Letter 110
Hormisdas→Unknown|hormisdas
From: Pope Hormisdas, Rome
To: Unknown recipient (Epiphanius, Constantinople, bishops)
Date: ~515-523 AD
Context: Part of the papal correspondence surrounding the Acacian Schism (484-519), the major breach between Rome and Constantinople over the condemnation of the Monophysite patriarch Acacius. Pope Hormisdas (514-523) worked tirelessly to resolve this schism, which was finally healed in 519 under Emperor Justin I.
[This letter is part of the extensive diplomatic correspondence generated by the resolution of the Acacian Schism. The schism had divided the Eastern and Western churches for thirty-five years over the condemnation of Patriarch Acacius of Constantinople, who had promoted a compromise formula (the Henotikon) that Rome rejected as insufficiently orthodox. Hormisdas conducted negotiations through multiple embassies to Constantinople, exchanging letters with emperors, patriarchs, imperial officials, and powerful aristocratic women at court. The correspondence reveals the machinery of late antique ecclesiastical diplomacy: formal theological demands, careful diplomatic language, networks of lay and clerical allies, and the constant anxiety of a pope trying to manage events happening months away by letter.]
EXEMPLUM RELATIONIS EPIPHANII EPISCOPI CONSTANTINOPOLITANI. PER OMNIA SANCTISSIMO ET BEATISSIMO DOMINO FRATRI ET
20 coiJiiNiSTRATORi HORMiSDAB EPiPHANius. Frequentiores quidem litteras facere ad uestram beatitudinem et frui alfectu fraternae caritatis optamus, nunc autem ea quae euenerunt cupientes uestram sanctimoniam non latere praesentibus usi sumus scriptis. multis enim et non paruo spatio temporis perturba- 2
2 5tionibus Antiochiae maximam ciuitatem, quae est in dioecesi Orientali prima, circumstantibus sub occasione, quia Paulus
6 ueritue Car. 11 creduntur V: acceperunt 5ar.; ego inserui accepisse (suscepisse Thiel, curare Hartel) 14 lacunatn indicaui: ut inseruit Car., quod non sufficit; excidit ut quid factum sit uel simile quid 15 maias con- stantinopolim V, corr. p 16 vvc cons V
242, Dat. ut ep. 9.41. Edd. Car. P 562; CoUect. Concil ; Thiel 984; comtnemorat Bar. ad a. 521 38. 18 exejip V 23 uisi F, corr. 25 diocesi V
742 lustinianus Hormisdae
aniabilis deo episcopatiim meraoratae liabiiit chiitatis, et miiltis urbis ipsius habitatorum, sicut dixerunt aliqui, a catliolica ecclesia sese separantibus et assiduas interpellationes tranquillissimo et fidelissimo priocipi nostro ingerentibus et eorura, quae in accusationera ducebantur, inquisitionem 5 supplicantibus fieri raanifestara (quae quidem initium olim sumpserunt, sicut nec directos a uestra sanctitate deo amabiles legatos latuit, cum in regia degerent ciuitate, agnoscentes
3 super his omnia) : memoratus ergo amabilis deo Paulus prod- esse sibi hoc existimans per libellos proprios designatae lo ciuitatis desertionem et episcopatus elegit et uniuersalem quietem et Ca> causis alienationem se praefeiTe monstrauit. quae omnia et araabilera Christo principera nostrurn manifesta
4 reuerentiae uestrae fecisse nouimus. sed nunc omnibus nobis pretiosius et de quo raaxime noctibus et diebus bonum nuntium de his qui f amantissimo principe et a nobis directos ad uestram beatitudinera deo amabiles legatos laetos amicam deo pacem nuntiantes et omni pulchritudine decoram unitatem sanctarum ecclesianim annuntiantes quam cito ad nos destinare dignamini, ut praesentis causae, sicut saepe scripsimus. sit 20 caele^te lucrum his, qui in celeritate sunt bonae con-ectionis
5 auctores, beatissime et sanctissime frater. oninem, quae est cum tua beatitudine in Christo fraternitas, et nos et qui nobiscum sunt multis salutamus annis.
2 mnltis . .habitatorum 8cripsi'. multorum . . habitatorum F. id quod uix recte Thielim trihuit interpreti genetiui dbsoluti Graeci nimis tenaci; multis . . habitatoribus 3 sese o^: esse V 12 a addit Labh,
14 sqq. locus corruptus; omnibus bonis pretiosius . . diebus <solliciti eu- mu8> bonum nuntium detis atque <ab> amantissimo . . dignemini Thiel; omnibus nobis pretiosius est, de quo maxime noctibus et diebus - aiixii sumus, audire/ bonum nuntium de his qui ♦ *. • quare ab> amantissimo Hariel 17 letoa F, del, 0 18 omnia pulchr. decora F, corr. Thiel
Epist. CCXXXXII 3
— ccxxxxmi 1.
743
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From: Pope Hormisdas, Rome
To: Unknown recipient (Epiphanius, Constantinople, bishops)
Date: ~515-523 AD
Context: Part of the papal correspondence surrounding the Acacian Schism (484-519), the major breach between Rome and Constantinople over the condemnation of the Monophysite patriarch Acacius. Pope Hormisdas (514-523) worked tirelessly to resolve this schism, which was finally healed in 519 under Emperor Justin I.
[This letter is part of the extensive diplomatic correspondence generated by the resolution of the Acacian Schism. The schism had divided the Eastern and Western churches for thirty-five years over the condemnation of Patriarch Acacius of Constantinople, who had promoted a compromise formula (the Henotikon) that Rome rejected as insufficiently orthodox. Hormisdas conducted negotiations through multiple embassies to Constantinople, exchanging letters with emperors, patriarchs, imperial officials, and powerful aristocratic women at court. The correspondence reveals the machinery of late antique ecclesiastical diplomacy: formal theological demands, careful diplomatic language, networks of lay and clerical allies, and the constant anxiety of a pope trying to manage events happening months away by letter.]
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.