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ER 1665

Letter of the Emperor Justin to Pope Hormisdas sent through the papal legates Bishops Germanus and John, the Deacons Felix and Dioscorus, and the presbyter Blandus, on the conditions of the reconciliation between Rome and the Eastern bishoprics, AD 520. Letter 116 in the collection of the letters of Hormisdas "Summa quidem" (= letter 192 included in the Collectio Avellana compiled in the second half of the 6th c.).

192. [in Coll. Avell.]

IUSTINUS AUGUSTUS HORMISDAE PAPAE. NOSTROS PER LEGATOS ID EST GERMANUM IOHANNEM EPISCOPOS FELICEM DIOSCORUM DIACONOS ET BLANDUM PRESBYTERUM.

1. Summa quidem habenda uobis est gratia, quod alacrem operam non dubitatis impendere ad colligendas adunandasque uenerabiles ecclesias, uerum in ea praelucet maxime perfecta sollertia, quod homines adoptatis, qui uoto beniuolo tuae sanctitudinis sincero ac integro possint animo deseruire. 2. Germanus siquidem reuerentissimus episcopus nec non Felix et Dioscorus et Blandus uiri religiosissimi tanta semet praebuerunt adtentos industria ac in tanta sapientia uersati sunt, ut, quantum ad officium eorum pertinet, transactis in plenum et elaboratis omnibus nihil altercationis superesset ulterius.

In what follows, however, the emperor asks the Pope for more leniency. In the libellus which the Pope demanded to sign from all the Eastern bishops in order to return to the communion, there was a requirement to condemn as heretics many bishops who are held in great esteem in the Eastern cities. The emperor asks the Pope to allow those Churches in which these bishops ruled and are well-remembered, to refrain from this condemnation. As the papal legates cannot change anything in the libellus without the consent of the Pope, the emperor sends them back to Rome and promises to also send his own legate shortly afterwards. The letter is dated to the 7th day before the Ides of July in the year of consulship of Vitalianus and Rusticius (i.e. 9 July AD 520).

(ed. Guenther 1895: 649-650; summary by M. Szada)

192. [in Coll. Avell.]

JUSTIN THE EMPEROR TO POPE HORMISDAS THROUGH OUR LEGATES, THAT IS, BISHOPS GERMANUS AND JOHN, DEACONS FELIX AND DIOSCORUS AND THE PRESBYTER BLANDUS.

1. You shall have the highest grace because you do not hestitate in undertaking an immediate task of gathering and uniting the venerable Churches. Truly, your perfect care shines most in the fact that you chose the people who could serve with sincere and wholly devoted minds to the benevolent purpose of Your Sanctity. 2. Since indeed, the most reverent bishop Germanus as well as Felix, Dioscorus, and Blandus, the most religious men, with such industry apply themselves to this task and they act with such wisdom that in respect to what pertains to their office, they have performed and worked out everything in full, leaving nothing more to discuss.

(trans. and summary M. Szada)

Discussion:

The name of Bishop John is wrongly introduced (probably by the scribe or compilator) in the title of the letter. Bishop John remained in Constantinople because of illness and departed only in September (see Letter 232 in Coll. Avell.).

Place of event:

Region

East
Rome

City

Constantinople

About the source:

Author: Hormisdas
Title: Collectio Avellana, Epistulae, Letters
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.

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

PR247.

Former ecclesiastical career - Deacon

PR247.

Described by a title - Presbyter/πρεσβύτερος

PR247.

Ecclesiastical administration - Ecclesiastical envoy

PR247.

Reverenced by

PR247.

Relation with - Bishop/Monastic superior

PR247.

Relation with - Monarch and royal/imperial family

PR247.

Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL: M. Szada, Presbyters in the Late Antique West, ER1665, http://www.presbytersproject.ihuw.pl/index.php?id=6&SourceID=1665