Michael V banishes his adoptive mother and co-ruler Zoe to a convent on the night of April 18 to 19, 1042, becoming sole Emperor.

His announcement of the event in the morning leads to a popular revolt; the palace is surrounded by a mob demanding Zoe's immediate restoration.

The demand is hurriedly met, and Zoe is brought back as joint-ruler with her sister Theodora, a nun.

On April 20, 1042 Theodora declares the emperor deposed, and he flees to seek safety in the monastery of the Stoudion together with his remaining uncle.

Although he had taken monastic vows, Michael is arrested, blinded, and castrated.

The popular movement that has caused the dethronement of Michael V also leads to Theodora's installment as joint empress with her sister on Easter Tuesday, 1042.

Quarrels, however, break out between the sisters; and, in order to secure her position, the sixty-four-year-old Zoë marries a man of good family who belongs to the civil party, the opponents of the military magnates, and elevates him to the throne as Constantine IX Monomachus.

Patriarch Alexius I of Constantinople had refused to officiate over a third marriage (for both spouses).

After two months of active participation in government, Theodora allows herself to be virtually superseded by Zoë's newest husband.

Constantine continues the purge instituted by Zoe and Theodora, removing the relatives of Michael V from the court.

Michael V Kalaphates dies as a monk on August 24, 1042.

His uncles John the Orphanotrophos and Constantine are blinded in 1042.

John is sent to Lesbos, where he will die on May 13, 1043.

The new emperor is pleasure-loving and prone to violent outbursts on suspicion of conspiracy.

He is heavily influenced by his mistress, Maria Skleraina, a niece of his second wife, and Maria's relatives.

In August 1042, under the influence of the Skleroi, the emperor relieves General George Maniakes from his command in Italy, and Maniakes, his accomplishments in Sicily largely ignored by the Emperor, revolts against Constantine IX, though he had been appointed catepan of Italy.

The individual particularly responsible for antagonizing Maniakes into revolt is one Romanus Sklerus.

Sklerus, like Maniakes, is one of the immensely wealthy landowners who owns large areas of Anatolia - his estates neighbor those of Maniakes and the two are rumored to have attacked each other during a squabble over land.

Sklerus owes his influence over the emperor to his famously charming sister the Sclerina, who, in most areas, is a highly positive influence on Constantine.

Finding himself in a position of power, Sklerus has used it to poison Constantine against Maniakes—ransacking the latter's house and even seducing his wife, using the charm his family for which his family is famous.

Maniakes response, when faced with Sklerus demanding that he hand command of the empires forces in Apulia over to him, is to brutally torture the latter to death, after sealing his eyes, ears, nose and mouth with excrement.

Maniakes is then proclaimed emperor by his troops (including the Varangians) in September.

Scandinavian prince Harald (called the Ruthless), the son of Sigurd Sow (Syr), a chieftain in eastern Norway, and of Estrid, mother of the Norwegian king Olaf II Haraldsson, had fought at the age of fifteen against the Danes in 1030 at the celebrated Battle of Stiklestad, in which Olaf, his half-brother, was killed.

(known during his lifetime as Olaf the Fat, he will eventually be canonized as Saint Olaf).

Fleeing to Russia with a band of exiles, Harald had served under the grand prince of Kiev, Yaroslav I the Wise.

Having entered service under Michael and Zoë, Harald has led the elite mercenary unit known as the Varangian Guard to frequent victories in Bulgaria, Italy, Sicily, and North Africa, also penetrating to Jerusalem, to which city he is said to have made a pilgrimage.

Having amassed enormous treasure and fame as a warrior, he leaves Constantinople for Kiev in 1042, supposedly because he has been refused the hand of a princess (an apparently fictional niece or granddaughter of Zoe, called Maria).

Eastern Southeast Europe (1048–1059 CE): The East–West Schism and Ecclesiastical Divisions

Settlement and Migration Patterns

Stability Amidst Ecclesiastical Tensions

Between 1048 and 1059 CE, demographic stability persisted in Eastern Southeast Europe, despite significant ecclesiastical divisions that sharply defined regional religious and political identities.

Political and Military Developments

Increasing Ecclesiastical Tensions

Relations between Eastern and Western Christendom, already strained by longstanding theological and ecclesiastical disputes, significantly deteriorated during this era. Disagreements over theological issues, such as the filioque controversy (the source of the Holy Spirit), liturgical practices (use of leavened versus unleavened bread), and jurisdictional claims by the Papacy, intensified mutual antagonism.

