Letter 65
Hormisdas→Unknown|hormisdas
From: Unknown sender
To: Unknown recipient (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 lOHANNIS EPISCOPI C0N8TANTIN0P0LITANI.
BOHNO MEO PER OMNIA AMABILI DEO SANCTISSIMOQUE FRATRI £T COMMINISTRATORI UORMISDAE lOHANNES IN DOMINO SALTPTEM.
Quantam alacritatem aut quale desiderium piissimus et Christianissimus imperator circa perfectam unitionem uniuer- sarum ecclesiarum habeat, non uoluntate tantum sed operibus ipsis habitantibus in hac regia urbe uel ante quam ad regnum
13 Rustico F, correxi cons V
188. DaL ut ep, 181. Edd. Car. P 552; CoUect. Condl; Thiel 358, 17 lohannes V: *b1\m Epiphanius' manus recentissitna tidscripsit in marg, codicis Angelicani, ni fallor rationem habens eodicis Otto- honiam 474 (sc^c. 16) complectentis permultas paparum epistulas cum ecc aliis fontihus tum ex Auellanae codice a desumptcu. in quo codice OttobonioMO ctm et hic et in ep. 184 primo recte lohannis namen scriptum esset, postea tamen is qui coUectionem iUam composuit ei deleto ex coniectura substituit nomen Epiphanii a Carafa ceterisque editoribus receptum. qua coniectura nihil esse falsius demonstratti Beitrdge p. 41 sqq. 18 qualg F, corr. o 19 circa Thiel: cari F, caram Car. 20 uoluntatg F, corr. o 21 uel scripsi: ut F, et cod. Angelic.
Epist. CLXXXII 4 — CLXXXm 4.
639
a deo sibi datum perueniret ostendit, sanctitati autem uestrae €x correctis ab initio regni eius et usque nunc laboribus maiime manifestauit, per quos omnia catholicae ecclesiae membra iu unum domini et saluatoris nostri lesu Christi
5 corpus cum prompto nititur animo coniungere. et quid opus 2 est uerbis uti prolixis, quia rebus ipsis, quamquam nos ueri test^s existere ualeamus, habet tamen et uestra sanctitas experimentum, quod et per se ipsa cognouit? confirmat quidem haec, quod et nunc additur. nam quidam, qui sub potentissima 3
10 eius manu sunt, religiosissimorum sacerdotum ei Orientalium partium regionibus preces porrexerunt docentes de his, quae uoluerunt. nec hoc latere uestram uolens sanctitatem bene deliberauit ut, quod iam factum est, in praesenti denuntiaret uestrae sanctitati paulo post de eo his manifestius significare,
ia ut communi consilio praecedente omnium domino et saluatore nostro lesu Christo ea, quae ad utilitatem communem con- ueniunt et undique sunt inreprehensibilia, catholicae fidei correctionibus clarescant. oportune igitur existimantes fratemis 4 litteris uestram sanctitatem et carissimis alloquiis rogamus,
«0 ut raaius et instantius pro piissimo principe nostro omnium dominum deum orare dignemini. omnem in Christo fraterni- tatem, quae cum uestra est sanctitate, ego quoque et qui mei plurimum salutamus. et alia manu: Incolomis in domino ora pro nobis, amabilis deo et sanctissime frater.
nus V, corr. o 11 quaej hoc uocabulo desinit codicis V fol. 137, gua- iermo XIX; cui quod adiunxerat librarius folium unieum, excidit sup- pletumque est folio chartaceo saeculi XVII (cf. Proleg. cap. I). quare in hac parte sequimtir codicem a 14 ea a, correxi 18 correctionis a, corr, tdit. reg. 19 clarissimis a, corr. edit. reg. alloquiis a ante rasuram: alloqui o et post rasuram a 22 qui om. Car. 23 iucolomes a
XXXV pan 2.
41
640 lohannes Cpolitanus Horniisdae; suggestio legatorum
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From: Unknown sender
To: Unknown recipient (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.