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Events on Saturday 6 July 1439 1
1439Council of Florence -- union achieved, then rejectedThe Council of Florence (1439) achieves what centuries of negotiation could not: a formal union between the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches, signed by Emperor John VIII Palaiologos and most of the Byzantine bishops. The union is a political act of desperation -- John hopes that accepting papal supremacy will trigger a western Crusade to save Constantinople. The Decree of Union (Laetentur Caeli) is signed on 6 July 1439. The Orthodox population of Constantinople and the other Eastern churches overwhelmingly reject it: Grand Duke Notaras reportedly says he would rather see the Turkish turban in Constantinople than the Latin mitre.