Editing Eastern Europe (section)

===Religious and cultural influence===
[[File:OrthodoxyInEurope.png|thumb|252x252px|Map of [[Eastern Orthodoxy]], the borderline of which is one cultural boundary in Europe]]

[[File:Expansion of christianity.jpg|thumb|upright=1.15|Expansion of Christianity<ref>{{cite web|url=http://rbedrosian.com/Maps/ahgh66b.htm |title=Atlas of the Historical Geography of the Holy Land |publisher=Rbedrosian.com |access-date=23 February 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130610034842/http://rbedrosian.com/Maps/ahgh66b.htm |archive-date=10 June 2013 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://home.comcast.net/~DiazStudents/MiddleAgesChurchMap1.jpg |title=home.comcast.net |access-date=23 February 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130213233630/http://home.comcast.net/~DiazStudents/MiddleAgesChurchMap1.jpg |archive-date=13 February 2013 }}</ref>]]

After the [[East–West Schism]] of 1054, significant parts of Eastern Europe developed cultural unity and resistance to Catholic Western and Central Europe within the framework of the [[Eastern Orthodox Church]], [[Church Slavonic]] language and the [[Cyrillic alphabet]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Magocsi |first=Paul Robert |author-link=Paul Robert Magocsi |chapter=Chapter 11 |title=Historical Atlas of Central Europe |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XoxHdcNYhiMC&pg=PP20 |year=2002 |edition=Rev. and expanded |publisher=University of Toronto Press |isbn=978-0-8020-8486-6 |oclc=150672781 |access-date=2023-02-10 |archive-date=2024-03-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240330041418/https://books.google.com/books?id=XoxHdcNYhiMC&pg=PP20#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Greyerz">{{cite book |title=Religion and Culture in Early Modern Europe |author=Kasper von Greyerz |publisher=Oxford University Press |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SmEpMnfYZ-oC&q=%22all+of+central+Europe%22 |isbn=978-0-19-804384-3 |pages=38– |date=2007 |access-date=2022-01-06 |archive-date=2024-03-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240330041419/https://books.google.com/books?id=SmEpMnfYZ-oC&q=%22all+of+central+Europe%22#v=snippet&q=%22all%20of%20central%20Europe%22&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Sedlar">{{cite book |author=Jean W Sedlar |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3o5lrvuwOVwC&q=%22estrangement+to+be+permanent%22 |title=East Central Europe in the Middle Ages, 1000–1500 |publisher=University of Washington Press |year=1994 |isbn=0-295-97291-2 |page=161 |access-date=2022-01-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240330041420/https://books.google.com/books?id=3o5lrvuwOVwC&q=%22estrangement+to+be+permanent%22#v=snippet&q=%22estrangement%20to%20be%20permanent%22&f=false |archive-date=2024-03-30 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="shape of europe">{{cite web
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 | title=Uspořádání Evropy – duch kulturní jednoty na prahu vzniku novověké Evropy
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 | archive-date=2016-05-18
 | archive-url=http://arquivo.pt/wayback/20160518094501/http://biblio.hiu.cas.cz/documents/161327
 | url-status=live
 }}</ref>

The earliest concept of Europe as a cultural sphere (instead of simply a geographic term) was formed by [[Alcuin of York]] during the [[Carolingian Renaissance]] of the 9th century, limited to the territories that practised [[Western Christianity]] at the time. "European" as a cultural term did not include many of the territories under the influence of [[Eastern Christianity]] until the early nineteenth century.<ref>{{cite book|author=Sanjay Kumar|title=A Handbook of Political Geography|publisher=K.K. Publications|year=2021|pages=125–127|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iGc9EAAAQBAJ}}</ref>

