Letter 175

From: Unknown correspondent To: Pope Hormisdas, Rome (Justinian/Justin) 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.]

seu Sacra Justini ad Homxisdam papam. ?■• ^^^^ ^- 22April. 2. Omnia Constaniinopoli secundum Hormisdae votum ordinata, ac generalia praecepta in ceteras regiones eadem de causa deslinanda a se edicta esse, nuntiat. Victor Justinus, pius, felix, inclitus, triumphator semper Augustus, Hormisdae sanctissimo ac beatissimo archiepiscopo et patriarchae. Scias effectum^) nobis, pater religiosissime, quod diu summis studiis quaerebatur; noyeris patefactum, antequam advenerint qui a vobis destinati sunt: quod Johannes vir l^eatissimus aiitistes novae Romae nostrae-) una cum clero ejus vobiscum sentiunt, nullis varian- tes ambiguitatibus, nuUis divisi dicordiis; scias libellum ab eo sub- Polyc. studiis paiet siriciumy Ans. XII, 31 a/fectu ... sludiis occultabaiur paiefacium et antequam .., a nobis . . . clero vobis consentiunt . . , Judicaveras. Negatum est ab eis memoriam etc. ') Ita Q* J i* a^. c* c' noster, al. ed. vestrne. \ a. 519. scriptum^), quem offerendum iudicaveras, sanctissimorum patrum concilio*) congruentem. Omnes concurrunt alacri opere ad snsci- pienda vota tam vestrae^) quam Constantinopolitanae sedis, quos veritatis coruscus fulgor illuminat; omnes accelerant libentissime, quos oblectat via dilucida ; sequuntur scita patrum sanctissima, leges probatissimas : et consiliis quorumdam firmatis, qui rectum tenebant tramitem, aliorum correctis, qui vagabantur incerti, in eo res col- ligitur, ut unitatem individuae Trinitatis ipsi quoque unitate*) colant mentium. Negatum est inter divina mysteria memoriam in poete- rum fieri pro tenore libelli, . quem diximus, Acacii praevaricatoris quondam regiae urbis hujus episcopi, nec non et aliorum sacerdo- tum, qui vel primi contra constituta venerunt apostolica vdsucces- sores erroris facti sunt et nuUa usque ad ultimum diem sumn poeni- tentia correcti. Et quoniam omnes nostrae") regiones admonendae sunt, ut exemplum imitentur civitatis regiae, destinanda ubique principalia praecepta ediximus^)-, tanto flagramus religionis officio, tanto affectamus studio pacem catliolicae fidei pro remuneranda coelitus pace nostrae reipublicae, pro conciliando subjectis meis supemo praesidio. Quid enim gratius reperiri potest, quid justias, quid illustrius, quam quos idem regnum continet ejusdemque fidei cultus irradiat, eos non diversa contendere, sed collectis in eodem sensibus iustituta venerari non huraana mente lata^) sed divini pru- dentia Spiritus? Oret igitur vestrae religionis sanctitas, ut quod pervigili studio pro concordia ecclesiarum catholicae fidei procuratur, divini muneris opitulatio jugi perpetuitate servari annuat. Data^*) X Calendas Maji Constantinopoli.