Michael
Cerularius
Michael Cerularius,
(b.
Constantinople
c.
1000 - d.
1059),
also known as
Michael Keroularios or
Partriarch Michael
I, was the
Patriarch
of Constantinople from
1043
to
1059. In
1054
he quarrelled with legates sent by
Pope
Leo IX over church practises which had been differing from the
Roman
Church for centuries, especially the use of unleavened bread in the
Eucharist.
The legates
excommunicated
him, and he likewise excommunicated them, starting the
Great
Schism. This schism led to the end of the alliance between the Emperor and
the
Papacy, and caused later
Popes to ally with the
Normans
against the Empire. In
1965, those
excommunications were rescinded by
Pope
Paul VI and
Patriarch
Athenagoras when they met in the
Second
Vatican Council. This was a significant step towards restoring
communion
between Rome and Constantinople.
Michael also quarrelled with Emperor Isaac
I Comnenus over confiscation of church property. Isaac planned to depose Michael
when Michael suddenly died in 1059, though there was no suspicion that he was
murdered.
