The Synod of Constantinople in 1484 was a local
synod
A synod () is a council of a Christian denomination, usually convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. The word ''wikt:synod, synod'' comes from the meaning "assembly" or "meeting" and is analogous with the Latin ...
of the
Eastern Orthodox Church
The Eastern Orthodox Church, also called the Orthodox Church, is the second-largest Christian church, with approximately 220 million baptized members. It operates as a communion of autocephalous churches, each governed by its bishops via ...
. It was the first synod to condemn the
Council of Florence
The Council of Florence is the seventeenth ecumenical council recognized by the Catholic Church, held between 1431 and 1449. It was convoked as the Council of Basel by Pope Martin V shortly before his death in February 1431 and took place in ...
.
History
After the 1453
fall of Constantinople
The Fall of Constantinople, also known as the Conquest of Constantinople, was the capture of the capital of the Byzantine Empire by the Ottoman Empire. The city fell on 29 May 1453 as part of the culmination of a 53-day siege which had begun o ...
, the
Ottoman government
The Ottoman Empire developed over the years as a despotism with the Sultan as the supreme ruler of a centralized government that had an effective control of its provinces, officials and inhabitants. Wealth and rank could be inherited but were j ...
organized the Patriarchate of Constantinople as a department within the Islamic state and supported its Orthodox heritage and anti-Catholic feelings with the political objective of moving the captured Greeks away from Western Europe. The Patriarch of Constantinople at the time,
Symeon I, served the interests of the
Ottoman Sultan
The sultans of the Ottoman Empire ( tr, Osmanlı padişahları), who were all members of the Ottoman dynasty (House of Osman), ruled over the transcontinental empire from its perceived inception in 1299 to its dissolution in 1922. At its hei ...
, both during his second reign with his policy towards
Trebizond and, during his last reign, by convening a synod to formally ratify the separation of the
Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
.
The Synod of Constantinople was convened by Patriarch Symeon I and lasted from September 1483 until August 1484. It was held in the patriarchal
Pammakaristos Church
The Pammakaristos Church, also known as the Church of Theotokos Pammakaristos ( el, , "All-Blessed Mother of God"), is one of the most famous Byzantine churches in Istanbul, Turkey, and was the last pre- Ottoman building to house the Ecumenical ...
, in the presence of representatives of the Patriarchs of
Alexandria
Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandria ...
,
Antioch
Antioch on the Orontes (; grc-gre, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου, ''Antiókheia hē epì Oróntou'', Learned ; also Syrian Antioch) grc-koi, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου; or Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπ ...
and
Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
(the latter sees then being under the
Mamluk Sultanate of Cairo
The Mamluk Sultanate ( ar, سلطنة المماليك, translit=Salṭanat al-Mamālīk), also known as Mamluk Egypt or the Mamluk Empire, was a state that ruled Egypt, the Levant and the Hejaz (western Arabia) from the mid-13th to early 16th ...
). The main issue of the synod was the need to define a ritual for the admission to the
Eastern Orthodox Church
The Eastern Orthodox Church, also called the Orthodox Church, is the second-largest Christian church, with approximately 220 million baptized members. It operates as a communion of autocephalous churches, each governed by its bishops via ...
of the converted from the
Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
. This issue was quite relevant in such years due to the conquests by the Ottomans of areas previously subjected to
Western rule (e.g. the
Duchy of Athens
The Duchy of Athens (Greek: Δουκᾶτον Ἀθηνῶν, ''Doukaton Athinon''; Catalan: ''Ducat d'Atenes'') was one of the Crusader states set up in Greece after the conquest of the Byzantine Empire during the Fourth Crusade as part of the ...
) and to the Ottoman system of government of the minorities (the
millet system
In the Ottoman Empire, a millet (; ar, مِلَّة) was an independent court of law pertaining to "personal law" under which a confessional community (a group abiding by the laws of Muslim Sharia, Christian Canon law, or Jewish Halakha) was al ...
) which subjected the Catholics to the civil authority of the Patriarch of Constantinople, causing numerous conversions to Orthodoxy.
The Synod, as preliminary remark, stated that the
Council of Florence
The Council of Florence is the seventeenth ecumenical council recognized by the Catholic Church, held between 1431 and 1449. It was convoked as the Council of Basel by Pope Martin V shortly before his death in February 1431 and took place in ...
had been not
canonically summoned or composed, and so its decrees were null and void, and then approved a ritual for the reception for the converts which required the
Chrismation
Chrismation consists of the sacrament or mystery in the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox and Eastern Catholic churches, as well as in the Assyrian Church of the East initiation rites. The sacrament is more commonly known in the West as confirm ...
and an abjuration of the Council of Florence (but not a re-
baptism
Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost inv ...
).
The 1484 Synod of Constantinople was the first synod to condemn the Council of Florence, as the so-called ''1450 Synod of Saint Sophia'' never took place and its documents are a forgery of the early 17th century. However the decrees of the 1484 synod were not universally implemented and cases of
inter-communion
Full communion is a communion or relationship of full agreement among different Christian denominations that share certain essential principles of Christian theology. Views vary among denominations on exactly what constitutes full communion, bu ...
between Catholics and Orthodox went on in the
regions subjected to the
Venetian Republic
The Republic of Venice ( vec, Repùblega de Venèsia) or Venetian Republic ( vec, Repùblega Vèneta, links=no), traditionally known as La Serenissima ( en, Most Serene Republic of Venice, italics=yes; vec, Serenìsima Repùblega de Venèsia, ...
until the 18th century.
Notes
{{reflist, 2,
refs=
[{{cite web , url=http://www.ehw.gr/l.aspx?id=10300 , title=Symeon I of Constantinople , publisher=Encyclopaedia of the Hellenic World, Asia Minor , author=Moustakas Konstantinos , accessdate=7 August 2011]
[{{cite book , last = Runciman , first = Steven , title = The Great Church in captivity , publisher = Cambridge University Press , year = 1985 , isbn = 978-0-521-31310-0 , pages ]
193–4,228
, url-access = registration , url = https://archive.org/details/greatchurchincap00sirs/page/193
[{{cite book , last = Philippides , first = Marios , title = The Siege and the Fall of Constantinople in 1453 , publisher = Ashgate Pub Co , year = 2011 , isbn = 978-1-4094-1064-5]
[{{cite book , last = Gibbon , first = Edward , title = The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Vol. 7 , publisher = Wildside Press , location = City , year = 2004 , isbn = 978-0-8095-9241-8 , pages=142–3 note 7]
[{{cite book , last = Meyendorff , first = John , title = The Orthodox Church : its past and its role in the world today , publisher = St. Vladimir's Seminary Press , location = Crestwood, N.Y , year = 1981 , isbn = 978-0-913836-81-1 , pages=82 note 8]
Constantinople 1484
1484
Year 1484 ( MCDLXXXIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar, the 1484th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 484th year of the 2nd millennium, the 84th ye ...
East–West Schism
1484 in Europe
15th-century Eastern Orthodoxy