The Council of Chalcedon was the fourth ecumenical council of the Christian church, convoked by Emperor Marcian. The council convened in Chalcedon, Bithynia from 8 October to 1 November 451. The council, attended by 520 bishops or their representatives, was the largest and best-documented of the first seven ecumenical councils. The principal purpose of the council was to re-assert the doctrine of the Council of Ephesus against the heresy derivative of Eutyches and Nestorius. Such heresies attempted to dismantle and separate Christ's divine nature from his humanity (Nestorianism) and further, to limit Christ as solely divine in nature (Monophysitism).
An ecumenical council, also called general council, is a meeting of bishops and other church authorities to consider and rule on questions of Christian doctrine, administration, discipline, and other matters in which those entitled to vote are convoked from the whole world (oikoumene) and which secures the approbation of the whole Church.
Pope Hilarius was the bishop of Rome from 19 November 461 to his death on 29 February 468.
A synod is a council of a church, usually convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. The word synod comes from the Greek: σύνοδος [ˈsinoðos] meaning "assembly" or "meeting" and is analogous with the Latin word concilium meaning "council". Originally, synods were meetings of bishops, and the word is still used in that sense in Catholicism, Oriental Orthodoxy and Eastern Orthodoxy. In modern usage, the word often refers to the governing body of a particular church, whether its members are meeting or not. It is also sometimes used to refer to a church that is governed by a synod.
Pope Nicholas I, called Nicholas the Great, was the bishop of Rome from 24 April 858 until his death. He is remembered as a consolidator of papal authority, exerting decisive influence on the historical development of the papacy and its position among the Christian nations of Western Europe. Nicholas I asserted that the pope should have suzerainty over all Christians, even royalty, in matters of faith and morals.
In several of the autocephalous Eastern Orthodox churches and Eastern Catholic Churches, the patriarch or head bishop is elected by a group of bishops called the Holy Synod. For instance, the Holy Synod is a ruling body of the Georgian Orthodox Church.
The Coptic Orthodox pope, also known as the Bishop of Alexandria, is the leader of the Coptic Orthodox Church, with ancient Christian roots in Egypt. The current holder of this position is Pope Tawadros II, who was selected as the 118th pope on November 18, 2012.
From the 5th century to the 7th century AD, about thirty synods, variously counted, were held at Toledo in what would come to be part of Spain. The earliest, directed against Priscillianism, assembled in 400. The "third" synod of 589 marked the epoch-making conversion of King Reccared from Arianism to orthodox Chalcedonian Christianity. The "fourth", in 633, probably under the presidency of the noted Isidore of Seville, regulated many matters of discipline and decreed uniformity of liturgy throughout the kingdom. The British Celts of Galicia accepted the Latin rite and stringent measures were adopted against baptized Jews who had gone back to their former faith. The "twelfth" council in 681 assured to the archbishop of Toledo the primacy of Hispania. As nearly one hundred early canons of Toledo found a place in the Decretum Gratiani, they exerted an important influence on the development of ecclesiastical law.
Erwig was a king of the Visigoths in Hispania (680–687).
Egica, Ergica, or Egicca, was the Visigoth King of Hispania and Septimania from 687 until his death. He was the son of Ariberga and the brother-in-law of Wamba.
Philotheos Kokkinos was the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople for two periods from November 1353 to 1354 and 1364 to 1376, and a leader of the Byzantine monastic and religious revival in the 14th century. His numerous theological, liturgical, and canonical works received wide circulation not only in Byzantium but throughout the Slavic Orthodox world.
The Fifteenth Council of Toledo first met on 11 May 688 under King Egica. It was the king's first of three councils.
The Sixteenth Council of Toledo first met on 25 April 693, the second of Egica's three councils.
The Thirteenth Council of Toledo, called by Visigothic king Erwig, opened in Toledo, Spain, on 4 November 683. 77 bishops, 5 abbots, 3 church dignitaries, and 27 palatine functionaries participated.
The Tenth Council of Toledo was summoned to meet in Toledo on 1 December 656 by King Reccesuinth of Hispania.
The Ninth Council of Toledo was a provincial synod of bishops of Carthaginiensis. It began on 2 November 655 under the auspices of King Reccesuinth. It ended on November 24 in the Church of Santa María.
The Twelfth Council of Toledo, held in Toledo, Spain, was initiated on 9 January 681 by the Visigothic King Erwig, who was elected king in 680. One of its first actions was to release the population from the laws of Wamba and recognise Erwig, anathematising all who opposed him.
In the history of Christianity, the first seven ecumenical councils include the following: the First Council of Nicaea in 325, the First Council of Constantinople in 381, the Council of Ephesus in 431, the Council of Chalcedon in 451, the Second Council of Constantinople in 553, the Third Council of Constantinople from 680–681 and finally, the Second Council of Nicaea in 787.
The Pan-Orthodox Council, officially referred to as the Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church, was a synod of set representative bishops of the universally recognised autocephalous local churches of Eastern Orthodox Christianity held in Kolymvari, Crete. The Council sat from 19 to 26 June 2016.
A schism between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople began on 15 October 2018 when the former unilaterally severed full communion with the latter.