Letter 238

From: Unknown correspondent To: Pope Hormisdas, Rome (Epiphanius, Gratus, Constantinople) 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.]

Hormisdae papae ad Epiphanium episcopum Constantino- ^* ^^i d. i-x 26 Mart. politanum. 20.| Gratam sibi fuisse synodicam ordinationis illius relatio'nem , gratos legatos , grata quoque munera ab iUo in ministerium s, Petri destinata. Hormisda Epiphanio Oonstantinopolitano. Benedicimus Dominum fraternae caritatis affectu, quia non solum synodica relatione ad sacerdotium te digne pervenisse cognovimus, ep. 131. sed factis atque moribus comprobamus, et ita se meriti tui gradus patefecit affectibus, ut ante fratrum et. coepiscoporum nostrorum testimonium cuncta crederemus. Quod enim illi te promittunt posse *) moribus agere, nos videmus implesse; et tamquam fidei tuae servata pacis fuerit gratia, sic unitatis hactenus dilata sunt vota^). Divina eorum praedestinatione caritati tuae vocabulum quo nimcuparis ac- cessit, sub quo spiritu apparente concordia factum est, ut dicamus: Ecce quam honum et qmm Jucundum hdbitare fratres in unum! Q^^'\^^' propter in Christo Domino nostro reddentes officia salutationis, hor- tamur, ut boni operis initium laudabile continuet institutum secun- dum sanctum evangelium, quo monemur: Qui perseveraverit in fine, ^q^' hic salvus erit. Adhortamini igitur reliquos, invitate monitis, colligit^ blandimentis : quia talenti crediti multiplicata compendia sacrificia sunt divina. Praeterea gratissime tulimus, quod Johanni fratri et coepiscopo nostro necnon HeracKano presbytero atque Constantino filiis nostris internuntiis promotionem caritatis tuae cognovimus, qua esse aliquid dulcius non putamus. £t quum te praedicti viri, etsi pro obsequio suscepto facerent, non tantum ratione, laudarent, beati omnium sumus, quod dignae rei nuntius relator dignus exstabat, ut tibi absolutissime de legatorum meritis probatio sit honoris. Et mann papae: Suscepimus calicem aureum gemmatum, pateuam ar- genteam et aliiun calicem argenteiun et vela duo ministerio basilicae M) Sic G» H; a^ Boqu. ril Kalendas, h» IX Kal,, J 0 c« i« datum prorsus omittimt. 138 ') G> possessoribus agere, quod ad similitudinem ep. 139 (conf. ctiam cp. 111 et 131 n. 2) correximus. Ed. posse omnia, a. 521. beati Petri apostoli profutura; a caritate tua directa. Data YIP) Galendas Aprilis, Valerio viro clarissimo consule.