Rosamond McKitterick
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- September 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780198777601
- eISBN:
- 9780191823152
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198777601.003.0019
- Subject:
- History, European Early Modern History
The Liber Pontificalis’s account of the four-day Synod of Rome in April 769 convened by Pope Stephen III is a remarkable scene of histrionic recrimination and the condemnation of Stephen’s ...
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The Liber Pontificalis’s account of the four-day Synod of Rome in April 769 convened by Pope Stephen III is a remarkable scene of histrionic recrimination and the condemnation of Stephen’s predecessor Pope Constantine II. At a basic level, the Synod of Rome is a dramatic instance of the politics of legitimation in action. The winning faction not only created a favourable historical record for their candidate (Stephen III) by the long-recognized process of damnatio memoriae but claimed to form ‘new rules’. How political manoeuvres become law, and how law and narrative history overlap in terms of acquiring authority, therefore, are the major preoccupations of this chapter. Further, the subsequent uncritical acceptance of the Roman Synod of 769, of its agenda, the context in which it was convened, and stance adopted, in both the Liber Pontificalis and conciliar acta, to the method by which Constantine II came to occupy the throne, have all overlooked the position of Constantine himself. He was pope for nearly thirteen months, not an ‘antipope’. This chapter explores the case of Pope Constantine II in the texts relating to the Synod of Rome as well as in the light of two extant letters from Constantine II which escaped the conflagration of his Register in Rome in 769.Less
The Liber Pontificalis’s account of the four-day Synod of Rome in April 769 convened by Pope Stephen III is a remarkable scene of histrionic recrimination and the condemnation of Stephen’s predecessor Pope Constantine II. At a basic level, the Synod of Rome is a dramatic instance of the politics of legitimation in action. The winning faction not only created a favourable historical record for their candidate (Stephen III) by the long-recognized process of damnatio memoriae but claimed to form ‘new rules’. How political manoeuvres become law, and how law and narrative history overlap in terms of acquiring authority, therefore, are the major preoccupations of this chapter. Further, the subsequent uncritical acceptance of the Roman Synod of 769, of its agenda, the context in which it was convened, and stance adopted, in both the Liber Pontificalis and conciliar acta, to the method by which Constantine II came to occupy the throne, have all overlooked the position of Constantine himself. He was pope for nearly thirteen months, not an ‘antipope’. This chapter explores the case of Pope Constantine II in the texts relating to the Synod of Rome as well as in the light of two extant letters from Constantine II which escaped the conflagration of his Register in Rome in 769.
T.S. Brown
- Published in print:
- 1986
- Published Online:
- May 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780859892728
- eISBN:
- 9781781380796
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5949/liverpool/9780859892728.003.0009
- Subject:
- History, Historiography
This chapter discusses the approach Angellus of Ravenna used in writing his historical work Liber Pontificalis Ecclesiae Ravennatis. It states that Angellus' work can be described as a history of ...
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This chapter discusses the approach Angellus of Ravenna used in writing his historical work Liber Pontificalis Ecclesiae Ravennatis. It states that Angellus' work can be described as a history of Ravenna's see, using anecdotes from the Ravenna clergy. It adds that Angellus showed prejudice in his work, including his dislike for Greeks, Franks, popes, and some bishops in Ravenna — he even labeled some as ‘ravenous beasts’ who were intent on depriving their clergy of its legitimate rights. It notes that besides giving a detailed history of Ravenna's clergy, Angellus' work can also be viewed as a reliable source of the detailed descriptions of buildings and mosaics during his time.Less
This chapter discusses the approach Angellus of Ravenna used in writing his historical work Liber Pontificalis Ecclesiae Ravennatis. It states that Angellus' work can be described as a history of Ravenna's see, using anecdotes from the Ravenna clergy. It adds that Angellus showed prejudice in his work, including his dislike for Greeks, Franks, popes, and some bishops in Ravenna — he even labeled some as ‘ravenous beasts’ who were intent on depriving their clergy of its legitimate rights. It notes that besides giving a detailed history of Ravenna's clergy, Angellus' work can also be viewed as a reliable source of the detailed descriptions of buildings and mosaics during his time.
