The Presbyters Project

125. [in Coll. Avell.]

EXEMPLUM SACRAE ANASTASII AUGUSTI HORMISDAE PAPAE. PER ENNODIUM ET FORTUNATUM EPISCOPOS UENANTIUM PRESBYTERUM UITALEM DIACONUM ET HILARUM NOTARIUM.

Gratias omnipotenti deo referimus, quod sanctitas uestra disciplinis caelestibus instituta, sicut poposcimus, legatos fidei Ennodium et Fortunatum uenerabiles episcopos sed etiam uiros religiosos Uenantium presbyterum Uitalem diaconum et Hilarum notarium, quales poscebat causae sublimitas, destinauit, qui negotii magnitudinem implere possint ecclesiastici luce sermonis quique operante deo omnia subtiliter requirentes, quae ad rectam et ueram Christianorum pertinent fidem, et ipsi sicut decuit declararunt et a nobis sicut oportuit agnouerunt, quia una est ecclesia dei apostolicis ubique firmata doctrinis. [...]

In what follows, Anastasius gives a profession of faith along with a condemnation of Nestorius and Eutyches. Further he confirms the decisions of the Council of Chalcedon, which are irrevocable. He cannot, however, condemn Acacius and others whom the Pope demanded him to condemn, because it would harm the peace of the Church.

(ed. Guenther 1895: 537-540)

125.

A COPY OF THE HOLY LETTER OF THE EMPEROR ANASTASIUS TO POPE HORMISDAS [CARRIED BY] BISHOPS ENNODIUS AND FORTUNATUS, THE PRESBYTER VENANTIUS, THE DEACON VITALIS AND THE NOTARY HILARUS.

We give thanks to God, because Your Sanctity, instructed in the divine knowledge, has sent, as we asked, the faithful legates - the venerable Bishops Ennodius and Fortunatus, but also the religious men, the Presbyter Venantius, the Deacon Vitalis, and the Notary Hilarus, who could fulfill such a great task accordingly to the delicacy of the case, with the light of the ecclesiastical speech and with the help of God looking subtly for everything which regards the rightful and true faith of the Christians. They, as it is proper, declared, and they also heard from us that there is one Church of God founded upon the Apostolic doctrine. [...]

(trans. and summary by M. Szada)

Place of event:

Region

East
East
Rome

City

Constantinople
Constantinople

About the source:

Author: Anastasius
Title: Collectio Avellana, Letters, Epistulae, Formula Hormisdae
Origin: Constantinople (East)
Denomination: Catholic/Nicene/Chalcedonian

Hormisdas was a bishop of Rome from 514 until his death in 523. During his pontificate he managed to resolve the Acacian Schism (see the discussion in [1581]) in 519. The present letter is a response to Pope Hormisdas sent by his legates sent to Constantinople in AD 515 (see [1639] and [1640]).

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

A. Thiel ed., Epistolae Romanorum Pontificum genuinae et quae ad eos scriptae sunt a s. Hilaro usque ad Pelagium II, vol. 1, Brunsberga 1868

Bibliography:

P. Blaudeau, "Un point de contact entre collectio Avellana et collectio Thessalonicensis?”, Millennium Yearbook / Millenium Jahrbuch 10 (2013), 1–12.

O. Guenther, Avellana-Studien, Wien 1896.

O. Guenther, "Zu den Gesta de nomine Acacii”, Byzantinische Zeitschrift 3 (1894), 146–149.

D. Moreau, "Les actes pontificaux comme sources des historiens et des chroniqueurs de l'Antiquité tardive", in: L'historiographie tardo-antique et la transmission des savoirs, ed. P. van Nuffelen, P. Blaudeau, Millenium-Studien 55, Berlin, Boston 2015, 23-54.

H. Steinacker, "Ueber das älteste päpstliche Registerwesen”, Mitteilungen des Instituts für Österreichische Geschichtsforschung 23 (1902), 1–49.

Categories:

Travel and change of residence

PR246.

Described by a title - Presbyter/πρεσβύτερος

PR246.

Ecclesiastical administration - Ecclesiastical envoy

PR246.

Reverenced by

PR246.

Relation with - Bishop/Monastic superior

PR246.

Relation with - Deacon

PR246.

Relation with - Lower cleric

PR246.

Relation with - Monarch and royal/imperial family

PR246.

Education

PR246.

Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL: M. Szada, Presbyters in the Late Antique West, ER1644, http://www.presbytersproject.ihuw.pl/index.php?id=6&SourceID=1644