The Union of Florence and St Mark of Ephesus

Established chronology

1. 1438 to 1439The Council of Ferrara and Florence debates and concludes a union with Rome.
2. 1439St Mark of Ephesus alone among the Eastern bishops refuses to sign.
3. 1440s to 1484The union meets widespread rejection in the East and is formally repudiated.

Synodal decisions

• The union was ultimately not received by the Orthodox Church and was later repudiated by councils at Constantinople.

Actions of the saints

• St Mark refused communion with the union and urged the faithful not to accept it; he founded no sect and is honoured as a pillar of Orthodoxy.

Competing interpretations

• How directly Mark's stand licenses particular later separations, given differences in their canonical circumstances.