Editing Latins (section)

==Middle Ages==
{{further|Latins (Middle Ages)}}
[[File:12th century unknown painters - Crusaders - WGA19723.jpg|thumb|233x233px|[[12th century]] depiction of Latin [[Crusades|Crusaders]]]]
In the [[Eastern Roman Empire]], and the broader Greek-Orthodox world, ''Latins'' was a synonym for all people who followed the [[Roman Catholic Church|Roman Catholicism]]<ref name="ReferenceA">George Ostrogorsky, History of the Byzantine State</ref> of [[Western Christianity]],<ref name="Orbilat">{{cite web |title=Distinguishing the terms: Latins and Romans |url=http://www.orbilat.com/General_Survey/Terms--Latins_and_Romans.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180709112810/http://www.orbilat.com/General_Survey/Terms--Latins_and_Romans.html |archive-date=2018-07-09 |website=[[Orbis Latinus]]}}</ref> regardless of ethnicity.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Distinguishing the terms: Latins and Romans |url=https://www.orbilat.com/General_Survey/Terms--Latins_and_Romans.html |website=Orbilat}}</ref> The term was related to the predominance of the [[Latin Church]], which is the largest autonomous [[Catholic particular churches and liturgical rites|particular church]] within the broader [[Catholic Church]], and took its name from its origins in the Latin-speaking world which had Rome as its center.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Why So Many Rites in the Church {{!}} EWTN |url=https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/library/why-so-many-rites-in-the-church-4827 |access-date=2024-03-08 |website=EWTN Global Catholic Television Network |language=en}}</ref>

''Latin'' was generally a negative characterization, especially after the [[East-West schism|1054 schism]].<ref name="ReferenceA" /> The term is still used by the [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Orthodox church]] communities, but only in a theological context. Nonetheless, it did not share this negative connotation in the West, where many self-identified with the term, such as [[Petrarch]], when he states ''"Sumus enim non greci, non barbari, sed itali et latini."'' ("We are not Greeks or barbarians; we are Italians and Latins.").<ref>{{Cite web |title=Invectiva contra eum qui maledixit Italiam - Wikisource |url=https://la.wikisource.org/wiki/Invectiva_contra_eum_qui_maledixit_Italiam |access-date=2022-09-11 |website=la.wikisource.org |language=la}}</ref>