1444, Byzantium Resurrects

Chapter 243: Council of La Spezia

Walking up the spotless white steps, Andronicus entered the magnificent and holy hall, walked around a corridor and came to a side hall.

This is a palace in the Vatican City. The luxurious windows face St. Peter's Basilica. Outside the cathedral, the obelisk in the square is visible in the distance.

Pope John Paul II was the only one in the palace. He was wearing gorgeous cassock and the famous triple crown on his head, standing quietly by the window.

"Messenger from afar, dear brother, welcome to Rome, to the city of Jesus Christ."

Pope John Paul II's voice was old and ethereal, as if it came from a distant heaven.

"Your Holiness, the Emperor has sent me here at your invitation to discuss the matter of the Council."

Andronikos' neither humble nor arrogant voice sounded, and Pope Paul II turned around.

"Please come here."

Andronikos nodded, walked slowly forward and stood next to Pope Paul II.

"Dear brother, do you know what that is?"

Pope John Paul II looked calm and pointed to the obelisk outside the window.

The obelisk is very tall, and the patterns and reliefs on its surface show strong pagan characteristics, which seem out of place in the Vatican, which is full of Christian style.

Next to the obelisk, Andronicus could still see the remains of Nero's Colosseum. This ancient building had long been reduced to ruins and became history due to several natural disasters and man-made destruction.

"Obelisk."

Andronikos replied.

"Yes, the obelisk."

Pope John Paul II looked solemn.

"In the 40th year after the birth of Jesus, Emperor Caligula moved this building, which originally belonged to the Egyptians, to Rome. The obelisk has stood here for thousands of years."

"More than a decade later, Saint Peter came to Rome to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ. The Roman Emperor Nero killed him and nailed him upside down under the obelisk. His blood dyed the soil red."

Pope John Paul II showed compassion on his face and made the sign of the cross on his chest.

Andronikas smiled.

"However, several hundred years later, another Roman emperor issued the Edict of Milan, which legalized the faith passed down by Jesus Christ and the twelve apostles. He also gave the land you see now to the Archbishop of Rome and built St. Peter's Basilica on the tomb of St. Peter to commemorate this steadfast saint who was not afraid of power."

"His name is Constantine. He is the first emperor of the Roman Empire to be named Constantine, but not the last."

"Yes, the great achievements of Constantine the Great are always worthy of our commemoration, and his decrees and regulations still have supreme effect today."

Pope Paul II looked at Andronicus.

"In the 325th year after the birth of Jesus, the First Council of Nicaea was held under the chairmanship of Constantine the Great. At the meeting, Constantine the Great personally participated in the compilation of the Nicene Creed."

"In subsequent councils, the empire was divided into five dioceses: Rome, Constantinople, Jerusalem, Antioch, and Alexandria."

"Among the five major dioceses, the Roman Diocese has a lofty status. St. Paul and St. Peter personally founded the church and both died here. The two saints passed down this glory and hope to me."

Pope John Paul II spoke slowly.

"Even before the Edict of Milan, the dioceses of Rome, Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem had already become important places of faith, where countless saints spread the true faith and countless lost lambs were embraced by Jesus Christ."

"Only the Constantinople Archdiocese, or the Byzantine Archdiocese at that time, was established the latest and was not well received by believers. No saints were martyred here, but it became one of the five major archdioceses overnight and even demanded to be on par with Rome."

"Dear brother Andronikos, do you think this is reasonable?"

Pope John Paul II's tone was very gentle, as if he was talking about a trivial matter.

"Or, is your emperor willing to uphold the will of Constantine the Great and recognize the Roman diocese as the leader of all dioceses?"

Andronikas remained calm and smiled softly.

"Before I came here, I had a long talk with His Majesty, during which he made clear his attitude on this matter."

"His Majesty said that he certainly knows the importance of the Roman Diocese to the entire Christian world. If you are willing to accept his conditions, he can fully recognize the supremacy of the Roman Diocese on behalf of the Eastern Empire."

"Oh? What's the condition?"

Pope John Paul II was somewhat surprised.

"If you are going to quote ancient scriptures, you cannot take them out of context and intentionally or unintentionally ignore other things."

Andronikos looked at Paul II with a smile.

"According to the Council of Nicaea and several subsequent councils, the imperial power was above all else. The Roman emperor had the highest authority over religious affairs and had the right to manage the promotion and dismissal of clergy. The election results of the archbishops must be recognized by the emperor."

"His Majesty said that if you are willing to acknowledge this, he can immediately declare the Roman Diocese as the head of all dioceses, with a status above that of Constantinople, and even allow the Archbishop of Rome to preside over the coronation ceremony for the subsequent emperor."

