Eucharist in St. Sofia and soon thereafter perished in battle. If anything positive is to be gleaned
here Treadgold reasons, it is that Orthodox Christianity was tolerated under Ottoman rule. Our
author conversely points out that the Orthodox clergy assumed civil governance of its masses as a
Turkish requirement, thereby creating circumstances of “politicization, corruption, and simony.”8

Though free from the subjugation of the Turks, the Western Church was rife with
corruption, injustices, and apathy during the period of 1300-1500. Our author notes that this era is
also replete with papal scandals . For example, Treadgold recounts a struggle between pope and
ruler, Boniface VIII and Philip of France respectively. An exchange of “verbal salvos” lead to the
incendiary papal bull Unam Sanctam in 1302. In it the pope claimed that the see of Rome’s
supreme authority on earth extended not only to all spiritual matters, but to temporal affairs as
well. The monarch prevailed, and the papacy was temporarily moved to Avignon from 1309-1377.
As a result of these conflicts a scandal beginning in 1378 and ending in 1415 ensued in which there
were popes in both Rome and Avignon. 9

Reponses unfavorable to the papacy gave rise to a conciliar system as a resolution to the
conundrum, under the auspices of Marsiglio of Padua in the later 14th century who had expounded
such concepts. Cardinals acted upon his ideas in the council of Pisa, yet to no avail bringing the
count of popes to three instead of the intended one. The council of Constance which met from1414-
1418 while infamous for its condemnation of John Hus also restored the papacy in Rome with a
single pope, Martin V. Though Martin was to adopt a more conciliar attitude, he maintained the
status quo and the struggle between conciliarity and autocratic rule persisted, until his successor
Eugenius IV, which also resulted in the election of an antipope. 10

Much of what Treadgold has communicated in the opening pages of the chapter, vis-à-vis,
the Council of Ferrara-Florence is then discussed appending the details that were left out. The

7
Ibid.
8
Ibid., 118.
9
Ibid., 119.
10
Ibid., 119–120.
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Council’s chief agenda was the reunion of the Churches, and as alluded to above John VIII’s
intentions were to acquiesce in exchange for papal support against the Turks. In our author’s
assessment the double procession of the Spirit was ratified and as to the union only one Greek
bishop refused to sign. (1439)11

The so-called restored papacy lasted for approximately a century which offered little
contribution in terms of the religious sphere but concerned itself more with culture and art, and
thus the Bishops of Rome were historically referred to as the Renaissance popes. The moral
deterioration of the clergy and the disarray of the monastics precipitated a rise in monarchial
power. Some rulers acted out of conscience and others feigned correction of papal corruption to
advance their motives. This trend, our author asserts, is what also resulted in a resurgence of
mysticism.12

Treadgold is helpful in this regard, explaining Christian mysticism as distinct from

mysticism in general. First, for the Christian the concept of God transcends the “soul and the
cosmos” and is not reducible to an “aspect of earthly reality.” Moreover, it views Creator and
creature as distinct thereby prohibiting the Christian mystic from “dissolving the individual into a
homogeneous eternity.”13

Crisis and moral decline continue to abound, our author relates, in the fifteenth century.
The hundred-year war between France and England and the inner feuds among British nobility set
the stage for the emergence of prognosticators, some of whom were canonized, and whose
doomsday prophecies captivated large audiences.14

Fanaticism was an alternative response to the crisis in Spain, Treadgold notes. The
reconquering of Granada and zealous proselytizing under the guidance of Spanish regents
Ferdinand and Isabella brought about the Spanish inquisition which was assigned to uncover which
baptized Jews and Muslims had feigned Christian consideration.15

11
Ibid., 120.
12
Ibid., 120–121.
13
Ibid., 121.
14
Ibid., 122.
15
Ibid., 122–123.
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Other reactions were to criticize the underpinnings of the church. Oxfordian John Wycliffe
challenged the religious status quo on many fronts: he spoke out against ecclesiastical abuse; the
validity and authority of the papacy; the insistence of the authority of scripture over and above the
hierarchy; and questioned transubstantiation as a viable doctrine. John Hus, a priest and adherent
of Wycliffe was sentenced by the church (Constance 1414) to death by fire which roused his
Bohemian supporters though they subsequently divided (Hussites) into two camps. The Utraquists,
were of aristocracy ilk and lobbied for the communion of the laity under both species, while the
Taborites, of plebeian origins advocated the abolition of private property citing scripture as
support. The Utraquists prevailed in a battle of the two sides in 1434 and though both groups
dispersed or returned to the church of Rome, Hus was highly venerated whereas the pope by whom
he was executed, John XXIII was declared illegitimate.16

