Michael I Cerularius

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Michael I Cerularius (c. 1000-1059), also known as Michael Keroularios or Patriarch Michael I, was the Patriarch of Constantinople from 1043 to 1059.

Michael I Cerularius.

Born in Constantinople, Patriarch Michael I Cerularius is noted for disputing with Pope Leo IX over church practices where the Roman Church differed from Constantinople, especially the use of unleavened bread in the Eucharist.^[1] In 1054, It can be argued that the Patriarch's letter to Pope Leo IX initiated the events which followed because it claimed the title "ecumenical patriarch" and addressed Pope Leo as "brother" rather than "father." Moreover, Cerularius refused to meet with Cardinal Humbert and kept him waiting with no audience for months. Thus, Cardinal Humbert of Silva Candida delivered a notice of excommunication against Patriarch Michael on July 16, 1054, despite the death of Pope Leo three months prior and thus the invalidity of the excommunication. [Many accounts refer to this as a bull of excommunication but it is not a bull unless it is signed by a pope and Pope Leo had not seen it or signed it.] Michael in turn excommunicated the cardinal and the Pope and subsequently removed the pope's name from the diptychs and declared starting the East-West 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 In 1965, those excommunications were rescinded by Pope Paul VI and Patriarch Athenagoras when they met in the Second Vatican Council. Although the excommunication delivered by Cardinal Humbert was invalid, this gesture represented a significant step towards restoring communion between Rome and Constantinople.

Michael also quarrelled with Emperor Isaac I Comnenus who he himself had put on the throne as a puppet (while he wore the purple shoes)over confiscation of church property. Michael was so enfuriated that he planned a rebellion to overthrow the Emperor and claim the Imperial Throne for himself^{[citation needed]}. He started wearing the Imperial Regalia publicly and called for popular uprising in his sermons when he died suddenly in 1059, though there was no suspicion that he was murdered.^{[citation needed]} The Emperor claimed that he was punished by God for trying to usurp his temporal powers.

Michael is also notable in that he closed the Latin churches in his area which helped precipitate the schism.