Diplomatic failure

At the beginning of the eleventh century, there was fresh trouble. In 1014 at the coronation of Holy Roman Emperor Henry II at Rome, the Creed was sung [64] in its edited [65] form. Furthermore, under German influence now, Rome began reforming itself. Through the rule of men such as Pope Gregory VII, it gained an unparalleled position of power in the West. The papacy naturally revived claims to universal jurisdiction.

Matters were made worse by the Normans, Vikings who attacked Byzantine-controlled regions in southern Italy. In addition, Venice, a powerful commercial city-state, encroached [66] on Byzantine business in Italy and Asia Minor.

In the early 1050s, the Normans began forcing the Greeks in Byzantine Italy to conform to [67] Latin practices. Patriarch Michael Cerularius in return demanded that the Latin churches at Constantinople adopt Greek practices. When the Latins refused, he closed their churches.

In 1053 Cerularius took up a more peaceful attitude and wrote to Pope Leo IX, offering to settle the disputed questions on вопрос о usages. In 1054 Leo sent three legates to Constantinople, the chief of them being Humbert, bishop of Silva Candida.

Cardinal Humbert and Cerularius were both stiff and uncompromising; their meeting was not likely to promote good will. The legates, when they called on зайти Cerularius, thrust a papal letter at him and then retired without the usual salutations. The letter had actually been written by Humbert and was antagonistic in tone.

The patriarch refused to deal further with the legates. Humbert lost patience and drew up a bull of excommunication against Cerularius. Among other ill-founded charges in the document, Humbert accused the Greeks of omitting [68] the filioque from the Creed!

Humbert quickly left and in Italy represented the whole incident as a great victory for Rome. Cerularius and his synod in their turn excommunicated Humbert. The attempt at reconciliation left matters worse than before.

Even after 1054, though, friendly relations continued. The two parts of Christendom were not yet conscious of the break between them. At the time, this seemed like a misunderstanding that, with tact and diplomacy, could be cleared up. With the Crusades, however, all hope was forever lost.

еSacrilege [69]

In the early 1090s, the Byzantine emperor, Alexis, appealed to Pope Urban II to help the East. Muslims had recently conquered large areas of the Byzantine Empire, including many precious sites in the Holy Land. The West rallied to [70] the cause, sending thousands of Crusaders, who liberated both Antioch and Jerusalem.

The Crusaders set up Latin patriarchs in both Antioch and Jerusalem, alongside the Greek patriarchs. In Jerusalem, Greeks and Latins at first accepted the Latin patriarch as their head. In 1107 a Russian pilgrim at Jerusalem found Greeks and Latins worshiping together in harmony at the holy places (though he noted with satisfaction that at the ceremony of the holy fire, Greek lamps lit miraculously while Latin lamps had to be lit from the Greek!).

After 1187, when Saladin captured Jerusalem, the situation in the Holy Land got worse: two rivals resident in Palestine itself now divided the Christian population between them – a Latin patriarch at Acre, a Greek at Jerusalem. The growing schism had come down to the local level.

A century later, any remaining harmony between East and West disappeared completely. In 1204 Western Crusaders were headed to Egypt on what is now considered the Fourth Crusade. They were persuaded to take a detour,[71] through Constantinople, by two parties: first, by merchants in Venice (who were helping finance the crusade) who sought to destabilize the Byzantine situation for their own gain; second, by Alexius, son of Isaac Angelus, the dispossessed emperor, who wanted to restore himself and his father to the Byzantine throne. But the Western intervention did not go well, and eventually the Crusaders, disgusted with Byzantine politics, lost patience and pillaged [72] the city.

The three-day sack of Constantinople is unparalleled in history. For 900 years, the great city had been the capital of Christian civilization. There were great multitude of works of art from ancient Greece and Byzantine masterpieces in the city. Many pillagers, especially those from Venice, carried off these treasures to decorate the squares and churches of their towns.

Mobs of soldiers rushed down the streets and through the houses. They snatched everything that glittered and destroyed whatever they could not carry – neither monasteries nor churches nor libraries were spared. [73] Estates and huts alike were entered and wrecked. They paused only to murder or to rape or to break open wine-cellars for refreshment. Nuns were assaulted in their convents. Bleeding women and children lay dying in the streets.

In Hagia Sophia, the most glorious church in Christendom, drunken soldiers tore down silk hangings and pulled the great silver iconostasis [74] – which held sacred icons – to pieces. Sacred books and icons were trampled upon. While soldiers drank merrily from the altar vessels, a prostitute set herself on the patriarch's throne and sang a vulgar French song.

For three days, the terrible scenes continued, till the great and beautiful city was ruins.

Schism

Constantinople never recovered. The Byzantine empire was weakening; in another 200 years, when Turks attacked, there was little strength to sustain a defense. In 1453 the great city fell, the Byzantine civilization was finished, and the Eastern church found itself a permanent minority in a hostile culture.

Eastern Christendom has never forgotten the slaughter and the pillage of those three terrible days in 1204. Historian Steven Runciman wrote, "The Crusaders brought not peace but a sword, and the sword was to cut Christendom. "[75] Bitterness and righteous anger against Western sacrilege was inscribed on Eastern hearts. "Even the Saracens [Muslims] are merciful and kind," protested one contemporary Orthodox historian, "compared with these men who bear the Cross of Christ on their shoulders."

