Revisiting Papal Letters of the Fourteenth Century

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The fourteenth century is a key moment for papal diplomacy. The popes, then based in Avignon, implemented a very active policy toward the Eastern Christian Churches, the purpose of which was to bring the Greek Schism to an end. In achieving this aim, the popes were helped by the particular historical conjuncture resulting from the Turks’ pressure upon the Greek Empire. Revisiting papal correspondence issued during that period shows numerous groups of letters that were addressed to the West as well as to Constantinople, specifically to the emperor or to the Greek authorities. A study of the letters enables us to detect an evolution, albeit a small one, of the papal position on the schism, and the causes of this evolution, which related to the fact that the new actors involved were more and more often Greek or Greek-speaking.