The decision of Chalcedon had far-reaching consequences. The Council, in proclaiming equality between the Bishop of Constantinople and the see of Rome, sowed the seeds of future hostility between East and West. As the representative of the Monophysite principle, the church of Alexandria was dissatisfied with the decision of Chalcedon and dissenting churches arose including the Coptic, the Abyssinian, the Syrian Jacobite, and the Armenian churches. Armenia had been Christianized as late as the fourth century, and Abyssinia in the same period. Thus the attempts to unify the churches by the councils of Ephesus and Chalcedon had alienated first the Nestorians and then the Monophysites. The unity which Rome created in the West failed in the East. The patriarch of Constantinople was the head of the churches in his own region, but he had no jurisdiction over the schismatic churches. Justinian (527-565) maintained temporarily the prestige of the emperor and established most completely the imperial authority over the Church. Politically he was successful in reasserting the authority of the empire over Italy and North Africa, which had succumbed to invading Teutonic tribes, though the recovery lasted for only a brief period. Theologically he was sufficiently desirous of winning back the Monophysites and restoring the unity of the Church to call a fifth general council of church leaders. The Second Council of Constantinople, in 553, condemned the Three Chapters which were the standard of Antiochian theology, and thus favored the Alexandrian interpretation of the Creed of Chalcedon, but the attempt to conciliate the Monophysites failed and national churches resulted in disaffected provinces existing throughout the empire.
Impact: The Coptic descendants of the old Egyptians set up a patriarch of their own at Alexandria. He also became the recognized head of the Abyssinian church. Most of the Armenians withdrew from fellowship with the Orthodox and organized their own hierarchy.