Orthodoxy

   Greek for "right belief," referring to matters of Christian faith and doctrine, the core of which is defined in the ecumenical councils (q.v.) of the church. Beliefs and practices condemned by accepted church councils are considered heresy (q.v.). The Byzantine and western churches were frequently suspicious of each other's Orthodoxy, indeed were intermittently schismatic down to the final church schism of 1054 (q.v.), so that today the term is used to refer to the doctrines and liturgy of the eastern churches whose roots lie in the Byzantine church. Orthodoxy survived the fall of Constantinople (q.v.) in 1453 to become Byzantium's living legacy. It is an active force in lands that formerly comprised Byzantium (q.v.), as well as in Slavic (q.v.) lands proselytized by Byzantium. Byzantine art and church architecture cannot be understood without a basic understanding of Orthodoxy.