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The East–West Schism, sometimes known as the Great Schism,[1] formally divided medieval Christianity into Eastern (Greek) and Western (Latin) branches, which later became known as the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church, respectively. Relations between East and West had long been embittered by political and ecclesiastical differences and theological disputes.[2] Prominent among these were the issues of "filioque", whether leavened or unleavened bread should be used in the eucharist,[3] the Pope's claim to universal jurisdiction, and the place of Constantinople in relation to the Pentarchy.[4] The Western legates' acts may have been of doubtful validity due to Leo's death, while Cerularius's excommunication applied only to the legates personally.[2] Still, the Church split along doctrinal, theological, linguistic, political, and geographical lines, and the fundamental breach has never been healed, with each side accusing the other of having fallen into heresy and of having initiated the division. The Crusades, the Massacre of the Latins in 1182, the capture and sack of Constantinople in 1204, and the imposition of Latin Patriarchs made reconciliation more difficult.[2] This included the taking of many precious religious artifacts and the destruction of the Library of Constantinople. On paper, at least from the Catholic viewpoint, the two churches were briefly reunited in 1274 (by the Second Council of Lyon) and in 1439 (by the Council of Florence), but in each case the councils were later repudiated by the Orthodox as a whole and never effected a reconciliation of the Eastern Orthodox with the Roman Catholic Church. In 1484, 31 years after the Fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Turks, a Synod of Constantinople repudiated the Union of Florence, making official the position that had already been taken by Orthodox in general.
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