The Great Schism Of 1054: Language Differences

The Great Schism of 1054 is also known as the East–West Schism. It divided and separated Christianity which created Western Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy. Although this separation is dated in 1054, this division did not just happen right away. It had been building up for years but in 1054 the Byzantine and Roman officials excommunicated each other. It was the Papal authority that finally created the official split. There were many reason for this split including language differences, geographical separation, and cultural differences.

I believe one of the major factors in the split was because of the language difference between the Eastern and Western people. The Eastern spoke Greek and the Western spoke Latin. It is hard to communicate with each other when it is difficult to understand what the other person is saying. Neither side spoke or was able to read the other’s language. I think both sides were stubborn and neither side would switch languages. “Many misunderstandings arose and grew, simply because people could not understand one another. During the time when these

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disputes arose, hardly anyone knew a foreign language.” (http://www.medieval-spell.com/Medieval-Church/Great-Schism.html)

Another cause of the split was the
Neither side trusted each other. The mistrust of the people and more importantly the leaders is a major reason both empires separated. There were many arguments the two sides had including whether the Patriarch of Rome, the Pope, should be considered a higher authority than the other Patriarchs. They also began to differ in church practices. For instance, “The Greeks used bread at the communion, the western church used unleavened bread. The Greeks permitted the marriage of priests, the western church forbade it.”