Constantin A. Panchenko The Union of Florence and the Church of Antioch: A Retrospect (prepared for publication by Elena Yu. Kovalskaya)

Abstract

This publication presents Professor Constantin A. Panchenko’s keynote address, delivered at the international conference «The Orthodox Church of Antioch from the 15th to the 18th Century: Toward a Proper Understanding of History» at Balamand University (Lebanon) on October 16, 2023. It is devoted to the Union of Florence of 1439 and its perception in the Church of Antioch over the following centuries up to the present day. The article examines the main stages of the relations between the Orthodox East and Rome, as well as the degree of involvement of the Middle Eastern Orthodox Churches in the union project at each of these stages; it identifies the factors that led to fundamental changes in church policy. Central place is given to the Council of the Three Patriarchs in 1443, when for the first time, at the most crucial moment for the Orthodox world, disoriented by the union, the Eastern patriarchal sees rejected it. Arguing against Joseph Gill, who insisted that the conciliar letter of 1443 was a forgery, Professor Panchenko cites the arguments of M.-H. Blanchet in favour of its authenticity and of the historicity of the Council of the Three Patriarchs; he also puts forward new arguments of his own. The article also examines in detail the vicissitudes of Melkite-Catholic relations in the 1450s–1470s. Historically speaking, the Levant is situated between two Christian poles: Russia, as the defender of Orthodoxy, and the Catholic West, which sought to absorb Orthodoxy by offering material enticements. Particular attention is given to how the Council of Ferrara-Florence is reflected in the works of Arab Orthodox historians and polemicists of the early modern and modern era (Anastasius ibn Mujallā, Patriarch Macarius III az-Zaʿīm and Paul of Aleppo, Sophronius of Kilis, Masʻad Nashw, Michael Breik ad-Dimashqī, and Asad Rustum). Professor Panchenko notes that the topic of the Council of Florence, which had been all but forgotten in the 16th century, was revived at the turn of the 17th and 18th centuries, and in the 19th and 20th centuries occupied a foremost place in historical research and polemics. This topic continues to be extremely important for modern Arab Christians, as it is not merely historical but political and ideological in nature.

Keywords

Christian Middle East, the Orthodox Church of Antioch, the Union of Florence, the Council of the Three Patriarchs of 1443, Melkite-Catholic relations, anti-Latin polemic in Arabic, the schism of the Church of Antioch in 1724

For citation

Panchenko C.A. The Union of Florence and the Church of Antioch: A Retrospect // The Historical Reporter. 2025. Vol. LIV. P. 14–49. DOI: 10.35549/HR.2025.2025.54.008

Constantin A. Panchenko

D.Sc. (History), Professor of the Institute of Asian and African Studies of the Moscow State University, Department of Middle Eastern and Central Asian Studies

SPIN-код: 5210–5682

AuthorID: 404268

Elena Y. Kovalskaya

C.Sc. (History), Head of the Library Services of Church Research Center Orthodox Encyclopedia. Moscow, Russian Federation.

e-mail: ekovalskaya@mail.ru

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