We are accustomed to speak of the "Photian" schism, and to look upon Photius as its originator. This conception is not an unjust one. Photius was, far more than any other one man, responsible for the schism; he is the Luther of the Orthodox Church,[1] and, if one would attach the whole story to one name, there is no doubt that it should be his. At the same time, the movement is not contained in the story of Photius's life. We have seen that there had been many such schisms before his time (p. 96), and the quarrel that he caused was soon patched up, if not very heartily, and did not finally break out again till about 150 years after his death. Even then a reunion was arranged on two later occasions by the Councils of Lyons (1274) and Florence (1439), although each time it came to nothing. Nevertheless the schismatical Eastern Church has always looked upon Photius (he is St. Photius to her) as the champion of her cause against Rome, and we too consider him not wrongly as the father of their schism. This part will naturally fall into two chapters, describing the first schism under Photius and the second under Michael Cerularius.
- ↑ Kattenbusch, art. Photius in Herzog and Hauck's Realenz. f. prot. Theol. u. Kirche Leipzig, 1904).
