Roman Catholic Church
In 1220 the Roman Catholic Church was essentially distinct from the Eastern Orthodox Church, following the Great Schism of 1054. It was the religion of almost all of Europe, from Greenland to Sweden in the north, Poland and Hungary in the east, Italy in the south, and much of the Iberian peninsula in the west. The crusades had brought Roman Catholic church hierarchy to the Crusader states in the Holy Land and formerly Byzantine territory in Greece and the Mediterranean, and the Reconquista continued to restore Catholicism to Spain and Portugal. The temporal and spiritual power of the Church was perhaps at its height, following the reign of Pope Innocent III; Innocent had convened the Fourth Lateran Council five years earlier in 1215, and he "found himself on this occasion surrounded by seventy-one patriarchs and metropolitans, including the Patriarchs of Constantinople and of Jerusalem, four hundred and twelve bishops, and nine hundred abbots and priors."
Read more about this topic: List Of Religious Leaders In 1220, Christianity
Famous quotes containing the words catholic church, roman catholic, roman, catholic and/or church:
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