Roman Letters

Innocent

bishop of Rome (Pope Innocent I)|?-417 AD|Rome
Pope Innocent I was bishop of Rome from 401 to 417, one of the most assertive early advocates of Roman primacy and papal authority over the wider Church. He guided the see of Rome through the catastrophe of Alaric's sack of the city in 410, condemned Pelagianism after the African councils referred the matter to him (prompting Augustine's famous formulation often summarized as 'Roma locuta, causa finita'), and intervened forcefully on behalf of the exiled John Chrysostom against the see of Constantinople. His surviving decretal letters, which articulate Rome's claim to be the final court of appeal in disputed Church matters, made him a foundational figure in the development of the medieval papacy.
0
Letters sent
5
Letters received
5
Total letters
4
Correspondents

Top correspondents

Innocent I2Basil of Caesarea1Pope Gregory the Great1Jerome1

All letters (5)

←
From Basil of Caesareac. 362 AD

I was delighted to receive the letter your affection sent me; but I am equally grieved at your having laid on me the load of a responsibility which is more than I can carry. How can I, so far removed as I am, undertake so great a charge? As long as the Church possesses you, it rests as it were on its proper buttress.

basil caesarea #81←
From Jeromec. 370 AD

Not only the first of the letters but probably the earliest extant composition of Jerome (c. 370 A.D.). Innocent, to whom it is addressed, was one of the little band of enthusiasts whom Jerome gathered round him in Aquileia.

jerome #1←
From Innocent Ic. 404 AD

John, Bishop of Constantinople, to Pope Innocent I.

innocent i #7←
From Innocent Ic. 413 AD

EriSCOPORUM QUINQUE to INNOCENTIUM PAPAM.

innocent i #26←
From Pope Gregory the Greatc. 600 AD

The lucid eloquence of your Eminence, seasoned with the honey of the heart, has so infused its savour into our inmost soul, and ravished us with love of it, that both what you write sounds sweet, and what you do has a pleasant savour; nor this without good cause, since one who is accomplished in good studies is great in the eye of judgment, and ...

gregory great #10037