Historians still engage in debates about when the Great Schism began, but after 1204, it's clear that which had been joined together was now decisively put asunder. [76]

Western Crusaders sack Constantinople in 1204. Besides the assault on human dignity and life, the amount of booty stolen was staggering. No one, wrote one Western chronicler, could possibly count the gold and silver, the plate and jewels, the silk and the furs taken.

[1] Violate ['vaIqleIt] оскорблять

[2] ['hxgIq]

[3] bull [bVl] (папская) булла

[4] excommunicate ["ekskq'mju:nIkeIt] церк. отлучить (от церкви)

[5] deacon ['di:k(q)n] дьякон

[6] schism ['s(k)Iz(q)m] схизма

[7] permanent ['pE:mqnqnt] долговременный

[8] unique [ju:'ni:k] единственный в своём роде, уникальный

[9] share [Seq] участвовать (в чём-л.)

[10] Constantine ['kPnst(q)ntaIn] Константин

[11] Byzantine [b(a)I'zxntaIn] византиец

[12] peninsula [pI'nInsjVlq] полуостров

[13] Charlemagne ['SQ:l(q)meIn] Карл Великий

[14] prejudice ['predZqdIs] предубеждение

[15] Virgil ['vE:dZIl] Вергилий

[16] lay светский, мирской

[17] patriarchate ['peItrIQ:kIt] патриаршество

[18] illiterate [I'lIt(q)rIt] неграмотный

[19] speculative ['spekjVlqtIv] созерцательный, умозрительный

[20] deification ["di:IfI'keIS(q)n] обожение

[21] leaven ['lev(q)n] заквашивать

[22] azyme ['xz(a)Im] опреснок

[23] Nicholas ['nIkqlqs] Николай

[24] exile ['eksaIl, 'egzaIl] изгонять; ссылать

[25] to hold office — занимать пост

[26] accession [qk'seS(q)n] вступление (в должность)

[27] balk [bO:(l)k] отклонять; уклоняться

[28] usurper [ju:'zE:pq] узурпатор

[29] legitimate [lI'dZItImIt] законный

[30] depose [dI'pqVz] смещать; свергать, низлагать

[31] equality [I'kwPlItI] равенство

[32] college ['kPlIdZ] корпорация; коллегия

[33] Leo ['li:qV] Лев

[34] subordinate [sq'bO:dInIt] подчинённый

[35] exalted [Ig'zO:ltId] преувеличенный

[36] courtesy ['kE:tIsI] учтивость

[37] retrial ["ri:'traIql] повторное слушание дела

[38] condemned [kqn'demd] осуждённый

[39] issue ['ISu:, 'Isju:] вопрос, проблема

[40] divisive [dI'vaIsIv] сеющий распри

[41] venture ['ventSq] рискованное, смелое предприятие

[42] khan [kQ:n] хан

[43] to give a free hand —давать полную свободу действий

[44] Nicene ['naIsi:n] никейский Символ веры

[45] safeguard ['seIfgQ:d] мера предосторожности

[46] Arianism ['e(q)rIqnIz(q)m] арианство, ересь Ария

[47] sound [saVnd] здравый, разумный; правильный

[48] shrink [SrINk] сжиматься, съёживаться

[49] object [qb'dZekt] возражать

[50] possession [pq'zeS(q)n] достояние

[51] ecumenic, ecumenical ["i:kjV'menIk, -(q)l] церк. вселенский (о соборе)

[52] fratricide ['frxtrIsaId] братоубийство

[53] denounce [dI'naVns] осуждать

[54] heretic ['herItIk] еретик

[55] ravage ['rxvIdZ] разорять

[56] controversy ['kPntrqvE:sI, kqn'trPvqsI] спор, дискуссия, полемика, расхождение во мнениях

[57] rivalry ['raIv(q)lrI] соперничество

[58] alliance [q'laIqns] объединение

[59] condemn [kqn'dem] осуждать

[60] reverse [rI'vE:s] отменять, аннулировать

[61] missionary ['mISqn(q)rI] миссионер

[62] expel [Ik'spel] изгонять

[63] reconcile ['rekqnsaIl] помирить

[64] sing читать нараспев

[65] edit извращать, подвергать произвольной переработке

[66] encroach [In'krqVtS] посягать

[67] conform [kqn'fO:m] (to) сообразовать; согласовать

[68] omit [q(V)'mIt] пропускать, не включать

[69] sacrilege ['sxkrIlIdZ] церк. святотатство

[70] rally ['rxlI] (to) поддерживать; помогать

[71] detour ['di:tVq] окольный путь; обход, объезд: to take a detour — сделать крюк

[72] pillage ['pIlIdZ] грабить

[73] spare [speq] беречь, сберегать, жалеть

[74] iconostasis ["aIkq'nPstqsIs] иконостас

[75] Christendom ['krIs(q)ndqm] христианский мир

[76] asunder [q'sAndq] пополам

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