It should be understood that the Patriarch's position in the eastern church is unlike the position of the Pope in the western church. While the papacy during the middle ages grew to maintain extensive control over the Catholic Church's governance and doctrine, the Patriarch of Constantinople's relationship to other eastern patriarchs within Orthodoxy has been described as "first among equals." Also, the sometimes very powerful influence of the Byzantine Emperor throughout Byzantine history has sometimes led to charges of "caesaropapism." Yet such claims have been discarded as unfair and inaccurate by several modern historians.
From antiquity throughout the middle ages, the Papacy was often in discussion or dispute with either the Patriarch of Constantinople or the Byzantine Emperor.
The Latin Partriarch of Constantinople was one of four Catholic Patriarch's that held office in the wake of the conquest of Constantinople in 1204 during the Fourth Crusade. Because of the special spiritual significance of the Patriarch of Constantinople to Orthodox Christians, the placement of a Catholic on the Patriarch's seat was highly disturbing to the city's natives and they never achieved the level of spiritual authority as their Orthodox predecessors.
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Papacy- Crusades-Encyclopedia
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