Prelude to the East–West Schism

In 1053, the Patriarch of Constantinople, Michael Cerularius, took the decisive step of closing all Latin churches in Constantinople. This marked the beginning of a formalized division that would culminate in the historic East–West Schism.

Papal Legation of 1054

In 1054, a Papal legation led by Cardinal Humbert traveled to Constantinople. Their mission included rejecting Cerularius’s claim to the title "Ecumenical Patriarch" and asserting Rome's primacy over all Christian churches. The delegation also aimed to secure Byzantine military assistance against the Norman conquest of southern Italy and respond to attacks by Leo of Ohrid on Western ecclesiastical practices, which were supported by Cerularius.

Mutual Excommunications

Upon Cerularius’s refusal to comply with the Papal demands, Cardinal Humbert excommunicated him. Cerularius reciprocated by excommunicating Humbert and the other legates. These actions initiated the formal separation between the Eastern (Greek) and Western (Latin) branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, marking a pivotal moment in Christian history.

Economic and Technological Developments

Economic Continuity Amidst Ecclesiastical Conflict

Despite the ecclesiastical conflicts, regional economic stability remained generally intact, supported by local commerce and agricultural productivity, though trade relations between East and West may have been indirectly affected by growing hostilities.

Fortifications and Military Preparedness

Imperial authorities continued to address fortification needs and defensive measures, albeit hampered by internal religious conflicts and diverted attention due to ecclesiastical politics.

Cultural and Artistic Developments

Cultural Stability and Intellectual Output

Cultural and intellectual activities continued robustly, although the schism influenced intellectual discourse, prompting vigorous theological and philosophical debates within ecclesiastical and scholarly communities.

Social and Religious Developments

Formalization of the East–West Schism

This era witnessed significant religious realignment, as the East–West Schism formally divided Christianity into the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic traditions. These divisions profoundly influenced regional religious identities and ecclesiastical structures.

Continued Influence of Alternative Religious Movements

The Bogomil movement persisted during this period, influencing rural religious life and presenting an alternative religious perspective amidst broader ecclesiastical disputes.

Long-Term Consequences and Historical Significance

The period from 1048 to 1059 CE was pivotal, marking the formal inception of the East–West Schism, which significantly reshaped ecclesiastical structures and regional identities. The mutual excommunications and theological disputes entrenched lasting divisions between Eastern and Western Christianity, profoundly impacting subsequent religious, political, and cultural developments in Eastern Southeast Europe and beyond.

Relations between East and West have long been embittered by ecclesiastical differences and theological disputes.

Prominent among these are the issues of the source of the Holy Spirit (filioque), whether leavened or unleavened bread should be used in the Eucharist, the Pope's claim to universal jurisdiction, and the place of Constantinople in relation to the Pentarchy.

The East–West Schism—one of the two schisms to which the term "Great Schism" is applied (the other being the Western Schism)—is the medieval division of Chalcedonian Christianity into Eastern (Greek) and Western (Latin) branches, which will later become commonly known as the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church, respectively.

The first step is taken in the process that leads to formal schism in 1053 when Patriarch of Constantinople Michael Cerularius orders the closure of all Latin churches in Constantinople.

The Papal legate travels to Constantinople in 1054 for purposes that include refusing to Cerularius the title of "Ecumenical Patriarch" and insisting that he recognize Rome's claim to be the head and mother of the churches.

The main purpose of the papal legation is twofold: firstly, to seek help from the Eastern Emperor in view of the Norman conquest of southern Italy; secondly, to deal with recent attacks by Leo of Ohrid against the use of unleavened bread and other Western customs, attacks that have the support of Cerularius (Michael Caerularius).

Historian Axel Bayer says the legation was sent in response to two letters, one from the Emperor seeking assistance in arranging a common military campaign by the eastern and western empires against the Normans, and the other from Cerularius.

On the refusal of Cerularius to accept the demand, the leader of the legation, Cardinal Humbert, excommunicates him, and in return Cerularius excommunicates Cardinal Humbert and the other legates.

This is only the first act in a centuries-long process that eventually becomes a complete schism between the two discrete and often antagonistic confessions.

The empress Zoë dies in 1050, leaving Constantine IX Monomachos as the Empire’s sole effective ruler.

Differences of philosophical understanding, liturgical usage, language, and custom have already contributed to the growing misunderstanding and alienation between the Eastern and Western churches, but political rivalries and divisions are equally important factors.

Open division on doctrinal questions, as well as matters of discipline and daily practice, has resulted in heated disputes over such matters as the ecclesiastical calendar, the use of leavened or unleavened bread, or additions to the creed (notably the “filioque” clause of the Nicene Creed).

