Presbyters Uniwersytet Warszawski
ID
ER 1339
After the death of Zosimus, bishop of Rome, the schism arises between the archdeacon Eulalius and the presbyter Boniface that is supported by other presbyters (AD 418). At the instigation of Ancius Aurelius Symmachus, the prefect of Rome, the Emperor Honorius supports Eulalius and exiles Boniface. The presbyters supporting Boniface send a petition to the emperor, AD 419. Letter 17 in the Collectio Avellana compiled in the second half of the 6th c.
(17)
EXEMPLUM PRECUM PRESBYTERORUM PRO BONIFATIO
 
(1) Petimus clementiam uestram, piissimi et clementissimi imperatores Honori et Theodosi semper Augusti. (2) Post abscessum sancti Zosimi papae ecclesiae catholicae urbis Romae, ut fieri mos uolebat atque ipsa religionis disciplina dictabat, plures in unum conuenimus sacerdotes, ut de constituendo successore communi iudicio tractaremus. Sed quoniam Lateranensem ecclesiam obstrusis paene omnibus ingressibus archidiaconus Eulalius contemptis impie summi sacerdotis exsequiis diaconibus et paucissimis presbyteris ac multitudine turbatae plebis obsederat, altero die ad eandem ecclesiam, ubi prius ab omnibus fuerat constitutum, habita omnium collatione properauimus ibique participato cum Christiana plebe consilio, quem deus iussit, elegimus. (3) Nam uenerabilem uirum Bonifatium, ueterem presbyterum in lege doctissimum ac bonis moribus comprobatum et, quod eum magis ornabat, inuitum, acclamatione totius populi et consensu meliorum ciuitatis asciuimus: diuinae institutionis ordine consecratum; nam subscribentibus plus minus septuaginta presbyteris, astantibus nouem diuersarum prouinciarum episcopis benedictionem competenti tempore constat fuisse celebratam ac post omnia, quae  sollemnitas exigebat, impleta sunt. (4) Sed cum supra dictus Eulalius, qui ante per tres consacerdotes nostros fuerat ex multorum auctoritate conuentus, ne quid sibi temere praeter conscientiam cleri maioris assumeret, circumuentis paucissimis presbyteris, male acceptis his ac diuersae custodiae mancipatis, qui ad prohibendum cum litteris uenerant, exhibito etiam cum aliis Ostiensi episcopo, quem prope mortuum constat accitum (nam tractum esse nolentem senis aegritudo testatur), in locum sibi non debitum incustodito religionis ordine per ambitum proruisset: coepit factum suum per homines disciplinae inscios ac religionis ignaros indecenter tueri, aestimans humanis perturbationibus se confundere sententiam posse diuinam. (5) Et quoniam clementiam uestram constat falsidica relatione deceptam, ut nescio quid in iniuriam diuini iudicii sanciretis (nam diuinum est, quicquid tantorum confirmat electio), petimus pietatem uestram, ut remoueri priora constituta iubeatis atque Eulalium, qui in locum subrepsit alienum, ad comitatum perennitatis uestrae cum auctoribus suis debere deduci. Nos enim profitemur sanctum papam Bonifatium <cum> nostris consacerdotibus adfuturum. Relictis enim singulis per titulos presbyteris omnes aderunt, qui uoluntatem suam, hoc est dei iudicium, proloquantur. (6) Iubeat etiam uestra clementia omnes adesse, quos causa constringit, eici etiam ciuitate nolentes, qui se non patiuntur adduci. Inuenietis, cum coeperit agitari interna discussio, quod non solum diuinis legibus <ab>horreat uerum etiam displicere possit humanis, quo hoc consecuti agamus aeterno imperio uestro maximas atque uberes gratias.
 
(ed. Guenther 1895: 63-64)
(17)
The copy of the petition of the presbyters for Boniface
 
(1) We ask your clemency, oh the most pious and most clement emperors Honorius and Theodosius, perpetual Augusts! (2) After the death of holy Zosimus, the pope of the Catholic Church of the city of Rome we, numerous priests, gathered together according to the custom and the religious discipline in order to issue a common judgment on the appointment of the successor. The archdeacon Eulalius having blocked almost all the entrances occupied the Lateran Basilica together with deacons, very few presbyters, and the multitude of mob that was disregarding impiously the funeral of the highest priest. Therefore, on the next day we went to the church that had already been chosen by everyone to hold the gathering and there we elected the person whom God ordered [to elect] with the participation of the Christian people. (3) We accepted with the acclamation of all the people and with consent of the best citizens the venerable man Boniface, senior presbyter, most learned in the law and of proven good conduct, and what adorns him even more, he was unwilling [to be elected]. He was consecrated according to the order of the divine appointment. The ordination was celebrated on the proper time [i.e. on Sunday] and other things that are required by the solemnity [of the bishop's ordination] were fulfilled. More or less seventy presbyters subscribed to the election, and nine bishops from different provinces were also present. (4) But the above-mentioned Eulalius out of ambition rushed out to the position not due to him with disregard to the order of religion. He was earlier approached by three of our co-priests endowed with the authority of many, lest he assume daringly for himself [the episcopacy] against the will of the senior clergy. He, however, accompanied by very few presbyters, mistreated and detained in various custodies those who had come with letters prohibiting [the election]. Along with others the bishop of Ostia has been brought. He was summoned although almost dead, and the senility and illness attest that he was dragged there unwillingly. Eulalius started to defend his deed through the people not knowing the discipline and religion considering that he can confound the divine decision with the human disturbance. (5) And because it seems that your clemency has been duped by the false relation so that you have sanctioned this (I do not know how to call it) thing against the divine judgement (since the election is divine when it is confirmed by so many), we ask your Piety to order to annul the prior decisions and order Eulalius who secretly seized the position of someone else to come to the court of your Perpetuity along with his promoters. We profess that the holy pope Boniface will be there with our co-priests. Except of some presbyters that will remain in the titular churches, all will be there who expressed their will, that is the judgement of God. (6) Let Your Clemency order to come all those who are involved in this case, and to exile from the city all those who will not want to come and who will resist being brought forcibly. You will find out, since the internal strife starts to stir up, that it is abhorrent not only to the divine laws, but can also disgust the human ones. Having said that we give great and plentiful thanks to your eternal power.
 