Seeing that Pope Paul II was actually lost in thought, Andronikos panicked and immediately added something.

"Of course, in this case, Rome should belong to the emperor, and your majesty can return to the old capital at any time."

"Then there's nothing to talk about."

Pope John Paul II shook his head regretfully.

"Even if I could agree to this, the cardinals would never agree to it, and neither would the secular monarchs."

"Besides, your people won't agree to it, right?"

"So, I suggest that we get straight to the point, seek common ground while reserving differences, and not waste time on something that is doomed to fail."

Andronikas said calmly.

"Since the great schism four hundred years ago, our two factions have been separated, and the contradictions and hostility have gradually expanded, causing great disasters to both sides."

When Pope Paul II heard this, he snorted.

"As far as I know, even though the two factions split, we were not the first to instigate hatred. Instead, you were the first to launch a large-scale persecution against Catholics in Constantinople, right?"

"You granted the commercial privileges to Italian merchants voluntarily without anyone forcing you. But later you got jealous and wanted to take them back, so you started slaughtering and driving them away indiscriminately?"

"When Emperor Alexios asked us for support, we agreed without hesitation. From the king and nobles to the common people, countless people left their homes, countless people died, and countless people were buried in the sea and desert."

"Without our strong support, without our sacrifices and efforts, if we had not tied down the Saracens' forces, you would not have had the time to regroup. Without us, Asia Minor would no longer be yours!"

"Your Holiness, the previous Crusades did provide us with great help. This is acknowledged by all emperors. Their piety and bravery also left a deep impression on us."

Andronikas said.

"But the Crusades also brought us great disasters. We will never forget the incident in 1204."

"Haha, 1204..."

Pope Paul II curled his lips.

"There are a few things I've been wanting to ask you."

"Whose vassals were the Venetians originally? You!"

"Who raised the vicious tiger of Venice? You!"

"Who started the great persecution against the Venetians, making the hatred irreversible? It was you!"

"Since its birth, the church of Venice has been completely independent, including the later French church, which also ignored us."

"Did we know about the disaster in 1204 in advance? Did we instigate it? How much of the wealth looted by the Venetians flowed into our treasury?"

"Venice not only took away your land, but also my land. Several of my parishes are still under their control!"

"The rise of the Venetians and the French, can it bring us any benefit?"

Pope John Paul II became more and more excited as he spoke.

"Let's look closer. You have been defeated time and time again on the battlefield and have asked us for help time and time again. Even though we knew it was impossible, we still adhered to the teachings of Jesus Christ and tried our best to provide you with support."

"Władysław III, such a young boy, as the king of two kingdoms, he should have enjoyed glory and wealth, but he came to your land first and was killed by the Ottomans who were also introduced to Europe by you. Not even a complete piece of his body can be pieced together!"

"Previous popes campaigned for the holy war, were met with cold shoulder time and time again, and regrouped time and time again. Even if they owed a large debt, they would pay out of their own pockets to send knights and ships to you."

"When your emperors came to Western Europe to ask for help, we always helped them whenever we could. We never refused or made excuses, and we never laughed at or ridiculed them for their plight!"

"Go back and ask your emperor if we have ever let him down, let his grandfather down, let the previous emperors of the Palaiologos family down!"

"On the contrary, what have you done for us?"

Pope Paul II's face turned slightly red and his chest heaved up and down.

Andronikas was silent for a moment, then he raised his head and spoke slowly.

"It is because we guarded the gate of the Christian world that you were able to avoid the invasion of the Saracens. This is the greatest contribution we have made to you."

Pope Paul II opened his mouth and sighed.

"You are right, my dear brother."

"But now, under the wise leadership of your emperor, the Saracens are no longer a force to be reckoned with. The Christian world no longer has to worry about their invasion. We no longer need each other, right?"

"No, that's not the case."

Andronikas shook his head slowly.

"The external enemies have disappeared, but the Christian world has bred internal demons, who are multiplying and growing in your land."

"That's why you invited the delegation, isn't it?"

Seeing that Pope Paul II did not answer, Andronikos continued to speak to himself.

"I admit that there are indeed some conflicts between our two factions in terms of doctrine, but I am sure you also know that this is inevitable. Even two random citizens in Constantinople may not have the same understanding of doctrine."

"Among all the large churches, the doctrinal differences between our two sects are the smallest. Even the Armenian Church and the Coptic Church, which have been widely accepted in the Eastern Empire, have a much larger doctrinal gap with the Church of Constantinople than ours."

"Not to mention Nestorians, Arians, Hussites and other heretics who have completely deviated from the teachings of the saints."

