 This new @-@ found unity between East and West did not , however , not solve the ongoing disputes in the east . Justinian 's policies switched between attempts to force Monophysites to accept the Chalcedonian creed by persecuting their bishops and monks - thereby <unk> their sympathizers in Egypt and other provinces - and attempts at a compromise that would win over the Monophysites without surrendering the Chalcedonian faith . Such an approach was supported by the Empress Theodora , who favoured the Monophysites unreservedly . In the condemnation of the Three Chapters , three theologians that had opposed Monophysitism before and after the Council of Chalcedon , Justinian tried to win over the opposition . At the Fifth Ecumenical Council , most of the Eastern church yielded to the Emperor 's demands and Pope Vigilius , who was forcibly brought to Constantinople and besieged at a <unk> , finally also gave his assent . However , the condemnation was received unfavourably in the west , where it led to new ( albeit temporal ) schism , and failed to reach its goal in the east , as the Monophysites , remained unsatisfied ; all the more bitter for him because during his last years he took an even greater interest in theological matters . 