(trans. M. Szada)

Discussion:

According to the Liber Pontificalis, Bishop Zosimus died on 26 December AD 418, two days after the installment of the new prefect Anicius Aurelius Symmachus. Zosimus's funeral took place in the basilica of San Lorenzo fuori le mura; after the obsequies Eulalius and his followers occupied the Lateran Basilica. They were probably waiting till Sunday (29 December) to ordain Eulalius there. The presbyters opposing Eulalius gathered in the church of Theodora (unidentified) and elected the presbyter Boniface as the next bishop. Boniface was later ordained in the titular church of Marcellus (titulus Marcelli, today's San Marcello in Corso; the present letter is the earliest mention of this church; Liber Pontificalis sets the ordination of Boniface in the basilica of Julius).
 
The schism was related to the Emperor Honorius by Symmachus in the letter from 29 December 418 [1298]. The emperor replied Symmachus on 3 January recognizing Eulalius as a valid bishop of Rome and ordering the exile of Boniface (see letter 15 in the Collectio Avellana). Symmachus fulfilled the orders of the emperor and Eulalius entered the basilica of St. Peter where he celebrated the Mass (see letter 16 in the Collectio Avellana).  Later, however, the party of Bonifatius sent the present petition to the emperor and obtained a favourable response (see [1340]).
 

Place of event:

Region
  • Rome

About the source:

Author: Anicius Aurelius Symmachus
Title: Collectio Avellana, Exemplum precum presbyterorum pro Bonifatio
Origin: Rome
Denomination: Catholic/Nicene/Chalcedonian
Collectio Avellana is a collection containing 244 letters issued by emperors, imperial magistrates and popes. The earliest item is dated to AD 367, the latest to AD 553. Hence, the compilator worked most probably in the second half of the 6th century. Two hundred documents of the Collectio are not known from any other collection. The editor of the Collectio, Günther noticed that it can be divided into five thematic parts (Gunther 1896: 3-96; Steinacker 1902: 14-15; Blaudeau 2013: 4):
1) no. 1-40 is an independent collection making use of the records of the prefecture of the city of Rome concerning two episcopal elections;
2) no. 41-50 that are derived from the records of the bishopric in Carthage, and consist of the letters of Innocentius I and Zosimus;
3) no. 51-55, the late letters of Leo I not known from any other source, regarding the exile of Bishop Timothy II of Alexandria;
4) no. 56-104 the group of letters from the pontificates of Simplicius, Gelasius, Symmachus, John, Agapet, and Vigilius;
5) no. 105-243 the letters from the records of Hormisdas.
 
The modern name of the collection derives from the codex Vaticanus Latinus 4961 copied in the monastery Sancti Crucis in fonte Avellana that was considered the oldest by the brothers Ballerini who edited the Collectio in 1787.
Edition:
O. Guenther ed., Epistolae Imperatorum Pontificum Aliorum Inde ab a. CCCLXVII usque DLIII datae Avellana Quae Dicitur Collectio, Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum 35/1, 35/2, Prague, Vienna, and Leipzig 1895
Bibliography:
S. Cristo, "Some notes on the Bonifacian-Eulalian Schism”, Aevum 51 (1977), 163–167.

Categories:

Writing activity - Correspondence
    Further ecclesiastical career - Bishop
    Described by a title - Presbyter/πρεσβύτερος
    Described by a title - Sacerdos/ἱερεύς
      Specific number of presbyters from the same church
        Ecclesiastical administration - Election of Church authorities
          Public law - Secular
            Reverenced by
            Relation with - Another presbyter
            Relation with - Bishop/Monastic superior
              Relation with - Monarch and royal/imperial family
                Relation with - Secular authority
                  Administration of justice - Secular
                    Legal practice
                      Education - Special skills
                      Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL: M. Szada, Presbyters in the Late Antique West, ER1339, http://www.presbytersproject.ihuw.pl/index.php?id=6&SourceID=1339