The Ferraro-Florentine Union of 1439 was an agreement concluded between representatives of the Western and Eastern churches in Florence. According to its provisions, the two churches united on the condition that the Orthodox side recognized the primacy of the pope, preserving their Orthodox rites. At the same time, Latin dogma was recognized.
Signing
Greek bishops signed the union at the Ferraro-Florentine Council, with the exception of the patriarch Joseph of Constantinople. He died before this event. It is noteworthy that Metropolitan Isidore also signed the Ferraro-Florentine Union, it was the Russian Metropolitan. Subsequently, for this act he was deposed by the Grand Duke Vasily II the Dark. This document has not come into force either in Russia or in Byzantium. Through the eyes of Orthodox Christianity, the Ferraro-Florentine union was a real betrayal, surrender to Catholicism.
Upon returning to their homeland, many Orthodox figures who signed the document refused it. They stated that they were forced to sign such a document. Both the clergy and the people, learning about the incident, were very annoyed. All who were at that council were recognized as heretics.
The consequence of the Ferraro-Florentine Union in 1443 was the excommunication in Jerusalem of all those involved in the signing of the document from Jerusalem. For a long time these people were very actively condemned. The Patriarch of Constantinople Gregory was deposed in 1450, and Athanasius ascended the throne instead. After the capture of Constantinople in 1453, the document was no longer remembered.
Historical setting
It is better to appreciate the significance of the Ferraro-Florentine Cathedral of 1438-1439. Familiarity with the then prevailing world situation will help. In the 15th century, Byzantium was actively subjected to the conquest of the Turks. The country's government tried to find help among Western countries, including among the popes.
For this reason, the last emperors of Byzantium often came to the West. But the latter was in no hurry to help.
Then John VIII Paleologue (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 proposed uniting 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 cathedral where representatives of Orthodoxy and Catholicism would decide the question of unification under the leadership of the Western Church. The next step was the conviction of the Western rulers to provide Byzantium assistance. After long negotiations, it was decided to sign the Ferraro-Florentine Union. The pope agreed to personally pay the fare and contain all the Orthodox priests who came here.
When in 1437, Emperor John Palaeologus went to Ferrara with the bishops, the Russian Metropolitan Isidore, all the arrivals were faced with a rather strict policy of the pope. He demanded that the Patriarch of Constantinople Joseph kiss the pope’s shoe in Latin tradition. However, Joseph refused. Before the opening of the cathedral, many meetings between the fathers took place over all kinds of disagreements.
Conversation
During the meetings, Mark, Metropolitan of Ephesus and the representative of the Patriarch of Jerusalem, showed himself actively. Mark refused to make concessions to dad. In October 1438, the cathedral was opened, despite the fact that Western rulers did not attend.
The most controversial issue was the descent of the Holy Spirit from the Son, there were many differences regarding the amendments made by the Latin Church to the Nicene symbol. While Western priests claimed that they did not distort the symbol, they only revealed its original essence. In this spirit, 15 meetings were held. Some Greek priests, including Mark of Ephesus, never retreated. Then dad reduced their content.
After the plague
In 1438 a plague broke out, and then the cathedral was transferred to Florence. The debate about dogma continued for a long time. The Holy Fathers argued about passages of scripture that were interpreted in different ways by the Western and Eastern churches.
John Paleolog did not like the fact that Orthodox priests were unyielding. He convinced them that it would be necessary to agree with the representatives of the Catholics. Then Vissarion of Nicaea, a former adversary of Catholics, agreed that the Latin expression “from the Son” is the same as the Orthodox “through the Son”. However, Mark of Ephesus called the Catholics heretics. The paleologist facilitated the unification in every possible way.
