Letter 233

From: Unknown correspondent To: Pope Hormisdas, Rome (Justinian/Justin) 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 Justinani imperatorem. De fide promissorum ejus nunquam se dubitasse sigm/kaU Hormisda:^) Justino Augusto. Benedicta Trinitas Deus noster^ qui vobis gubemacula commisit mundani imperii, quibus non solum pro jure regni yeneratio debe- retur^ verum etiam pro gloriosi modestia et integritate propositi. cp. 126. Vere enim glorificamus Deum, lectis vestrae pietatis apicibus^, qoi- bus promissae legationis moram pro infirmitate ejus^ qui dirigendns fueraty excusando luce clarius reddidistis^ quam curam fidei et pudo- ris haberetiS; ostendentes, rerum summam regentibus non sufficere ad dominationis apicem quam obtinent potestatem^ nisi omamenta morum pretiosiorem faciant principatum. Servet circa vos, clejnen- tissime imperator^ Deus noster beneficia sua^ et respiciens bona vestra^ largiatur aetema! Nec nos tamen momordit ulla suspicio, aut implendi tarditatem promissi de^) mutatione credidimus evenisse consilii. Nefas enim erat de ejus verbis qualibet sollicitudine dubi- tari; cujus fidem in magnis rebus datum est tam evidenter agnosci. Redeunte igitur filio nostro spectabili viro Eulogio tribuno et notario. cultum debitae salutationis exsolvimus^ Deo magno continuis preci- bus supplicantes, ut qui vestro studio per infideles vulnera impacta curavit, aevo vobis per longiora tempora propagato^ unitatem Ecde- siae redditam ex omni quoque faciat parte securam. Data lY Ca- lendas Novembris, Rustico viro clarissimo consule.