07 — The Attempted Unions
Twice the dying empire signed union with Rome for the sake of military salvation — at Lyons (1274) under Michael VIII, by capitulation without a council, and at Ferrara–Florence (1438–39), by a real council worn down into a decree — and twice the Church’s body refused what emperors and bishops had signed. The failures fixed the Orthodox lesson: union is agreement in the faith received by the whole Church, or it is nothing.
Tradition: Pan-Orthodox
Contents
| File | Description |
|---|---|
| lyons-1274.md | The Angevin threat and Gregory X’s price; the unrepresentative embassy and the sworn capitulation of 6 July 1274; the Arsenite backdrop; the persecution of the anti-unionists (with the Athonite martyrdom traditions pinned to their attestations); Martin IV’s excommunication of Michael VIII; Blachernae 1285 and the Tomus of Gregory II of Cyprus |
| ferrara-florence-1438-1439.md | John VIII and Eugenius IV; the debates on purgatory and the Filioque; arrears, exhaustion, and Laetentur Caeli (6 July 1439); St. Mark of Ephesus’ lone refusal; the rejection by the Church’s body, Moscow’s break with Isidore, Varna, the fall of the City, and the 1484 annulment — deferring throughout to St. Mark of Ephesus |
Reading Order
Read lyons-1274.md first — Florence repeats its pattern on a larger stage — then ferrara-florence-1438-1439.md.
See Also
- 03 — The Photian Crisis — the true council of union (879–880) these attempts inverted
- 06 — The Doctrinal Core — the doctrines the unions asked the Church to sign
- 08 — After 1453 — the Unia, Florence’s method transposed
- St. Mark of Ephesus — the sibling collection on the confessor of Florence