By Aristeides Papadakis Of the early attempts to heal the schism between the Byzantine and Western churches, none is as famous as the Council of Lyons in 1274. Less familiar is the Byzantine reaction that followed in the patriarchate of Gregory of Cyprus, when the settlement of 1274 was formally repudiated by imperial decree and the solemn decision of the Byzantine Church at the Council of Blachernae in 1285. The moving force behind the dogmatic decisions of 1285 was the patriarch. He offered a genuine solution to the problem, which is of interest not only to students of church history but to those involved in the ecumenical movement. This is the first full study available in English of Gregory II and the Council of 1285.