Greek priests continued to persevere in their editors and rejected the others. Then the emperor convinced, threatened them to accept another edition. They had to agree with the requirements of the Paleologist. Then the gathered and came to the agreement of the Ferraro-Florentine Union. The Latin side agreed to admit both Greek and Latin rites. Thanks to this, the agreement came to a logical end. Papal leadership was recognized, as was purgatory. This act was signed by all, with the exception of Mark of Ephesus, Patriarch Joseph, because he managed to die.
When dad did not see Mark’s signature, he admitted: “We haven’t done anything.” Nevertheless, the Ferraro-Florentine Union was solemnly read in two languages - Latin and Greek. Representatives of the Western and Eastern churches hugged and kissed as a sign of association. Dad provided guests with ships to return home.
Summary
Describing briefly the Ferraro-Florentine Union with its results and significance, it is worth saying that the Paleologist personally became convinced that such a combination on an exclusively religious, and not political basis, was extremely fragile. And if the Greek priests agreed with the document upon signing, then upon arrival in Constantinople they defiantly ignored it. The people were dissatisfied.
Everyone rallied around Mark of Ephesus, defending Orthodoxy. The signatories were excommunicated. The paleologist raised the supporters of the union one after another to the patriarchal throne, but not one took root for long, the people protested.
The emperor did not see any help from the Western rulers, and he himself began to treat the Ferraro-Florentine union with a cold. 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, and did not receive the help that John Paleologue so eagerly sought.
In Russia
After the signing of the Ferraro-Florentine Union in 1439, there were consequences for Russia. Metropolitan Isidore, who was present at that cathedral, was deposed in Moscow; he was imprisoned. He later fled from there to Lithuania. When Metropolitan Jonah was appointed in his place , the Russian Church became a separate formation that no longer depended on the Patriarchate of Constantinople.
Process Details
The delegation from Orthodoxy, sent to sign the Ferraro-Florentine Union, consisted of 700 people. At its head was John VIII. In total, more than 30 metropolitans arrived in the West. Bulgarian and Serbian representatives refused to participate in this event. Moscow specifically appointed for the role of Ambassador Metropolitan Isidore, a whole group of Russian priests went with him.
In Venice in 1438, the audience expected the arrival of the sovereigns of Europe, for this reason the beginning of the meetings was postponed for several months. But the European rulers never showed up, not one came to Ferrara. All the strongest monarchs were sitting at that moment in Basel. The only one who supported the pope was England. But she had a lot of her affairs. For this reason, the military forces that Paleologus was counting on were simply not there.
The Greek side was expecting a great disappointment in the financial situation in which the papacy was. His treasury was empty quite actively. And the emperor began to realize that he would not find forces sufficient for the empire here.
Composition of delegations
At the same time, the emperor made efforts - he did not see other ways to save the empire. He achieved the formation of an impressive delegation. Almost the entire Orthodox world was represented at the Cathedral in 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. Dad 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 just before leaving for Ferrara.
In addition, the delegation of Orthodox priests at this cathedral was split into parts. Thanks to this, the delegation was losing its position. 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 drawing to a close, and decided that his mission would be to preserve 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 persuaded the assembled representatives of Orthodoxy to sign the union, convincing the Russian metropolitan to sign the union. However, Isidore himself was closely associated with Constantinople.
It is noteworthy that Vissarion emigrated to Italy until 1453, converted to Catholicism and took a fairly high post. He became a papal cardinal.
Mark of Ephesus
Most of the representatives of the Eastern Church regarded Mark of Ephesus with much greater distrust. He had a separate system of values. He was blamed for 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, failed in practice.
Nevertheless, in favor of Mark is the fact that he appeared at the cathedral. At the same time, he believed that Rome should have yielded to more points. He experienced great disappointment, being at the pope.
Sources
The main source of modern knowledge about the events taking place at the cathedral is the memoirs of Deacon Sylvester. He was their participant and displayed everyday events that took place at meetings. Transcripts of both the Greek and Latin sides were lost. Autobiographical essays about the events that took place directly to Mark of Ephesus, later the Orthodox leader, were also preserved.