Question: So, Leo, how did you contribute to the Great Schism?
Answer: I contributed to the Great Schism because my decisions were basically the base of the controversy in Christianity. I banned icons in my empire because it violated God’s commandment against worshiping “graven images”. Many of my subjects worshiped icon and this set off violent battles within my empire.
Question: What are icons?
Answer: Icons are religious images. Byzantine Christians commonly used these in worship. Common icons were Jesus, Mary, saints and such.
Question: I don’t understand. Why would banning the use of holy images lead to war and controversy?
Answer: Religion is sacred and everyone wants to be right when it comes to God. No one wants to be violating God’s wishes. People would fight battles over religion all of the time because they wanted to fight for what they thought was religiously correct.
Question: What is the Great Schism?
Answer: The Great Schism was a split in Christianity which derived from my ban. It happened in 1054. The church split in two branches; the Roman Catholic Church which was western and the Orthodox, or eastern branch. The Roman Catholic Church banned icons. The Pope and Patriarch, the head of the Orthodox Church, excommunicated each other. All further contact between the two branches became distant and competitive.
Question: I was under the impression that the Great Schism led to three branches of the Church. Is this true or a fallacy?
Answer: This is true. Around the 1500’s the church was not as Christians intended it to be. The Pope was competing with Italian Princes for political power and fought wars to protect Papal States form Secular rulers. They planned the demise of Monarchs who tried to get too involved in the Church and influence the Church’s hold on their lands. The Church also wanted to expand its own interests. People were able to buy their way into religious positions and Popes were violent. The Christians wanted their churches to be beautiful. They hired artists to paint and decorate churches. Unfortunately, with labor comes a cost. The church had encountered a dilemma; how to make money. Churches increased charges for weddings and baptism. They also sold indulgences.
Question: What are indulgences?
Answer: Indulgences were the lessening of time a soul spent in purgatory. They sold indulgences to fund church. It was a way for rich people to get around being good people. Instead of having to perform a good deed to get into heaven, you could buy your way into the afterlife. This led to protests and revolts. A few famous ones were led by Erasmus and John Wycliffe. However, the Church didn’t appreciate revolts and Erasmus and John were both executed.
Question: How were these unjust actions stopped?
Answer: Martin Luther stopped these revolts. I strongly recommend you interview him on this.
Intermission: Searching for Martin Luther
Question: Martin, how did you put a stop to the unjust actions of the Church?
Answer: It started in 1517. The Church had become corrupt and the last line was crossed in
Question: What were the 95 theses?
Answer: They were reasons that indulgences are unholy. A few examples of what they stated were that indulgences had no basis in the Bible, the Pope had no authority to release souls from purgatory, and Christians can only be saved through faith. I posted the list on the door of
Question: What are your central beliefs?
Answer: I believe that all Christians are equal before God. I don’t support indulgences, pilgrimages, confession and prayers to Saints. I also believe that Clergy can marry along with a simplified marital service.
Question: What were your followers referred to as?
Answer: My followers were referred to as Protestants and created the third branch of Christianity; The Protestant Church.
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