Letter 216

From: Unknown correspondent To: Pope Hormisdas, Rome (Epiphanius, Constantinople, bishops) 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.]

Hormisdae papae ad Epiphanium episcopum Constantino- m ^i) politanum* L6. Arguit eum, guod ordinationem suam occasione data missis legatis ipsi noiam non fecerit, et ut veterem hunc morem non praetermittat , hortaiur. Hormisda Epiphanio Constantinopolitano episcopo. * Diu nos^) nuntiata tuae primordia dignitatis tenuere suspen- sos^ et in ipsa communis gratulatione laetitiae mirati admodum sumus morem pristinum fuisse neglectum*, quia reparata ecclesiarum Deo annuente concordia, plenum fratemae pacis id flagitabat offi- cium, praesertim quod sibi^) non arrogantia personalis, sed regula- ') Scil. Justini quae supra cpist. 108; Justiniani autem epistola simul an- nexa deperiit. ') Hoc est contentionis : quod de ScythiB monachis dictum, quorum in ver- borum novitatc procaciam ita arguit, ut nusquam cis haereticae labis notam innrat. Comelium (Com. epist. 2 u. .3): Quod autem scripta coUegarum nostrorum, qui illic ordinationi tuae adfuerant, desideravimus , non veteres mores obliti, novum aliquid quaerebamus. Nam saiis erat, ut tu te episcopum factis Hiteris nuntiares, nisi essct ex diverso discrepans faciio , quae , . . plurimorum mentes turbaret, Sed novas quas- dam leges majoris cautionis crgo tompus iuduxit, ct a diversis sedibus diversa BPISTOLAE BOMAN. PONTIF. I. 58 (a.520.)rum observantia vindicabat. Decuerat siquidem^ frater carissimey te legatos ad apostolicam sedem inter ipsa tui pontificatus initia destinasse, ut et quem tibi debeamus affectum bene cognosceres, et vetustae consuetudinis formam rite compleres. Sed licet his omissis paginalia tantum sufficere judicasses ex occasione coUoquia^ nos tamen gratia stimulante^) compulsi^ interim justae constantiam ex- spectationis abrumpimuS; reciproca mutuae caritatis verba reddentes: quia et noster animus amoris impatienS; et legatorum nostromm Yotiva relatio^) exclusum^ quod imperabat causa, silentium adofficia benigna traxerunt, quibus ad praesens gaudii nostri signa monstra- mus et privatae quodammodo araicitiae^) votiva persolvimus. Lega- tionem autem tuam et ea qua dudum gratia sustinemus^ et fulti veteribus constitutis exigimus^ ut quantum gaudii fructum vel de tui pontificatus honore capiamus, vel quas tibi gratdas referri con- veniat pro impensis in negotio propagandae unitatis officiiS; sicat nostrorum multipliciter adstruxit legatorum narratio^ exprimamus evidentius.