ABSTRACT
In modern times the terms European and Western have become almost synonymous. All European nations have been attracted into the orbit of Western ideas and civilisation, so that in spite of their diversity there is a certain coherence in European history. Romanus Lecapenus's diplomatic skill, which had been evinced in his dealings with Tsar Peter, assured a breathing-space to the Empire and added allies to it in the Far East. The eastern campaigns were only incidental, for the purpose of security, to the main task to which he had set himself, the crushing of Bulgaria. The Schism was due to the Patriarch and was against the wish of the Emperor. But the Emperors themselves were responsible for the policy in the north-east which was equally disastrous to the Empire. The Schism between the Eastern and Western Churches which resulted was ultimately to prove fatal to the Eastern Empire.
