The Syriac Chronicle of Edessa recounts how the emperor Anastasius ordered the opening of the coffin of *Euphemia (martyr of Chalcedon, S00017) at Chalcedon (north-west Asia Minor, near Constantinople) in the year 511/512, in order to destroy the book deposited there by the council of Chalcedon; his attempt was miraculously thwarted. Written in Edessa, in second half of 6th c.
Evidence ID
E00084
Type of Evidence
Literary - Other narrative texts (including Histories)
Chronicle of Edessa 83
ܘܒܫܢܬ ܥܣܖ̈ܝܢ ܘܚܕܐ ܕܡܠܟܘܬܗ ܕܐܢܣܛܘܤ ܦܩܕ ܕܢܫܪܘܢ ܠܓܠܘܣܩܡܐ ܕܐܘܦܝܡܝܐ ܣܗܕܬܐ. ܘܢܦܩܘܢ ܡܢ ܬܡܢ ܟܬܒܐ ܗܘ̇ ܕܣܡܬ ܬܡܢ ܣܘܢܗܕܘܤ ܕܐܬܟܢܫܬ ܒܟܠܩܝܕܘܢܐ ܘܢܘܩܕܘܢܝܗܝ. ܘܢܦܩܬ ܡܢ ܬܡܢ ܢܘܪܐ ܘܡܚܬ ܥܠ ܐܦ̈ܝܗܘܢ ܕܗ̇ܢܘܢ ܕܨܒܝܢ ܗܘܘ ܕܢܦܩܘܢܝܗܝ. ܘܡܛܠ ܗܢܐ ܦܫ ܐܢܣܛܘܤ ܡܢ ܕܢܦܩܗ ܡܢ ܬܡܢ ܘܢܘܩܕܝܗ
And in the year twenty-one of the reign of Anastus [Anastasius], he commanded them to open the coffin of Euphemia the martyr, and to bring forth from thence the book which the synod that was assembled at Chalcedon had put there, and to burn it. And there came forth fire from there, and smote upon the faces of those who wished to bring it out, and because of this Anastus refrained from taking it away from there and burning it.
Text: Guidi 1903, 9. Translation: Cowper 1864, 36, lightly modified.
Cult PlacesBurial site of a saint - unspecified
MiraclesMiracle after death
RelicsMonarchs and their family
Burial site of a saint - unspecified
Burial site of a saint - sarcophagus/coffin
MiraclesMiracle after death
Miraculous behaviour of relics/images
Power over elements (fire, earthquakes, floods, weather)
Miraculous intervention in issues of doctrine
RelicsBodily relic - entire body
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesMonarchs and their family
Ecclesiastics – unspecified
Source
The Chronicle of Edessa is a collection of mainly short entries, most of which are related to the history of the city of Edessa. It is an original Syriac composition, produced in the second half of the 6th century by a pro-Chalcedonian Syriac-speaking author.Syriac text: Guidi 1903, vol. 1, 1-13; English translation: Cowper 1864, 30-39; German translation: Hallier 1892, 84-138; Russian translation: Пигулевская 1959. For general information, see van Rompay 2011; Witakowski 1986.
Discussion
Deviating from his regular pattern, the author of the Chronicle of Edessa presents here an account that does not deal with the history of Edessa. According to this story, in the year 511/512 the Roman emperor Anastasius ordered the "coffin" (Syr. gluskma, from Gr. γλωσσόκομον) of *Euphemia in the city of Chalcedon, presumably her sarcophagus, to be opened in order to destroy the book containing the creed of Chalcedon that was supposedly deposited there. His attempt, however, was miraculously thwarted as fire broke out of the coffin and chased the perpetrators away.This account is aimed against the religious policy of the emperor Anastasius I (491-518), who supported the Monophysite ecclesiastical party. For more information on the religious policy of Anastasius, see Capizzi 1969, pp. 100-137; Frend 1972, pp. 190-220; Charanis 1974. There is, however, good reason to doubt the historical value of this narrative, as no other independent ancient source confirms it. It must have originated in the pro-Chalcedonian circles that opposed Anastasius' policy. Although this story is attested so far only in the Chronicle of Edessa, it seems more likely that it originated in a Greek-speaking milieu and later on reached the pro-Chalcedonian Christians of Byzantine Syria. It should be regarded as a specimen of pro-Chalcedonian propaganda in a Syriac-speaking milieu, which purports to present the popular saint Euphemia as defender of the Chalcedonian Christology.
In what concerns its literary genesis, the account in the Chronicle of Edessa appears to be the earliest witness for the well-attested hagiographic legend about the miracle of the confirmation of the Definition of Chalcedon by Euphemia. According to this legend, during the Fourth Ecumenical council, which assembled in 451 in the nave of the church of Euphemia in the town of Chalcedon on the east side of the Bosporus opposite Constantinople, the saint's relics were used in order to adjudicate between the Chalcedonian and Monophysite doctrinal formulae. Representatives of each party, i.e. of the patriarchs Anatolius of Constantinople and Dioscorus of Alexandria, produced a document presenting its Christological position and these were placed inside the coffin of Euphemia so that God would reveal which of them was according to His will. After some time, when the coffin was opened, the Monophysite document was found at the saint's feet, whereas she stretched forward her right hand with the "orthodox," i.e. Chalcedonian, one in it, marking her clear approval.
