The Emperor at the Council. Imperial Interventions in Late Antique Church Councils in Literary Sources and Documentary Records
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Luisa Andriollo
Abstract
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.
© 2021 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin/Boston
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Articles in the same Issue
- Titelseiten
- Inhalt
- Titel
- Inhalt
- Abkürzungen (Editionen, Zeitschriften, Reihen, Nachschlagewerke)
- Barbatoriam facere. Distinktion und Transgression in der römischen Kaiserzeit
- The Death of Mani in Retrospect
- The Origin and Evolution of Early Christian and Byzantine Universal Historiography
- Natural Disasters and Time: Non-eschatological Perceptions of Earthquakes in Late Antique and Medieval Historiography
- The Emperor at the Council. Imperial Interventions in Late Antique Church Councils in Literary Sources and Documentary Records
- Frühbyzantinische Kreuzdiskurse des 6. und 7. Jahrhunderts und ihre Rezeption in Konstantinopel, Kappadokien und im Westen
- A Hidden Agenda of Imperial Appropriation and Power Play? Iconological Considerations Concerning Apse Images and Their Role in the Iconoclast Controversy
- Diskretion bis Verschleierung. Der Weg zur byzantinischen Anerkennung des Kaisertums von Karl dem Großen, vor allem im Spiegel diplomatischer Aktivitäten 802–812
- The Abbey of Werden on the Frankish-Saxon Frontier. The Depictions of Landscapes and Emotions in the vita Gregorii and the vitae Liudgeri
- A New Edition of the De cerimoniis: No Longer a ‘geteiltes Dossier’?
- Das ‚Schisma von 1054‘ als mikro- und makrohistorisches Ereignis. Überlegungen zu einem theologisch-kirchenpolitischen Erklärungsmodell
