342 Outlines of European History Separating of the Eastern from the Western Church Thus it was natural that the Roman church should early have been looked upon as the " mother church " in the West. Its doctrines were considered the purest, since they had been handed down from its exalted founders. When there was a difference of opinion in regard to the tmth of a particular teaching, it was natural that all should turn to the bishop of Rome for his view. Moreover, the majesty of Rome, the capital of the world, helped to exalt its bishop above his fellows. It was long, how- ever, before all the other bishops, especially those in the large cities, were ready to accept unconditionally the authority of the bishop of Rome, although they acknowledged his leading position and that of the Roman community. We know comparatively little of the bishops of Rome during the first three or four centuries of the Church's existence. It is only with the accession of Leo the Great (440-461) that the history of the papacy may, in one sense, be said to have begun. At his suggestion, Valentinian III, the Emperor in the West, issued a decree in 445 declaring the power of the bishop of Rome supreme, by reason of Peter's headship, and the majesty of the city of Rome. He commanded that the bishops throughout the West should receive as law all that the bishop of Rome ap- proved, and that any bishop refusing to answer a summons to Rome should be forced to obey by the imperial governor. But a council at Chalcedon, six years later, declared that new Rome on the Bosporus (Constantinople) should have the same power in the government of the Church as old Rome on the Tiber. This decree was, however, never accepted in the Western, or Latin, Church, which was gradually separating from the Eastern, or Greek, Church, whose natural head was at Constantinople. Although there were times of trouble to come, when for years the claims of Pope Leo appeared an empty boast, still his emphatic assertion of the supremacy of the Roman bishop was a great step toward bringing the Western Church under a single head.^; 1 See Readings^ chap, iv, for development of the Pope's power.