This legend developed in Chalcedonian circles, where Euphemia was considered to be the patron saint of the council, presumably because it assembled in the church dedicated to her. In Greek it is attested only in considerably later Byzantine works, from the eighth century on (cf. Constantine of Tios, Invention of the Relics of St Euphemia 9 [ed. Halkin 1965, pp. 93-95]; Synaxarion of Constantinople, July 11 [ed. Delehaye 1902, col. 813]; John Zonaras, Epitome XIII.25 [ed. Dindorf 1868-1875, vol. 3, pp. 248-249]). However the testimony of the Chronicle of Edessa of the later sixth century, with its story of the Acts of the Council within the saint's coffin, shows that a version of the legend must have been circulating earlier. For more information on Euphemia as the patron of Chalcedon and on this particular legend, see Schneider 1951.
Apparently, the legend echoes the doctrinal negotiations that were conducted by Anatolius during October 451, which resulted in the Chalcedonian definition. As has been suggested by scholars, it developed on the basis of the real acts of the Council (see Halkin 1965, p. 95, n. 1). There, in a letter of Patriarch Anatolius to Pope Leo, the former relates that after the final document with the Chalcedonian definition had been approved in the presence of the emperor during the sixth session of the council, it was placed on the altar in the church of Euphemia, whom the patriarch describes as "our protectress" (tr. Price & Gaddis 1995, vol. 3, pp. 139-140).
Bibliography
Editions and translations:Guidi, I., Chronica minora, Pars prior. 2 vols (CSCO Syr. III.4; Paris: Typographeo Reipublicae, 1903).
Cowper, B.H., “Selections from the Syriac. No. I: The Chronicle of Edessa,” Journal of Sacred Literature and Biblical Record NS V, 9 (1864), 28-45.
Hallier, L., Untersuchungen über die Edessenische Chronik, mit dem Syrischen Text und einer Übersetzung (Texte und Untersuchungen zur Geschichte der altchristlichen Literatur 9.1; Leipzig: J.C. Hinrichs, 1892).
Пигулевская, Н.В., “Эдесская хроника,” Палестинский сборник 4 [67] (1959), 79-96. [reprinted in: Пигулевская, Н.В., Сирийская средневековая историография. Исследования и переводы (С.-Петербург: ДмитрийБуланин , 2000), 468-476.
Further reading:
Capizzi, C., L’Imperatore Anastasio I (491‒518). Studio sulla sua vita, la sua opera e la sua personalità (Orientalia Christiana Analecta 184; Roma: Pontificium Institutum Orientalium Studiorum, 1969).
Charanis, P., Church and State in the Later Roman Empire: The Religious Policy of Anastasius the First, 491-513 (Βυζαντινά Κείμενα και Μελέται 11; 2nd ed.; Θεσσαλονίκη: Κέντρον Βυζαντινών Ερευνών, 1974).
Delehaye, H. (ed.), Synaxarium ecclesiae Constantinopolitanae e codice Sirmondiano nunc Berolinensi adiectis synaxariis selectis (Propylaeum ad Acta Sanctorum, Novembris; Bruxelles: Société des Bollandistes, 1902).
Dindorf, L. (ed.), Ioannis Zonarae Epitome Historiarum. 6 vols (Bibliotheca scriptorum Graecorum et Romanorum Teubneriana; Lipsiae: B.G. Teubner, 1868-1875).
Frend, W.H.C., The Rise of the Monophysite Movement: Chapters in the History of the Church in the Fifth and Sixth Centuries (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1972).
Halkin, F., Euphémie de Chalcédoine: légendes byzantines (Subsidia Hagiographica 41; Bruxelles: Société des Bollandistes, 1965).
Price, R.M., and Gaddis, J.M. (trs.), The Acts of the Council of Chalcedon. 3 vols (Translated Texts for Historians 45; Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 2005).
Schneider, A.M., “Sankt Euphemia und das Konzil von Chalkedon,” in: A. Grillmeier and H. Bacht (eds.), Das Konzil von Chalkedon: Geschichte und Gegenwart. 3 vols. (Würzburg: Echter-Verlag, 1951), vol. 1, 291-302.
van Rompay, L., “Chronicle of Edessa,” in: S.P. Brock, A.M. Butts, G.A. Kiraz and L. van Rompay (eds.), Gorgias Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Syriac Heritage (Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias Press, 2011), 97-98.
Witakowski, W., “Chronicles of Edessa,” in: T. Kronholm and E. Riad (eds.), On the Dignity of Man: Oriental and Classical Studies on Honour of Frithiof Rundgren (Orientalia Suecana 33-35; Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell, 1986), 487-498.
Record Created By
Sergey Minov
Date of Entry
11/11/2014
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00017 | Euphemia, martyr of Chalcedon | Euphemia | Certain |
|---|
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