Letter 84
Hormisdas→Unknown|hormisdas
From: Unknown sender
To: Unknown recipient (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.]
H0RM18DA EPIPHANIO EPISCOPO CONSTANTINOPOLITANO. Diu
nos nuntiata tuae primordia dignitatis tenuere suspensos et in ipsa communis gratulatione laetitiae mirati adroodum sumus moreni pristinum fuisse neglectum, quia reparata 5 ecclesiai-um deo annuente concordia plenum fratemae pacis flagitabat ofBcium, praesertim quod sibi non arrogantia personalis sed regularum obseruantia uindicabat. decuerat siquidem, frater karissime, te legatos ad apostolicam sedem inter ipsa tui pontificatus initia destinasse, ut et quem tibi 10 debeamus aifectum bene cognosceres et uetustae consuetudinis
2 formam rite compleres. sed licct his omissis paginalia tantum sufficere iudicasses ex occasione colloquia, nos tamen gratia stimulante compulsi interim iustae constantiam expectationis abrupimus reciproca mutuae caritatis uerba reddentes, quia et 15 noster animus amoris impatiens et legatorum nostrorum uotiua relatio exclusum, qnod imperabat causa, silentium ad officia benigna traxerunt, quibus ad praesens gaudii nostri sigua monstraraus et priuatae quodammodo amicitiae uotiua persol-
3 uimus. legationem autem tuam et ea, qua dudum, gratia so sustinemus et fulti ueteribus constitutis exigimus, ut quantum gaudii fructum uel de tui pontificatus honore capiamus uel quas tibi gratias referri conueniat pro impensis in negotio propagandae unitatis officiis, sicut nostrorum multipliciter adstruxit legatornm nan-atio, euidentius exprimamus. t5
2a6. Data a. 620 post diem 17 Sept. Edd. Car. P 540; Bar. ad a, 5.20, 9; Collect. Concil; BTA I 443; Thiel 913. 3 nos <non> Car. 7 <id > flagitabat Bar, 11 cognosceris F, corr. 0 14 iuste F, corr. Thiel 15 abrumpimus a 17 excluso . . silentio BuU. Taur. 21 et fuhi effulti V 23 in negocio a: inegotio V
Epist. CCV 1 — CCVI 5.
665
(3060
HORMisDA lusTiNiANo ILLU8TRI. Quos celsitndo uostra auimi circa me sui beniuolentiam dignatur ostendere, facitis rem deo placitam et rectae conscientiae congruentem. sed non
6 parua uobis sunt huius emolumenta propositi : maior in uos fructns de tali bonitate reuertitur; neque enim uacua honori- ficentia est, quae defertur antistiti. indubitatum siquidem est, 2 quia honor ministri cultus est domini, et qui personam sacer- dotis magni habet, maiorem remunerationem ab eo, cui sacer-
10 dos famulatur, accipiet dicente domino lesu, qui prophetas in honore susceperint, suam mercedem esse reddendam. et apud me quidem magni est gratia uestra momenti, eo tamen pretiosior, quia, quicquid mihi gratiae dignanter impenditis, in ecclesiarum defensione monstratis. sed ut ad id, quod 3
i& eelsitudo uestra desiderat, noster sermo dirigatur, quamquam et clementissimus imperator et uos promittatis legationem esse uenturam et id cum ratione conuenerit, ut eorum, qui dirigendi sunt, super omnibus nos decuerit expectare praesentiam, tamen, quia gratum nobis est studium, quod circa religionem
20 uos babere declarastis, non grauat praelibare dicendo non opus, ut stabilitatem fidei uestrae intentionis potius quam rationis sequaces procaci uerborum nouitate confundant. sancta 4 trinitas pater et filius et spiritus sanctus deus unus est. hanc Israel iussus adorare, cuius inseparabilis et indiscreta
25 substantia non potest diuidi, non potest sacrilega distinctione separari, seruata tamen proprietate sua unicuique personae. haec interim commenda<nda> fidei uestrae epistolaris stili 5 tenninum cogitantes congrua credimus breuitate sufficere,
10 Matth. 10, 41
206« Dat a. 520 metise Fehr. uel Mart.; respondet luatintani epi- stulae deperditae datae (siinul cum epp. 181 182 183 185) die 19 lan. eiusdem anni. Edd, Car. P 554; Bar. ad a. 520, 5; Collect. Condl.; BTA I 446; Thiel 912. 10 <ii8> qui Car. 11 susciperint V: susci- pinnt 0 17 conueneris F, corr. Car. 23 unus est deus irsp. Car. 27 commenda F, corr. o'
666
Honnisda lustiniano; Dorotheus Hormisdae
plenius disserenda, cum florente imperio clementissimi principis promissam legationem et suscipere nos deo propitiante conti- gerit et cognitis omnibus cum adiutorio dei nostri responso reddito pro uniuersitatis informatione remittere.
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From: Unknown sender
To: Unknown recipient (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.]
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.