MORAL AND LEGAL ASPECTS OF MONASTIC LAND OWNERSHIP IN THE CONSECRATION BY PRINCE-MONK VASSIAN PATRIKEEV

The article analyzes the journalistic activity of the famous Russian medieval publicist, Prince-monk Vassian (Patrikeev). The article presents and analyzes his main arguments against the contemporary practice of monastic farms, which extended the right of ownership to large land plots. Vassian builds his argument against the patrimonial rights of monasteries - religious and theoretical argument (the Gospel commandments), historical argument (examples of ancient saints), and also complements it with canonical arguments, references to the decisions of church councils.

The Emperor at the Council. Imperial Interventions in Late Antique Church Councils in Literary Sources and Documentary Records

This paper examines the modes of imperial interactions with Church councils, focusing on the emperor’s participation in episcopal meetings and its representation in late antique sources, both literary and documentary. The author argues that the availability and strategic dissemination of conciliar records could affect, for better or worse, the understanding of the imperial religious policy and attitude towards Church institutions. This is most clearly illustrated by Marcian’s behaviour at Chalcedon, and by the active steps he took to produce an official and imperially endorsed edition of the conciliar acts. The significance of Marcian’s initiatives emerges more clearly when placed in the context of developing practices with respect to conciliar procedure (and the imperial role therein) and the circulation of conciliar information. After considering possible precedents in both these fields, the article reconstructs the early circulation and reception of the Chalcedonian acts, focusing particularly on the records of the sixth session, which was presided by the emperor himself. The author discusses the role played by the imperial initiative at the council and in its aftermath, and how it contributed to shape the reception of Marcian’s image as a Christian ruler.

The Earliest Church Councils

This chapter offers a historical survey of conciliar documentation in its varied forms, starting from the earliest gatherings in councils or synods in the second century, and leading up to the sixth century; some particularly illuminating later examples are also included. After a discussion of the mostly indirect and piecemeal transmission of relevant documents from the earlier centuries, the examination identifies the key sources for the present study: the sets of acts containing records that present the interactions of participants during the sessions in purported direct speech. Such records survive mainly from a period beginning in the early fifth century.

Introduction

The Introduction outlines the key aims of the study, discusses relevant scholarship, and develops the methodology to be employed. In scholarship, council acts have often been used simply as source material for thematic studies, or their examination has been determined principally by editorial concerns. By contrast, the present study analyses the importance of council records as fundamental expression of the councils’ purposes and claims to legitimacy. It brings into scholarly focus the regularly neglected work of administrators and textual practitioners in ancient church councils responsible for the creation of such records, and relates their efforts to practices and concerns in the sphere of civil and legal administration. Council acts need to be understood as the products of distinct practices, in view of their underlying intentions and objectives, and with respect to the material reality of the documents created and handled. Discussions and examinations of conciliar documents, and instructions for their making in the councils themselves, provide the starting points for this investigation.

The Acts of the Early Church Councils

The present study examines the acts of ancient church councils as the objects of textual practices, in their editorial shaping and in their material conditions. The book analyses the purposes and expectations governing and inscribed into the use and creation of these acts. It traces the processes of their production, starting from the recording of spoken interventions during a meeting, to the preparation of minutes of individual sessions, to their collection into larger units, their storage, and the earliest attempts at their dissemination. It contends that the preparation of ‘paperwork’ is central to the work of a council, and much of its effectiveness resides in the relevant textual and bureaucratic processes. As council leaders and administrators paid careful attention to the creation of a ‘proper’ record suited to their requirements, they also scrutinized documents and records of previous occasions with equal attention and inspected document features meant to assure and project validity and authority. From the evidence of such examinations the study further reconstructs the textual and physical characteristics of ancient conciliar documents and the criteria of their assessment. Papyrological evidence and contemporary legal regulations are used to contextualize these efforts. The book seeks to demonstrate that scholarly attention to the production processes, character, and material conditions of council acts is essential to their understanding, and to any historical and theological research into the councils of the ancient church.

I. The Threefold Summons at Late Antique Church Councils

The threefold summons of an absent defendant in the context of synodal proceedings – which had been admittedly formed by influence from the respective process in Roman law – is an important component of the ecclesiastical judicial procedure. In this paper I examine in detail all the extensive narratives of threefold summonses preserved in conciliar acts of the fifth and sixth centuries, that is, the cases of Nestorius of Constantinople and John of Antioch at the council of Ephesus (431), the case of the archimandrite Eutyches at the Resident Synod of Constantinople (448), the case of Athanasius of Perrhe at the local synods of Hierapolis (early 440s) and Antioch (445) as well as at the Council of Chalcedon (451), the case of Dioscorus of Alexandria at the Council of Chalcedon, and the case of Anthimus of Constantinople at the Resident Synod of Constantinople (536). In the final part I proceed to an assessment of this process’ evolution over the period in question. The principal conclusion is that by the time of Justinian the ecclesiastical threefold summons procedure had become consolidated and systematised.