Michael Cerularius had been named patriarch in 1043 by Constantine, although he had been educated for the civil service rather than for an ecclesiastical career.

Cerularius' ambitious desires for political power, coupled with his inflexible belief in the autonomy of the Eastern Church, have led him to thwart Constantine's attempts to ally the Greek and German empires in defense against the Normans; he also rejects the “filioque” clause.

In 1052, partly in response to concessions that Constantine has made to Pope Leo IX, Cerularius decides to force the Latin churches in his diocese to use the Greek language and liturgical practices; when they refuse to do so, he orders them closed.

The Norman invasion of Italy is a matter of as much concern to the papacy as it is to Constantinople.

The Norman venture, however, has brought the papacy into conflict with the Eastern Church centered in Constantinople, which, since the eighth century, has exercised jurisdiction over large areas of southern Italy and Sicily.

The forcefully enunciated papal theme of primacy in Leo's pontificate complicates the relations between Rome and Constantinople still further because the patriarch of Constantinople, Michael I Cerularius, considers this sheer provocation.

He closes the Latin (Western) churches in Constantinople and raises serious dogmatic charges against the Roman Church, notably in connection with the Eucharist.

The French cardinal Humbert of Silva Candida has attacked the Patriarch in a vitriolic and passionate manner by arguing the case for Roman primacy and quoting extensively from the forged Donation of Constantine, which allegedly bestowed sovereignty in the West on the papacy.

A legation under Humbert's leadership leaves for Constantinople in April 1054.

On arrival Humbert is cordially welcomed by the Emperor Constantine IX, but spurned by the patriarch.

Despite several meetings between Patriarch, Emperor, and legates, no concrete results emerge.

Cerularius again obstructs Constantine's and Leo's efforts by refusing to meet with the legates.

Eventually, on July 16, 1054, despite the fact that Leo has died and the excommunication is invalid, Humbert takes advantage of the papal vacancy to retaliate against Cerularius and his clergy, putting the papal bull of excommunication -- already prepared before the legation left Rome—on the altar of the church of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople during the celebration of the liturgy and in the full view of the congregation.

The Patriarch, in response, convenes a Holy Synod and excommunicates the legation and its supporters.

This event crystallizes in an official way the gradual estrangement of Eastern and Western Christianity.

Constantine's efforts to effect a reconciliation fail, and the schism between Rome and Constantinople is final.

The Schism of 1054, also called the East-West Schism, symbolizes an irreconcilable difference in ideology.

It is to last, with short interruptions, until the modern age.

The reform movement in the Roman Church has emphasized an ideal of the universal role of the papacy that is wholly incompatible with Greek Christian tradition.

Both sides have also deliberately aggravated their differences by reviving all the disputed points of theology and ritual that had become battle cries during the Photian Schism in the ninth century.

The schism of 1054 passes unnoticed by contemporary imperial historians; only later will its significance as a turning point in East-West relations be fully realized.

(Not long after this break, the word “catholic,” which has come to be used to distinguish true believers from false believers, is used to identify the Western church; the Eastern church is called orthodox.)

Humbert of Silva Candida had at age fifteen been given by his parents to the monastery of Moyenmoutier in Lorraine, as an oblate, intended for monastic life.

He had entered the Order when he came of age, and was later elected as abbot of the monastery.

Invited to Rome in 1049 by the reforming Leo IX, who had met him when he visited the monastery in 1049, the Pope had named him Archbishop of Sicily in 1050.

The Norman rulers of that part of the island, however, had prevented his landing there.

In place of that post, he had been named Cardinal-bishop of Silva Candida in 1051.

It has been suggested that he was the first Frenchman to be named cardinal.

Under Leo, he had became the principal papal secretary and on a trip through Apulia in 1053, he had received from John, Bishop of Trani, a letter written by Leo, Archbishop of Ochrid, criticizing Western rites and practice.

He had translated the Greek letter into Latin and had given it to the pope, who had ordered a response drawn up.

Leo IX sends a letter to Michael I Cærularius, Patriarch of Constantinople, in 1054, that cites a large portion of the Donation of Constantine, believing it genuine.

The Pope assures the Patriarch that the donation is completely genuine, not a fable, so only the apostolic successor to Peter possesses that primacy and is the rightful head of all the Church.

This exchange leads to Humbert being sent at the head of a legatine mission, along with Frederick of Lorraine (later Pope Stephen IX) and Peter, Archbishop of Amalfi, to Constantinople to confront the Patriarch.

The pope does not long survive his return to Rome, where he dies on April 19, 1054.

