15th–16th century Moscow–Constantinople schism
| Date | c. 1467–1560 |
|---|---|
| Cause | Decision of the Ecumenical Patriarchate (July 1439) to enter in union with the Catholic Church at the Council of Florence Fall of Constantinople |
| Participants | Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople Russian Orthodox Church |
| Outcome | Grand Prince Ivan III of Russia refused to recognize Gregory the Bulgarian as head of Moscow's Church, which led to a rupture of communion between the Churches of Moscow and Constantinople in 1460. This break was mended by around 1560. |
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The schism between the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople and the Russian Orthodox Church occurred between approximately 1467 and 1560. This schism de facto ended supposedly around 1560.
On 15 December 1448, Jonah became the metropolitan of Kiev and all Rus' within the Russian Orthodox Church without the agreement of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, which made the Russian Orthodox Church de facto independent. In response, in 1458, Gregory the Bulgarian was appointed and consecrated by the Pope of Rome as the Byzantine Catholic metropolitan of Kiev. Metropolitan Gregory was then recognised by Patriarch Dionysius I of Constantinople in 1466; since Constantinople maintained the Union with the Catholic Church until 1484, Kiev returned under Constantinople's jurisdiction. Dionysius therefore demanded in 1467 that all the hierarchs of the Muscovy submit to Gregory, but Moscow peremptorily refused. On the same year, Grand Prince Ivan III of Moscow declared a complete rupture of relations with the Patriarchate of Constantinople.
Relations were gradually restored and in 1560, the Patriarch of Constantinople considered the metropolitan of Moscow to be his exarch. From 1589 to 1591, the Russian Orthodox Church was recognized as autocephalous, and the patriarch of Moscow later became the eighth patriarch of the Eastern Orthodox Church.