"In my opinion, the main reason why our two factions have never been able to reunite is the nearly two hundred years of Latin colonization, which has led to the gradual accumulation of hatred and prejudice, especially between the lower-class people of the Eastern Empire and the Latin merchants."

Andronica spread his hands. "But, as His Majesty also said, the hatred in the past was only directed at the Venetian colonists, not at the entire Western Church, nor at the Venetian people and the Venetian merchants who once helped us."

"I wonder if you know Mr. Miloto, who was the governor of the Venetian colony in Constantinople? He is obviously a Venetian, but he ignored the orders of his superiors during the Battle of Constantinople and insisted on staying to help us. He was respected and grateful by the emperor for this, and his chamber of commerce was not subject to the ban and could stop at our port at will and participate in the Mediterranean trade."

"Your Majesty's gratitude also includes you. Although you have never called for a holy war, your uncle, Enren IV, has organized the most grand holy war in recent years. The Varna Crusade is really only one step away from the final victory."

"The Roman Diocese has St. Peter as its patron saint, and the Constantinople Diocese has St. Andrew as its patron saint. The two apostles are brothers, and our two factions are also brothers from the same clan. We must not continue to be hostile to each other."

"Well said, dear brother. This is exactly why I came here with you."

Pope John Paul II's expression softened a lot.

"I wonder what you think of the Bohemian heresy?"

"Heresy is heresy, and we will certainly stand on your side."

Andronikas said immediately.

"But I think you should be aware that if you allow Hungary to grow stronger, the next France may emerge."

"I know this, but the Bohemians are too arrogant. I dare not put my hopes on Frederick III alone."

Pope John Paul II groaned.

"In the last war, the fighting power displayed by the Bohemians was too terrifying. I asked Matthias I to send troops out of necessity."

"This is not only what I mean, but also what Frederick III means. He seems to have never thought about leading an army to war."

Andronica smiled and said nothing more.

Pope Paul II pondered for a moment and looked at Andronicus again.

"Since we have agreed to continue the main principles of the Council of Florence, why don't you tell me your demands so that I can convey them to the cardinals."

Andronikos pulled a letter from his pocket and handed it to Pope Paul II.

"This is the letter from His Majesty. Our request is clearly stated in it."

“First, the two sects reached a unity of church. From then on, the term “heretic” was banned in official occasions. Instead, they referred to each other as “Roman Church” and “Constantinople Church”.”

"That should be no problem. The cardinals will not stand in the way of such matters."

Pope John Paul II looked at the letter and nodded.

"Second, the two sects should conduct themselves independently, not interfere with each other, respect each other's rituals and customs, refrain from obstructing the normal religious activities of the other side's believers, and adopt an inclusive policy."

"Yes, as long as your emperor can do it, my successors and I will never break the rules."

Pope Paul II raised his head and glanced at Andronikos.

In fact, in recent years, the Western Catholic Church has been beset with problems and internal worries, and is no longer what it used to be. It has no spare energy to interfere in the private affairs of the Oriental Orthodox Church.

"Third, all clergy of the two factions will automatically be recognized by the other party. The two factions must invite the other party to attend every meeting and keep the meeting stubs."

"Heh, we have invited you to every meeting of our church, and we have left you a copy of the documents of every meeting, but it seems that you never want us to participate in your internal meetings."

Pope Paul II shook his head.

"This is a good proposal, I agree."

"Fourth, the Eastern and Western churches lift the excommunications against each other, and we lift the excommunications against the Church of Antioch and the Church of Alexandria, and unify them all."

“It’s a little bit difficult, but not impossible.”

Pope John Paul II groaned.

"We are fine, are you willing to dissolve it? Every proposal to unify the church was made by us, and you never seemed to be interested in it."

"It's different now. Your Majesty has the final say and no one dares to object."

Andronikas said.

"Besides, we don't really need to adopt each other's customs and doctrines, we just need to reach a consensus."

"The consensus is that our faith in Jesus Christ is sincere and genuine across all of our denominations, but we just express it differently."

"I can't give you an answer right away. It will take some time to discuss."

Paul II said.

Andronika nodded and continued.

"Fifth, we must firmly maintain a consistent attitude in the face of all emerging heresies, including the Hussites. We will always support you in combating and eliminating heretics, and will never add insult to injury during this period, nor will we harm the friendship between the two factions for the sake of land interests."

Andronicus paused.

"Your Majesty has reduced the troops on the Hungarian border and sent the Cuman cavalry back intact to support your holy war."

"Furthermore, His Majesty also said that if one day Rome is once again invaded by barbarians and heretics, he and his successors will never ignore your requests for help like the emperor did back then."