The extra Calvinisticum from the Marburg Colloquy to the Consensus Tigurinus

This chapter investigates the historical and theological development of the extra Calvinisticum from the Marburg Colloquy (1529) to the Consensus Tigurinus (1549). During this period, the proponents of the emerging Reformed tradition expanded the theological basis for the extra by incorporating additional arguments from Scripture, the church councils, and the church fathers. First, the chapter investigates the debate at the Marburg Colloquy demonstrating that the christological divergence between Zwingli and Luther was rooted not only in theological and hermeneutical method but also in the doctrines of God and anthropology. The chapter analyzes Zwingli’s final works, Fidei Ratio and Fidei Expositio, in which he presents a more robust understanding of the hypostatic union. The final section addresses the Consensus Tigurinus, written by Heinrich Bullinger and John Calvin, which offers the confessionalization of the extra in the Reformed tradition and effectively marks the definitive parting of ways within Protestantism over the Lord’s Supper.

International Politics and the Greek-Latin Union at the European Church Councils in the First Half of the 15th Century

Introduction. The article is aimed at studying the negotiations on the Greek-Latin Church Union at the Church Councils in Constance (1414–1418) and Basel (1431–1449), which were the predecessors of the Council of Ferrara-Florence (1438–1439) in this matter. Since they were generated by internal processes in the Latin West, they originally had not direct relationship to Byzantium. Methods and materials. The reason for the appeal of Councils to the problem of the Church Union should be sought in the field of Western international policy. It acted here as a tool for solving political problems by different actors. Analysis. At the Council of Constance the discussion of the Greek-Latin Union was initiated by Poland and Lithuania, who used it as a means of political propaganda against the Teutonic Order. The Council of Basel subsequently entered into direct negotiations with Byzantium. The reason for this was at first internecine strife in the Duchy of Lithuania, which interfered with Poland, the Teutonic Order and King Sigismund. The Council initiated consideration of the Church Union in order to support the Lithuanian Duke Švitrigaila in the struggle for the throne. As a result Byzantium was included also in the negotiations with the Council of Basel. But in 1435 Švitrigaila was defeated in the clash with Poland and its ally Duke Sigismund Kęstutaitis. This defeat undermined the influence of Sigismund of Luxembourg at the Council of Basel. The King began his rapprochement with the Pope and Venice, and the Council of Basel was influenced by their political rivals, such as Milan and France. The theme of the Church Union at the Council became an instrument of struggle for political interests between these groups of political subjects. As a result, the struggle led to sharp disputes over the choice of the place for the Greek-Latin Council. The main options were Italy and French Avignon. The Byzantines chose the first option. But Byzantium was not the subject of the policy that created the situation of this choice. In the West this policy has led to significant changes. Results. The results of the negotiations on the Church Union at the Council of Basel displayed the fall of the role of imperial policy in the Latin West, which was represented by the King and Emperor Sigismund Luxembourg. The Empire was losing control of Italy. The result was the withdrawal of the papacy from its influence and the strengthening of Venice. Their union stood behind the Council of Ferrara-Florence. Outside Italy this Council has not received recognition.

BAPTISMAL RENUNCIATION AND THE MORAL REFORM OF CHARLEMAGNE'S CHRISTIAN EMPIRE

The renunciation of the devil in the rite of baptism appears in high frequency in baptismal expositions, royal capitularies, acts of church councils, and popular sermons during the later reign of Charlemagne. Close examination of these sources demonstrates a discourse of reform that centers on the proper life and conduct of Christians. In reply to Charlemagne's questions in his encyclical letter on baptism, authors of baptismal expositions commonly expounded baptismal renunciation as a symbol of Christians’ moral conversion. Charlemagne projected his deep solicitude for the life and conduct of ecclesiastics of his realm on the issue of the renunciation of the devil in two capitularies of 811. Archbishop Leidrad of Lyon elaborated his exposition on baptismal renunciation in his second letter of reply to Charlemagne on baptism, which preserves a sample of how an ecclesiastical leader responded to the emperor's reform concerns. Several popular sermons from the later reign of Charlemagne reveal how the moralistic discourse of the renunciation of the devil was disseminated to common Christians. Baptismal renunciation was part of the rhetoric of Charlemagne's empire, and various modes of communication that involved the agency of multiple parties made it a totalizing discourse of reform.