Filioque and the East–West schism (1054)
589–1054 (–1204, 1965)
attested. Attested. 1054 as the 'date of the schism' is a later simplification.
The Latin addition 'and the Son' (Filioque) to the creed's clause on the Spirit's procession spread from Spain (Toledo 589) through the Frankish church. Rome adopted it in its liturgy around 1014. Photius (867) attacked it as heresy. Disputes over papal primacy, azymes and the Bulgarian mission deepened the split, and the legates and Patriarch Cerularius exchanged excommunications in 1054.
Sides
Latin West
Leaders: Charlemagne (Aachen 809), Nicholas I, Leo IX, Humbert of Silva Candida
The Spirit proceeds from Father and Son. Rome holds universal primacy.
Greek East
Leaders: Photius I, Michael Cerularius, Leo of Ohrid
The Spirit proceeds from the Father alone (through the Son). The creed of 381 must not be altered unilaterally.
Councils and places
- Third Council of Toledo (589) 6th
- Photian councils (Constantinople 867, 869–870, 879–880) 9th
- Mutual excommunications of 1054 (Hagia Sophia) 11th
Outcome
No decisive council settled it. Reunion councils (Lyon 1274, Florence 1439) failed. The sack of Constantinople (1204) made the split popular and bitter. In 1965 Paul VI and Athenagoras lifted the 1054 excommunications.
What happened to the losers
There was no 'losing side'. Two communions persisted, each regarding the other as schismatic.