Andronicus looked at Paul II.

“He also said that if the King of France threatened the Pope’s life and dignity again, he would definitely send troops to support and punish him.”

Pope John Paul II put away the letter and remained silent.

"Your Majesty wants to act as our protector again."

Andronika chuckled when he heard this.

"I heard that you have a bad relationship with Louis XI. If he insists on sending troops to Italy after completing the centralization of power, Frederick III may not be able to protect you."

"Your Excellency, I'm sure you don't want the Avignon incident to happen again, right?"

Pope John Paul II folded the letter without commenting and looked out the window.

As the sky gradually darkened, the holy St. Peter's Basilica was tinged with a layer of rosy clouds, as if it were a noble lady who had just given birth, lazy and gentle.

"Tell me, Isaac III has made so many concessions, each of which is what I urgently need right now. What exactly does he want from me?"

Pope Paul II asked.

"Your Majesty hopes that the wedding of Prince Justinian and Princess Isabella will be blessed by both the Eastern and Western Churches. I hope you will put pressure on Henry IV in the name of the head of the Western Church."

Andronikas said with a smile.

"The marriage between Emperor Ioannis II of the Komnenos dynasty and Princess Irene of Hungary brought great benefits to both parties. This should not be unacceptable to you."

Paul II nodded slightly and looked into Andronikos' eyes.

"I guess Emperor Isaac is not just concerned about his son's marriage, right? If you have any other needs, please tell me."

"Your Majesty believes that the Western Church came to the rescue of the Eastern Church when it was in the most difficult time. Now that we have regrouped, we should repay it."

Andronikas said forcefully.

"We believe that the Saracens' influence in Europe has not been completely eliminated. Henry IV has pushed Castile to the brink of civil war, and the reconquest of Iberia is nowhere in sight. Why not let us deal them a fatal blow?"

"We are preparing to launch a holy war against Granada, which is expected to be completed within ten years. The captured land will be used as a fiefdom for the descendants of Prince Justinian and Princess Isabella."

"Your Majesty hopes that you will be able to legalize our jihad in the Western Church, in accordance with the old traditions, recognizing the jihadists' ownership of the conquered lands."

Pope John Paul II had a blank expression on his face, and no emotion could be seen between his old features.

"If Granada was so easy to beat, it wouldn't have dragged on until now."

The old man spoke slowly.

"I'm afraid you don't even want to conquer the whole of Granada, you just have your eyes on the Strait of Gibraltar?"

Andronikos kept smiling and said nothing.

"If I don't agree, will Isaac III give up?"

Andronikas continued to smile.

Pope John Paul II read the answer from his eyes and sighed softly.

"If you gain a foothold in southern Iberia, will you try to interfere in Castile's internal affairs?"

This time, the smile on Andronika's face faded.

"Your Majesty, if I were you, I would probably prefer a broken and divided Iberia rather than a united Great Spain."

"Only when there are many princes will they become dependent on you, your authority will not be challenged by the centralized monarch, your church property will not be confiscated, and the tithes paid by the believers will not be intercepted by secular rulers."

"As long as a kingdom moves towards unification, the monarchs will inevitably begin to centralize power and suppress the feudal lords. Your jurisdiction over the local church will undoubtedly be weakened."

"Which do you prefer, France or Germany?"

Pope Paul II gave a wry smile and looked at Andronikos with a hint of admiration in his eyes.

"I personally think this proposal is fine, but it will also take time to convince the rest of the cardinals."

"Today is different from the past. The Moors in North Africa are on the decline. Several important ports south of Gibraltar are in the hands of your ally, the Portuguese. It is difficult for Granada to get support from the outside world."

"In any case, I wish you success."

……

In the winter of 1465, Pope Paul II and Patriarch Isidore of Constantinople issued a joint statement expressing their willingness to continue to uphold the main principles of the Council of Florence on the unity of the church and to start a new round of ecumenical councils to revise the content of the previous negotiations.

Subsequently, the Armenian Apostolic Church, the Coptic Orthodox Church and the Syriac Orthodox Church also voiced their support for the call of the two factions and sent their own delegations to Italy.

After consultation between the two factions, it was decided to hold the meeting in the Free City of La Spezia in the Eastern Roman Empire, and the meeting would be jointly hosted by the two factions.

On December 1465, 12, more than a thousand delegations from various dioceses and denominations gathered in La Spezia, and the meeting officially began.

This conference was the ninth ecumenical council in Christian history that was unanimously recognized by both the Eastern and Western Churches, and was known as the Council of La Spezia.

(End of this chapter)