The Presbyters Project

Print:

ER 1634

A letter of Pope Hormisdas to the Emperor Anastasius is carried to Constantinople by the papal legacy consisting of Bishops Ennodius of Pavia and Fortunatus of Catania, the Presbyter Venantius, the Deacon Vitalis, and the notary Hilarus, AD 515. Letter 8 of Hormisdas, "Bene atque utiliter" (= Letter 115 included in the Collectio Avellana compiled in the second half of the 6th c.).

115. [in Coll. Avell.]

HORMISDA ANASTASIO AUGUSTO. PER ENNODIUM ET FORTUNATUM EPISCOPOS UENANTIUM PRESBYTERUM UITALEM DIACONUM ET HILARUM NOTARIUM.

Hormisdas replies to the letters of Anastasius announcing the convocation of the council in Heraclea in Thrace that was supposed to discuss the recent doctrinal discussions in Scythia (see discussion in [1507]). The pope accepts the idea of such council and sends his delegation but makes a condition that the council shall condemn Nestorius and Eutyches, confirm the doctrine of Chalcedon, and to condemn the memory of Dioscorus, Timothy Aelurus, and Peter Mongus in Alexandria, Acacius in Constantinople, and Peter the Fuller in Antioch.

12. Suscipite preces nostras per Ennodium atque Fortunatum fratres et coepiscopos nostros nec non Uenantium presbyterum atque Uitalem diaconum uel Hilarum notarium filios nostros, quorum apud nos fides in dei timore studiumque perclaruit, pro uestro amore transmissas et placidam uice nostra supplicantibus conscientiam commodate! 13. Speramus enim et de deo habentes fiduciam pollicemur studia, quae a uobis uerae religioni impensa fuerint, sine retributione et praemio non futura.

Data III. Id. Aug. Florentio u. c. cons.

(ed. Guenther 1895: 510-513)

115.

HORMISDAS TO THE EMPEROR ANASTASIUS. THROUGH BISHOPS ENNODIUS AND FORTUNATUS, THE PRESBYTER VENANTIUS, THE DEACON VITALIS, AND THE NOTARY HILARUS.

Hormisdas replies to the letters of Anastasius announcing the convocation of the council in Heraclea in Thrace that was supposed to discuss the recent doctrinal issues in Scythia (see discussion in [1507]). The pope accepts the idea of such council and sends his delegation but makes a condition that the council shall condemn Nestorius and Eutyches, confirm the doctrine of Chalcedon, and to condemn the memory of Dioscorus, Timothy Aelurus, and Peter Mongus in Alexandria, Acacius in Constantinople, and Peter the Fuller in Antioch.

12. Please receive our petition sent to you for the sake of your love by our brothers Bishops Ennodius and Fortunatus, and our sons the Presbyter Venantius, the Deacon Vitalis, and the Notary Hilarus, whose faith full of the fear of God and their efforts is well-known to us. Oh, give your gentle approval to them who are asking this on our behalf! Because we hope and having faith in God we promise that the endeavours in which you put so much effort for the true religion will be rewarded, and certainly will not be without a recompense.

(trans. M. Szada)

Place of event:

Region

Rome
East

City

Constantinople

About the source:

Author: Hormisdas
Title: Collectio Avellana, Letters, Epistulae
Origin: Rome
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 concerned with the papal legacy to the emperor is a part of efforts to reconcile again the sees of Rome and Constantinople which were not in communion since 484.

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.

Relation with - Bishop/Monastic superior

PR246.

Relation with - Deacon

PR246.

Relation with - Monarch and royal/imperial family

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, ER1634, http://presbytersproject.ihuw.pl/index.php?id=6&SourceID=1634