Ecumenical Councils: Did you mean...?

An 11th century CE illustration of the Seventh Ecumenical Council which decreed the end of iconoclasm in the Byzantine Church, in September 787 CE. Emperor Constantine VI (r. 780-797 CE) is depicted sitting immediately right of the central...

Although both the Byzantines and the Armenians were Christian, the types of Christianity they professed had important differences that led to a lack of recognition and tensions between the two groups and a considerable part of their relationship...

Constantine IV ruled as emperor of the Byzantine empire from 668 to 685 CE. His reign is best remembered today for the five-year Arab siege of Constantinople from 674 CE, which the Byzantines resisted thanks to their strong fortifications...

Map showing the spread of Christianity, showing both strongly Christianized areas before 325 CE and generally Christianized areas until 600 CE. The map also shows major Christian centers and the cities in which Christian councils were held.

The government of the Byzantine Empire was headed and dominated by the emperor, but there were many other important officials who assisted in operating the finances, judiciary, military, and bureaucracy of a huge territory. Without elections...

Johann Eck (l. 1486-1543) was a Catholic theologian and writer best known for his disputations with Martin Luther (l. 1483-1546) beginning in 1517 and continuing until his death in 1543. Eck maintained the position that, if anyone could determine...

The St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre was a widespread slaughter of French Protestants (Huguenots) by Catholics beginning on 24 August 1572 and lasting over two months, resulting in the deaths of between 5,000 and 25,000 people. It began in...

The Council of Trent (1545-1563) was a meeting of Catholic clerics convened by Pope Paul III (served 1534-1549) in response to the Protestant Reformation. In three separate sessions, the council reaffirmed the authority of the Catholic Church...

Katharina Zell (also known as Katharina Schütz, Katharina Schütz-Zell, l. 1497-1562) was a reformer, theologian, and prolific writer in Strasbourg who helped establish the basic tenets of the Protestant Reformation without advancing sectarian...

The apparatus of colonial government in the Spanish Empire consisted of multiple levels, starting with the monarchy and Council of the Indies at the top and moving down to the viceroy, audiencias, mayors, and local councils. The system was...