The Second Council of Lyon convened in 1274 as an attempt to mend the rift between the Catholic and Orthodox churches. Pope Gregory X called the council and Byzantine Emperor Michael VIII sent representatives, hoping for a reunification in exchange for military support against threats to Constantinople. The council proclaimed a brief reunion, although it was later rejected. Plans were also made for a new crusade, but ultimately came to nothing.
Historic Reunification of Catholic and Orthodox Churches
The Second Council of Lyon convened primarily to heal the Great Schism between the Catholic and Orthodox churches that had persisted since 1054. Byzantine Emperor Michael VIII was facing mounting threats from Serbia, Bulgaria, the Crusader state in Greece, and the Seljuk Turks. In a bid for military support from the West, Michael proposed reuniting the churches under papal authority.
Pope Gregory X welcomed the opportunity to mend schism. When the Greek delegation arrived at Lyon on June 24, 1274, they carried a letter from Emperor Michael accepting papal primacy and key Catholic doctrines like the filioque clause. On June 29, during a Mass attended by both sides, the Nicene Creed was sung in Greek with the filioque clause included—a historic first.
The resulting agreement stipulated that the Byzantines could retain their rites and customs. To Gregory, the Union of Lyon seemed a triumph. But imposing unity by imperial decree proved deeply unpopular in Constantinople. The austere monk St. Arsenius famously remarked, “The Union lasted seven days, and then it was at an end.”
When the Ecumenical Patriarch Joseph refused to accept the Union, he was deposed and replaced by John XI Becchus. But dissent continued to brew among the clergy and populace. After Michael VIII died in 1282, Becchus was quickly removed, Joseph was restored as patriarch, and the new emperor publicly rejected the Union. Michael himself was denied a church funeral due to the depth of anti-Union sentiment.
Yet remarkably, Michael had remained loyal to the Union to the end. Even when Pope Martin IV excommunicated him in 1281 for unrelated political reasons, the emperor persevered in seeking church unity. But the Council of Lyon’s bold attempt to bridge the centuries-old theological divide between East and West would ultimately fail. Reunification was still another two and a half centuries away.
The efforts made at the Second Council of Lyon highlight both the desire and difficulty of reconciling the two great branches of Christianity. Though the reunion was brief, it pointed toward an ecumenical future even amidst deep divisions rooted in history and doctrine. For a fleeting moment in 1274, East and West worshipped as one church. The fullness of that unity would be long in coming, but the vision sparked at Lyon would help guide generations yet to come.
Failed Attempts to Launch a New Crusade
In addition to mending the schism with the Orthodox Church, Pope Gregory X had summoned the Second Council of Lyon to help organize a new crusade to reclaim the Holy Land. Jerusalem had been lost to Islamic forces over a century prior, and Christendom still mourned its absence from Christian rule.
The council proposed financing a crusade by taxing all clerical benefices across Europe for six years. The plan won approval, but securing actual commitment from Europe’s monarchs proved difficult. Enthusiasm for crusading had dampened after repeated failures and the loss of the last crusader strongholds in 1291.
King James I of Aragon attended the council and hoped to lead the expedition immediately. But he faced opposition from the Knights Templar, who held significant sway over crusade politics. The Franciscans were more optimistic about the endeavor. Pope Gregory commissioned Friar Fidentius of Padua, who had experience in Outremer, to write a feasibility report about reclaiming and governing the Holy Land.
In a surprise appearance, Mongol leader Abaqa Khan also sent envoys seeking a potential Franco-Mongol alliance against Muslim powers in the Levant. The Khan promised the council that if Jerusalem was restored to Christian control, the city would have Mongol protection. The Khan’s secretary “Rychaldus” outlined past European-Mongol diplomatic efforts and reiterated Abaga’s commitment to driving out the Mamluks.
Despite the initial enthusiasm and plans set forth at Lyon, within just two years of the council, Pope Gregory X had died, nullifying any crusade preparations. The tax money raised was instead distributed to aid Christians still living in the last crusader holdouts. Once again, the West had failed to achieve the oft-promised goal of returning Jerusalem to Christian rule. The crusader dream remained unrealized.
Though the Second Council of Lyon aimed to give new life to the cause of crusading, its lofty ambitions far exceeded actual capabilities and political will. The late 13th century saw crusading fervor give way to cold pragmatism and preoccupation with other concerns. Yet the idea of crusade continued to capture the European imagination for centuries more, until changing tides of history rendered it an obsolete relic of the medieval past.
The Second Council of Lyon achieved a brief but historic reunification between the Catholic and Orthodox churches. However, political turmoil and dissent in Constantinople doomed the union to failure within years. Likewise, the council’s crusade initiatives fizzled out rapidly after Gregory X’s death. Despite its inability to bridge lasting religious accord or reclaim Jerusalem, Lyon highlighted aspirations that would continue shaping Christendom. Momentary unity with the East pointed toward future ecumenism, while dreams of crusade persisted for centuries more among the faithful.
References
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