Anatolius, Bishop of Constantinople, writing in Constantinople in 451, presents *Euphemia (martyr of Chalcedon, S00017) as protecting the Council of Chalcedon (north-west Asia Minor, near Constantinople). Letter to Pope Leo the Great, surviving only in Greek.
E05487
Documentary texts - Letters
Leo the Great (pope)
Letter from Anatolius, bishop of Constantinople, to Pope Leo I (= Leo, Letter 101; JH 1006)
Extract from a letter of Anatolius of Constantinople to Pope Leo
[...] μετὰ προσευχῆς καὶ δακρύων, συμπαρούσης ἡμῖν τῶι πνεύματι καὶ συμπραττούσης καὶ διὰ τῶν αὐτόθεν ἀποσταλέντων θεοφιλεστάτων ἀνδρῶν τῆς σῆς ὁσιότητος, ἔχοντες ὑπερασπίζουσαν τὴν ἁγιωτάτην καὶ καλλίνικον Εὐφημίαν τὴν μάρτυρα, τῶι σωτηρίωι τούτωι ἑαυτούς ἅπαντες μετὰ πάσης σχολῆς δεδώκαμεν πράγματι [...]
καὶ δὴ ὑποσημηνάμενοι συμφώνως τῶι τοιούτωι χάρτηι, παραγενομένων εἰς τὸ συνέδριον τῆς οἰκουμενικῆς ἡμῶν συνόδου ἐν τῶι μαρτυρίωι τῆς αὐτῆς ἁγιωτάτης καὶ καλλινίκου μάρτυρος Εὐφημίας τοῦ τε εὐσεβεστάτου καὶ φιλοχρίστου βασιλέως ἡμῶν Μαρκιανοῦ καὶ τῆς εὐσεβεστάτης καὶ τὰ πάντα πιστοτάτης βασιλίδος καὶ αὐγούστης τῆς θυγατρός ἡμῶν Πουλχερίας, μετὰ προσευχῆς χαρᾶς τε καὶ εὐφροσύνης τὸν ἐπὶ τῆι βεβαιώσει τῆς τῶν πατέρων ἡμῶν πίστεως ἔγγραφον ὅρον κατὰ τὴν ὑμετέραν ἐκείνην ἰερὰν ἐπιστολὴν ἐπιτεθεικότες τῶι ἁγίωι θυσιαστηρίωι προσδεδώκαμεν τῆι αὐτῶν εὐσεβείαι, οὕτως αὐτὸν δέξασθαι τούτων ἀπαιτησάντων. [...]
'Therefore with prayer and tears, and with your sacredness being present with us in spirit and cooperating through the most God-beloved men you promptly sent, and having the most holy and victorious martyr Euphemia as our protectress, we all devoted ourselves with our whole attention to this saving matter. ...
When we signed this document in unanimity, there attended the assembly of our ecumenical council in the martyrium of the same most holy and victorious martyr Euphemia both our most pious and Christ-loving emperor Marcian and our daughter the most pious and all-faithful empress and Augusta Pulcheria. With prayer, joy and gladness we had placed on the holy altar the definition in writing for the confirmation of the creed of our fathers according to that sacred letter of yours, and now presented it to their piety, for they had asked to receive it in this way; and when they received it, they glorified together with us the Lord Christ who has dispelled every darkness of heresy and clarified with unanimity the word of truth. ...'
Text: Schwartz 1933, [249] 53, lines 3-7, 14-21.
Translation: Price and Gaddis 2005, vol. 3, 139-40.
Cult building - independent (church)
Activities accompanying CultMeetings and gatherings of the clergy
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesEcclesiastics - bishops
Theorising on SanctityUsing saints to assert ecclesiastical/political status
Source
A letter from Bishop Anatolius of Constantinople to Pope Leo the Great. The letter is not dated, but was sent to Rome together with a letter from the emperor Marcian which is dated 18 December 451 (Price and Gaddis 2005, vol. 3, 138, n. 113).This letter is preserved in the Greek acts of the Council of Chalcedon. While it is quite likely that the original was in Latin, the Greek is the only version that survives from antiquity; the Latin version printed in Migne's Patrologia Latina (PL 54, 975-83) is a translation from the Greek. For discussion see Price and Gaddis 2005, vol. 3, 104-9 and 186.
Discussion
Although Leo was not present at the Council of Chalcedon, he played a prominent role from afar: he petitioned to have the council held, he wrote to it and sent his representatives. This council was called in response to the second council of Ephesus, which was convened in 449. At Ephesus, the delegates absolved Eutyches – an advocate of the docetist theory that the body of Christ was not made of human flesh – from heresy and deposed Flavian, the bishop of Constantinople. These decisions were overturned at Chalcedon two years later. Leo was a strong opponent of Eutyches and supporter of Flavian (see e.g. E05480).The Council of Chalcedon was convened in the church dedicated to the martyr Euphemia. See also E05462.
Bibliography
Edition:Schwartz, E., Acta Conciliorum Oecumenicorum (ACO) II/1.2 (Berlin and Leipzig, 1933), 52 [248]-54 [250]
Translation:
Price, R., and Gaddis, M., The Acts of the Council of Chalcedon (Translated Texts for Historians 45; Liverpool, 2005), vol. 3, 138-142.
Further Reading:
Price, R., and Whitby, M. (eds.), Chalcedon in Context: Church Councils 400-700 (Liverpool, 2009).
Wessel, S., Leo the Great and the Spiritual Rebuilding of Rome (Leiden, 2008).
Frances Trzeciak and David Lambert
20/09/2022
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00017 | Euphemia, martyr of Chalcedon | Εὐφημία | Certain |
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