6 Latin Christendom: Common Causes and Compromises

Abstract

The identity of the Gattilusio lords as Catholics was of basic importance in framing the conditions for their relationships with their Greek subjects and the Orthodox empire which had installed them in power. Throughout the Latin West the ethos of political solidarity within Christendom was embodied in the crusade, a common cause whose theory embodied an ethos of Christian unity and cooperation against common enemies and whose effective practice demanded the suppression of conflict within Latin Christendom. While the crusade tightened bonds within the Catholic world, the schism between the Churches of East and West sharpened the delineation of Latin Christian identity by narrowing its cultural horizons. Within the religiously divided Aegean, attitudes to the schism and its potential resolution were a critical element of international diplomacy and the politics of identity and loyalty.Keywords: Aegean World; Crusade; Gattilusio lords; Greek subjects; Latin Christendom