A large section of ''Eastern Europe'' is formed by countries with dominant Orthodox churches, like [[Belarus]], [[Bulgaria]], [[Cyprus]], [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]], [[Greece]], [[Moldova]], [[Montenegro]], [[North Macedonia]], [[Romania]], [[Russia]], [[Serbia]], and [[Ukraine]], for instance, as well as [[Armenia]], which is predominantly [[Armenian Apostolic Church|Armenian Apostolic]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.pewforum.org/2017/05/10/religious-belief-and-national-belonging-in-central-and-eastern-europe/|title=Religious Belief and National Belonging in Central and Eastern Europe|work=Pew Research Center|date=May 10, 2017|access-date=January 30, 2020|archive-date=September 18, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180918142547/http://www.pewforum.org/2017/05/10/religious-belief-and-national-belonging-in-central-and-eastern-europe/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.atlantaserbs.com/learnmore/history/gruzija-church.htm|title=The History of Georgian Orthodox Church|website=www.atlantaserbs.com|access-date=2021-02-07|archive-date=2021-03-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210304215419/https://www.atlantaserbs.com/learnmore/history/gruzija-church.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> Moreover, followers of Eastern Orthodoxy form considerable portions of the populations of predominantly Muslim [[Albania]], [[Bosnia and Herzegovina]], [[Kazakhstan]], and [[Kosovo]], both historically and presently. The [[Eastern Orthodox Church]] has played a prominent role in the history and culture of Eastern and [[Southeastern Europe]].<ref>{{Citation |last=Ware |first=Bishop Kallistos (Timothy) |title=The Orthodox Church |date=29 April 1993 |edition=new |place=New York |publisher=Penguin Books |isbn=978-0-14-014656-1 |author-link1=Kallistos Ware |page=8}}</ref> To a lesser degree, forms of [[Eastern Protestant Christianity|Eastern Protestantism]] and [[Eastern Catholic Churches|Eastern Catholicism]] have also been influential in Eastern Europe. Countries where Eastern Protestantism or Eastern Catholicism hold historical significance include Belarus, [[Croatia]], Greece, [[Hungary]], [[Lithuania]], [[Poland]], Romania, Russia, [[Slovakia]], [[Slovenia]] and Ukraine.<ref name=":2"/><ref>Fernández Rodríguez, José Manuel (28 November 2016). "Eastern Protestant and Reformed Churches "a historical and ecumenical look"". ''Theologica Xaveriana''. 66 (182): 345–366. [[Doi (identifier)|doi]]:10.11144/javeriana.tx66-182.ioproh.</ref><ref>Milovanović, Aleksandra Djurić; Radić, Radmila (2017-10-11). "Parts I, II, III". ''Orthodox Christian Renewal Movements in Eastern Europe''. Springer. {{ISBN|978-3-319-63354-1}}.</ref>

The schism refers to the historical break of communion and [[theology]] between the Eastern (Orthodox) and Western (Catholic) churches. Later developments meant that the divide was no longer solely between Catholic and Orthodox churches. From the 16th century, both Western and Eastern forms of Protestantism began to emerge in Europe.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Parushev |first1=Parush |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/book/10.1002/9780470999196 |title=The Blackwell Companion to Protestantism |last2=Apollo |first2=Toivo |date=2004 |publisher=Blackwell Publishing Ltd |isbn=978-0-631-23278-0 |editor-last=McGrath |editor-first=Alister E. |edition= |pages=155–160 |language= |doi=10.1002/9780470999196 |editor-last2=Marks |editor-first2=Darren C. |access-date=2024-02-28 |archive-date=2024-02-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240228180113/https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/book/10.1002/9780470999196 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Nichols |first=Aidan |title=Rome and the Eastern Churches: A Study in Schism |date=2010 |publisher=Ignatius Press |isbn=9781586172824 |edition=2nd |pages=13–19}}</ref> Additionally, Eastern Catholic Churches began to spread in Europe during the 16th and 17th centuries, following the establishment of the [[Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church]] in 1596.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Galadza |first=Peter |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/book/10.1002/9780470690208 |title=The Blackwell Companion to Eastern Christianity |date=2007-07-04 |publisher=Blackwell Publishing Ltd |isbn=978-0-631-23423-4 |editor-last=Parry |editor-first=Ken |edition= |pages=291–309 |language=en |doi=10.1002/9780470690208 |access-date=2024-02-28 |archive-date=2024-02-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240228180115/https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/book/10.1002/9780470690208 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Union of Brest-Litovsk {{!}} Polish-Soviet, Treaty, 1918 {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/event/Union-of-Brest-Litovsk |access-date=2024-02-28 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en |archive-date=2023-06-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230629070216/https://www.britannica.com/event/Union-of-Brest-Litovsk |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=Eastern rite church {{!}} History, Beliefs & Practices {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Eastern-rite-church |access-date=2024-02-28 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en |archive-date=2024-01-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240119183658/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Eastern-rite-church |url-status=live }}</ref> However, the concept of Eastern Catholicism itself predates this.<ref name=":2" />

Since the Great Schism of 1054, Europe has been divided between [[Catholic Church|Catholic]] (and later additionally [[Protestant]]) churches in the West, and the [[Eastern Orthodox Christian]] (often incorrectly labelled "Greek Orthodox") churches in the east. The religious cleavage causes Eastern Orthodox countries to be often associated with Eastern Europe. A cleavage of this sort is, however, often problematic; for example, [[Greece]] is overwhelmingly Orthodox but is very rarely included in "Eastern Europe" for a variety of reasons, the most prominent being that Greece's history, for the most part, was more influenced by Mediterranean cultures and dynamics.<ref>Peter John, Local Governance in Western Europe, University of Manchester, 2001, {{ISBN|9780761956372}}</ref>