Literature of this period (1300-1500), Treadgold points out was influenced by Christianity,
the church and its difficulties, or both. Noteworthy is the satire, The Canterbury Tales, by Geoffrey
Chaucer and the critical church and social commentary The Divine Comedy, by Dante Alighieri.
Dante inadvertently engendered a classical revival both in language and literature. This also
stimulated the humanist movement within Renaissance culture with an increasing emphasis on the
individual which our author avows grew “naturally” from the previous era as opposed to the view
that the stress on the individual was a reaction and directly attributable to “some year or decade
before” in which the intellectual attitude of the Europeans was dormant and awaiting the
hereafter.17

Art dominated the renaissance in the west and though influenced by the iconography of the
East, such as Giotto’s frescoes (d. 1337) that adorned the Church in Assisi, these took on a more
realistic note and included “a narrative line” which is uncharacteristic of Byzantine icons.
Sculptures, both sacred and secular, emerged in this epoch and noteworthy artists are the Italians
Donatello and Botticelli. Botticelli supported the monastic oracle Girolamo Savonarola who was
a fierce critic of Alexander VI (Borgia) and one whom excoriated vice.18

16
Ibid., 123–124.
17
Ibid., 124–125.
18
Ibid., 125–126.
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Pope Alexander VI’s actions, while contributing positively to art and culture ultimately
sparked the reformation whereby the practice of selling indulgences to finance projects in Rome,
such as the rebuilding of St. Peter’s was also practiced in Germany. The consequences as
Treadgold remarks were that “the papacy and the whole Western church faced a calling to
account.” 19

Conclusion and Impressions:

We have not limited our critique of Treadgold’s chapter to the conclusion but have reserved
certain observations for it. First, Treadgold identifies a concept which repudiates modern
muscovite claims which are incommensurate with the usage of “Moscow the third Rome” as
regards its original intent and signification. The statement as noted above was historically meant
to convey Russia’s persistent stand for Orthodoxy and to excoriate Byzantium’s reunion with and
acquiescence to Rome, albeit for self preservation. It was not as conceived by some, to signify
Russia as the hypothetical successor to the legacy of new or ancient Rome. This notion is of later
provenance sometime in the 16th century most probably credited to a monk of Pskov who wrote a
panegyric letter to Grand Duke Vasilli III.20 Secondly, Treadgold’s understanding of Hesychasm
is incorrect. He understands it as “the pursuit of serenity” and the practice of the “gathering of the
mind.” It is more comprehensible to characterize Hesychasm as “stillness” in concert with the
Greek fathers. In fact, the Greek ησυχία (Heyschia) used by the fathers supports our contention
and denotes the accurate rendering of the word. Furthermore, the concentration of the νους (nous)
where the nous is the eye of the soul or heart and the “highest faculty in man”, is more intelligible
than Treadgold’s “gathering of the mind.” These two aspects of this section could’ve been
adequately dealt with using footnotes. 21

Thirdly, his covering of Orthodoxy’s fall inside the Polish state, circa. 1596 is usually
neglected among western authors and for this reason we applaud his inclusion of it. However, his
exclusion of prominent Orthodox figures, such as Mark of Ephesus, from the period covered is
disappointing.

19
Ibid., 126–127.
20
А. Д. Машков, “МОСКВА - ТРЕТІЙ РИМ - Лексика - Українські Енциклопедії Та Словники-Moscow the
Thrird Rome,” accessed October 1, 2018, http://leksika.com.ua/10651009/legal/moskva_-_tretiy_rim.
21
Nicodemus et al., The Philokalia: The Complete Text (London: Faber and Faber, 1983), 432.
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Finally, while we would recommend his work, headings would’ve accomplished a more
“reader friendly” experience. We understand that to cover history adequately some back and forth
presentation is required, but again subsection headings would’ve greatly benefitted rather than
hindered his composition.