In July, Humbert quickly disposes of negotiations by delivering a bull excommunicating the Patriarch.

This act, though legally invalid due to the Pope's death at the time, is answered by the Patriarch's own bull of excommunication against Humbert and his associates and is popularly considered the official split between the Eastern and Western Churches.

In 1965, those excommunications will be rescinded by Pope Paul VI and Patriarch Athenagoras when they meet in the Second Vatican Council.

However, to this day each church claims to be the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church and each denies the other's right to that name.

Michael VI has managed to survive a conspiracy organized by Theodosios, a nephew of the former emperor Constantine IX, but he is faced with the disaffection of the military aristocracy.

His most costly error is to ignore the perceived rights of the general Nikephoros Bryennios, whom he has restored to his former rank after his falling out with the late Empress Theodora, but has refused to restore his wealth and estates.

After dismissing Bryennios's grievances in an audience, the emperor completely alienates the military, which remains a powerful element of society.

Michael compounds his error by rebuffing Bryennios after he had already ordered the restored general to lead a division of three thousand men to reinforce the army in Cappadocia.

Bryennios leaves the capital in a fit of rage and begins plotting to overthrow Michael VI.

On his arrival, he attacks and beats a representative of the emperor who countermands Bryennios’s orders before throwing him in prison, which his officers take as a sign that Bryennios had been about to rebel.

Releasing the imprisoned officer, they capture Bryennios, blind him and send him to Constantinople.

Michael’s policies have antagonized the military leaders in Paphlagonia, who join with the nobles of the capital in a conspiracy against the Emperor and on June 8, 1057 proclaim as emperor Isaac Komnenos, who has served from 1042 to 1057 as commander of the field army in Anatolia.

Isaac is a son of an officer named Manuel Erotikos Komnenos, the strategos autokrator of the East under Emperor Basil II, who, on his deathbed in 1020, had commended Isaac and his other son, John, to the Emperor's care.

After having them educated, Basil had advanced them to high positions.

Isaac, by his prudent conduct in protecting the peoples of the empire, has won the confidence of the army during the reigns of Basil's successors.

Isaac defeats an imperial army in June at the Battle of Petroe near Nicaea.

A panicked Michael VI attempts to negotiate with the rebels through the famous courtier Michael Psellos, offering to adopt Isaac as his son and to grant him the title of kaisar (Caesar), but his proposals are publicly rejected.

Privately Isaac shows himself more open to negotiation, and he is promised the status of co-emperor.

However, during the course of these secret negotiations, a riot in favor of Isaac breaks out in Constantinople.

With the deposition of Michael VI, Patriarch Michael Cerularius crowns Isaac I emperor on September 1, 1057, taking much of the credit for Isaac's acceptance as monarch.

Cerularius, having had a role in bringing Isaac I Komnenos to the throne, next quarrels with the emperor over his stringent financial policies, including the confiscation of some church property, and over the Patriarch's attempt to subordinate civil power to the church.

Michael goes so far as to take the highly symbolic step of donning the purple shoes ceremonially reserved for the Emperor.

Michael apparently plans a rebellion to overthrow the Emperor and claim the Imperial Throne for himself or for his relative Constantine Doukas.

Isaac exiles Michael to Proconnesus in 1058 and, as Michael refuses to step down, has Michael Psellos draw up an accusation of heresy and treason against him.

Constantine Doukas is the son of Andronikos Doukas, a Paphlagonian nobleman who may have served as governor of the theme of Moesia.

The Doukas family is perhaps connected with the earlier one through the female line.

Constantine, addicted to endless debates about philosophy and theology, had gained influence after he married, as his second wife, Eudokia Makrembolitissa, is the niece of Patriarch Michael Cerularius.

Cerularius, charged with treason and heresy, dies before his trial can take place.

In the spring of 1059, Isaac leads a military expedition against the Hungarians, and in the summer of this year, he ably defends the Empire's northern frontiers against the ravages of the Pechenegs.

In November 1059, he contracts a sudden and debilitating malady.

Constantine had in 1057 supported the usurpation of Isaac I Komnenos, gradually siding with the court bureaucracy against the new emperor's reforms.

In spite of this tacit opposition, Constantine is chosen as successor by the ailing Isaac in November 1059, under the influence of Michael Psellos.

Believing his illness to be mortal, Isaac abdicates, and on December 25, Constantine X Doukas is crowned emperor.

Although Isaac recovers, he does not resume his throne, but retires to a monastery, where he will spent the remaining two years of his life as a monk, alternating menial offices with literary studies.