History glossary
excommunications
formal church actions excluding people from communion and religious authority.
- Category
- Religious discipline
- Region
- Christian world
- Date range
- ancient to present
What it means
Excommunication is a church penalty that cuts a person or group off from communion and recognised religious authority. In 1054, mutual excommunications between representatives of Rome and Constantinople became a powerful symbol of the widening East-West Schism.
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Stories using this term
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