sor, Germanus, granted absolution to Michael, who however then persuaded him to retire, probably because he would not publish the fact. That was done by the next patriarch Joseph, a monk, who knew how to act the courtier. On the 2nd of February, a.d. 1267, there was a solemn function at St. Sophia, prepared for by a night spent in the church. The emperor cast himself on the ground before the patriarch, confessed his sin, and prayed for pardon. He remained prostrate while Joseph, in conjunction with the other bishops, read the absolution, after which he was admitted to the communion. Thus at last he had his wish. The whole story reveals surprising power in the Greek clergy, or rather, what is of more significance, a remarkable respect felt for religion and righteousness. It is not to be compared with Hildebrand's haughty conduct with the Emperor Henry; it is more like Ambrose's treatment of Theodosius at Milan, when he refused to admit the Roman emperor to the church with the stain of blood upon him. It was a moral protest, not an assertion of ecclesiastical arrogance.
During the whole period of the restored Byzantine Empire the chief matter of diplomacy with the emperors was their attempt to effect a union between the Eastern and Western Churches. This was purely a question of policy. There was no lofty quest for truth when dogma was under discussion, and no yearning of brotherly love when the attempt was to heal schism. The emperors, weak in arms and cramped for territory, desired in the first place to conciliate the popes; then by means of their influence to prevent the Western powers from instigating a new "Crusade" for the restoration of that floating shadow, "the Latin Empire of Constantinople"; and finally, to secure their aid in resisting the continual encroachments of the Turks. As early as a.d. 1262, the pope. Urban iv., had proclaimed a crusade against Michael as a usurper and a schismatic, and also against his friends the Genoese who had helped him. Urban had urged St. Louis to collect tithes for this object. Nothing had come of it, and a later pope, Gregory x., had replied to embassies from Michael
