Why was there tension between the Byzantine emperors and the papacy?

1 Answer

The Great Schism

Explanation:

The papacy and the Byzantines had disagreements due to the Great Schism. The Byzantines believed in the eastern form of Christianity, known as Orthodoxy, whilst the papacy believed in the western form of Christianity, Catholicism. The Orthodox had their own pope, known as the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, which of course pissed off the pope in Rome seeing how they had a different head of religion and different ideals.