In mid-August 1439, Bosporus Caesar Manuel Komnenos Gavras officially responded to the initiative of the Roman Curia.
He personally led several scholars and high-ranking clergy from his domain, departing from Mangup to attend the Council of Florence, which was soon to be held in Italy.
The Council of Florence, its official full name should actually be the Council of Basel-Ferrara-Florence, and it was the Seventeenth Ecumenical Council.
However, this was not the first time this session of the council had convened.
In fact, the Seventeenth Ecumenical Council had already met in Basel from 1431-1437 and in Ferrara in 1438, but due to constant disagreements among the participating parties, these two meetings ultimately failed to achieve their intended results.
If that was the case, then why continue to hold this Council in Florence?
It's a very simple question: because at the Council of Constance, held from 1414-1418, the Roman Curia had reached a consensus to convene the next council five years later.
However, due to continuous warfare, the subsequent meeting was forced to be postponed until 1431 in Basel.
And when the Basel Council convened, the number of attendees was so small that all parties were extremely anxious, and Pope Eugene IV even issued an order to dissolve the Council midway, causing considerable controversy.
Ultimately, it was not until 1437, when John VIII, the Roman Emperor of Constantinople, sent envoys to express his sincerity for church unity to the Roman Curia, that this Council, which was on the verge of being ruined by plague and internal disputes within the Roman Curia, was indirectly saved from falling into utter chaos.
The Roman Curia also did not miss this opportunity; after some discussion, all parties agreed to change the location of the Council to Ferrara, where it continued to convene in 1438.
However, after thirteen sessions of the Ferrara Council, both Constantinople and Rome still failed to reach an agreement due to the old problem of the "Filioque clause" ①.
Of course, this was merely a superficial reason; the true cause was that the Empire had not yet seen the Roman Curia's ability and sincerity to save the East.
At the same time, the plague began to spread in the city of Ferrara.
As a result, at the beginning of this year, on January 10, 1439, the Pope had no choice but to announce that the Council had to be moved to Florence to continue.
Subsequently, the final phase of the Seventeenth Ecumenical Council finally convened at the end of February this year, with its main theme being the merger of the Eastern and Western Churches.
If following the progress of official history, then by early July of this year, the orthodox and Catholic sides should have completed the general negotiations and signed a formal "Church Union" treaty to declare the successful conclusion of the Council of Florence.
But with Manuel's intentional interference, he held back three diocesan metropolitans under his rule.
In particular, because he did not allow the Metropolitans of Chersonese and Pontus, who were directly subordinate to the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople in their church positions, to attend the council along with other Eastern metropolitans, the orthodox Church side of this Council, although having signed the Church Union document that had been completed in July, still lacked sufficient authority to formally promulgate it.
For this reason, several of Manuel's in-laws repeatedly urged him to release the metropolitans under his jurisdiction.
However, he either ignored them or used the excuse that he still needed the metropolitans to assist him in his military actions along the Sea of Azov.
Fortunately, now, after officially concluding the military campaign to occupy the Sea of Azov, Caesar Manuel, accompanied by his three directly subordinate diocesan metropolitans: Metropolitan Oulophin of Chersonese, Metropolitan Makarios of Pontus, and Metropolitan David III of Georgia, as well as his Chief Minister Justinian Seresnus and MegasCancellarius, George Amiroutzes, who also had accomplishments in theology, accepted the invitation from Constantine Palaiologos and the Roman Curia to attend this Council that could determine the fate of all parties involved.
However, before departing, the young Caesar first personally wrote a secret letter, ordering Foreign Affairs Director Georgia Mana to personally lead a secret mission to covertly deliver it into the hands of Grand Duke Vasily II of the Grand Duchy of Moscow.
"Manuel, this meeting has little to do with the Rus' people, does it?
Moreover, the Grand Duchy of Moscow cannot represent all Rus' people, so there's no need to specifically write a letter to persuade them, is there?"
On the ship bound for Florence, Chief Minister Seresnus, who generally knew the reason for his actions, couldn't help but ask him the reason for doing so.
In response, Manuel merely gave his subordinate a meaningful look, then sighed softly, "Seresnus, aren't you afraid that the current Metropolitan Isidore of Kiev, under the instigation of Constantinople, might cause some earth-shattering act?"
The Isidore he referred to was the current diocesan Metropolitan of Kiev and All Rus' of the orthodox Church.
Born in 1385 in southern Greece and a member of the Palaiologos family, Isidore was deeply influenced by the prevailing Neoplatonism of the time and maintained a good relationship with Constantine, Despot of Morea, who was also a family member.
And due to his profound religious qualifications, Isidore was elevated to Metropolitan of Kiev and All Rus' in 1437, the year before last, and served in the court of Moscow for Grand Duke Vasily II of Moscow.
As for this Council, the Metropolitan of Kiev, who had close relationships with Metropolitan Bessarion of Nicaea and Metropolitan Mark Eugenikos of Ephesus, firmly stood on the side of church unity and persuaded Vasily II to strongly support him.
It seemed that no matter the outcome of this meeting, it would not have any impact on him.
How could that be!?
Manuel, who was familiar with history from his previous life, could recite Isidore's final fate with his eyes closed: due to Isidore of Kiev's clear stance in supporting church unity and facilitating the achievement of related agreements, upon his return to Moscow, he immediately aroused the fury of almost all Rus' people throughout the Grand Duchy.
Finally, Vasily II also abandoned his protection of Isidore, instead arresting him on the third day after he introduced the Latin Rite in the Dormition Cathedral in Moscow.
Ultimately, not long after, the Rus' diocese where the Grand Duchy of Moscow was located declared the establishment of an autocephalous church, breaking away from the jurisdiction of Constantinople.
"If he is truly determined to do so, what can Bosporus do? Even if we are also Romans," Seresnus lamented with some frustration.
"I certainly cannot decide other people's thoughts and attitudes," Manuel sighed helplessly, "All I can do is try to minimize the adverse effects of church unity."
"Then, Manuel, what is your stance?"
When this was mentioned, Seresnus couldn't help but become curious about his Caesar's attitude regarding theological matters.
"My opinion is," Manuel's gaze drifted towards the distant Constantinople, and a mysterious smile appeared on his face,
"τὸ ἐκ τοῦ Πατρὸς ἐκπορευόμενον. ②"