The survival of Byzantium and the confrontation between the two Christian Worlds in the first half of the 13th century in Little Asia and the Romanian Space
In this essay we intended to show how the Byzantine empire survived despite the conquering and the sacking of Constantinople through the crusaders. In the second part of the study I present how the two Christian confessions got into conflict in the Romanian space in the first half of the 13th century. On the ground of the empire of Nicaea, the Constantinopolitan world found its refuge and began the preparations to regain their symbol: Constantinople. The best example for the hate the Byzantines felt for the pope is a letter from the emperor John the III-rd Vatatzes to the Pope Gregoire the IX. It is actually an answer to an earlier letter sent by the pope to the Byzantine emperor.
The conquering of Constantinople in 1204 and the future events lead to the final tear up between the two Christianities. The survival of the Byzantine empire, and the events during the first half of the 13th century will be the beginning of the hate and the disgust the Greeks began to feel for the Latins over the next two centuries. 50 years after the conquest of the Byzantine capital, the aversion felt by the two Christian worlds towards each other was higher than ever and there was no way of reconciliation.
Keywords: Constantinople, Byzantium, Theodor Lascaris, John III .Vatatzes, Gregory IX., Christianity, Nicaea.
1.1 Hélène Ahrweiler, Ideologia politică a Imperiului bizantin, Bucureşti, 2002, p. 95, 100.
2.2 Donald Queller, The Fourth Crusade. The Conquest of Constantinople 1201-1204, Leicester, 1978, p. 179.
3.3 John Godfrey, 1204. The Unholy Crusade, Oxford, 1980, p. 159.
4.4 Steven Runciman, A History of the Crusades, II., Cambridge, 1957, p.128.
5.5 Stelian Brezeanu, Das Zweikaiserproblem in der ersten Hälfte des 13 Jahrhundert, p.260-261, în: „ Revue Roumaine d’histoire, XVII., nr.2, 1978, p. 260 – 272.
6.6 Ibidem, p. 263.
7.7 Ibidem, p. 264.
8.8 La Lettre de Jean Vatatzes empereur de Nicee au Pape Gregoire IX, p. 453, în: Revue roumaine d’histoire T XVII, no. 2, 1978, p. 452 – 455.
9.9 Stelian Brezeanu, op. cit., p. 266.
10.10 H. Ahrweiler, op. cit., p.96 – 97.
11.[1] Constantin I. Andreescu, Reacţiuni ortodoxe în catolicizarea regiunilor carpato-dunărene în prima jumătate a secolului al XIII-lea, în: Biserica Ortodoxă Română, nr. 11 – 12, 1938, p. 771 – 773.
12.12 Gheorghe I. Brătianu, Tradiţie istorică despre întemeierea statelor româneşti, Bucureşti, 1980, p. 74.
13.13 Ibidem, p. 80 – 81.
14.14 Stelian Brezeanu, Identităţi şi solidarităţi medievale. Controverse istorice, Bucureşti, 2002, p. 214 – 215, 226.
15.15 Augustin Bunea, Încercare de istoria românilor până la 1382, Bucureşti, 1912, p. 127.
16.16 Stelian Brezeanu, Bizanţul şi statele româneşti în lupta împotriva Islamului, p. 72.
17.17 Ibidem, p. 73.
18.18 Thomas Nägler, Aşezarea saşilor în Transilvania, Bucureşti, 1992, p. 155.
19.19 Documente privind istoria României, veacul XI, XII, XIII, C, Transilvania, vol. I (1075-1250), Bucureşti, 1951, p. 150-151.
20.20 K. Horedt, Untersuchungen zur Frühgeschichte Siebenbürgens, Bukarest, 1958, p. 129.
21.21 Preot prof. dr. Mircea Păcurariu, Istoria bisericii ortodoxe române, ediţia a VI-a, Bucureşti, 1991, p. 240.
22.22 P. P. Panaitescu, Introducere la istoria culturii româneşti, Bucureşti, 1969, p. 259-260.
23.23 Stelian Brezeanu, Bizanţul şi statele româneşti în lupta împotriva Islamului, p. 74.
24.24 Preot Ioan Rămureanu, Rolul elementului românesc în creştinarea ungurilor, în Biserica Ortodoxă Română, nr. 1 – 2, din ianuarie – februarie, 1980, p. 189.
25.25 Ioan Ferenţ, Cumanii şi episcopia lor, Blaj, 1931, p. 144 – 145.
26.26 Ion Moga, Les Roumains de Transylvanie au Moyen Age, Sibiu, 1944, p. 17.
27.27 Constantin I. Andreescu, op. cit., p. 779.
28.28 Stelian Brezeanu, Bizanţul şi statele româneşti în lupta împotriva Islamului, p. 78 – 79.
29.29 Ibidem, p.80.