John N. Collins
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195396027
- eISBN:
- 9780199852383
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195396027.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies
If the instance already discussed in Mark bears but dubious testimony to the existence among early Christians of the modern notion of “diakonia”—and leaves us with an intriguing problem of ...
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If the instance already discussed in Mark bears but dubious testimony to the existence among early Christians of the modern notion of “diakonia”—and leaves us with an intriguing problem of interpretation—to what extent do the others instances echo, to use Lemaire's phrase, the loving attitude of the master? Since the 12th century, the cardinal deacons of Rome have taken their titles from ancient churches that have the word “diaconia” in their name, as in Diaconia San Teodoro. Much earlier, according to the Liber Pontificalis, Pope Fabian (236–50) had divided the city into seven administrative regions under seven deacons who were responsible for temporal administration and for the implementation of the “frumentatio” or relief of the poor. Because the words “deacon” and “diaconia” are cognate, the opinion was, at least from the time of Baronius and as late as E. Hatch, that the “diaconiae” were the centers from which the deacons had distributed this relief. At the end of the last century, however, L. Duchesne showed that a connection is not sustainable.Less
If the instance already discussed in Mark bears but dubious testimony to the existence among early Christians of the modern notion of “diakonia”—and leaves us with an intriguing problem of interpretation—to what extent do the others instances echo, to use Lemaire's phrase, the loving attitude of the master? Since the 12th century, the cardinal deacons of Rome have taken their titles from ancient churches that have the word “diaconia” in their name, as in Diaconia San Teodoro. Much earlier, according to the Liber Pontificalis, Pope Fabian (236–50) had divided the city into seven administrative regions under seven deacons who were responsible for temporal administration and for the implementation of the “frumentatio” or relief of the poor. Because the words “deacon” and “diaconia” are cognate, the opinion was, at least from the time of Baronius and as late as E. Hatch, that the “diaconiae” were the centers from which the deacons had distributed this relief. At the end of the last century, however, L. Duchesne showed that a connection is not sustainable.
Jason Moralee
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- December 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780190492274
- eISBN:
- 9780190492298
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780190492274.003.0004
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, World History: BCE to 500CE
Chapter 3 continues to explore the social worlds of the Capitoline Hill by focusing on the Christian cultures of the streets around the Capitoline Hill and the ways in which this iconic place was ...
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Chapter 3 continues to explore the social worlds of the Capitoline Hill by focusing on the Christian cultures of the streets around the Capitoline Hill and the ways in which this iconic place was valued locally from the last half of the sixth century to the middle of the eighth. By the middle of the sixth century, legends began to circulate in Byzantium that made the Capitoline Hill the location of oracles presaging the birth of the savior and the apocalypse. As in other locales in Rome, it was at this time that a small church was established on the Capitoline Hill in an urban environment in which public spaces were beginning to be used for Christian worship. Even as the hill was becoming a distinctly early medieval neighborhood, this location, with its church at its heart, was always associated with memories of the Roman Empire’s long-lost glory.Less
Chapter 3 continues to explore the social worlds of the Capitoline Hill by focusing on the Christian cultures of the streets around the Capitoline Hill and the ways in which this iconic place was valued locally from the last half of the sixth century to the middle of the eighth. By the middle of the sixth century, legends began to circulate in Byzantium that made the Capitoline Hill the location of oracles presaging the birth of the savior and the apocalypse. As in other locales in Rome, it was at this time that a small church was established on the Capitoline Hill in an urban environment in which public spaces were beginning to be used for Christian worship. Even as the hill was becoming a distinctly early medieval neighborhood, this location, with its church at its heart, was always associated with memories of the Roman Empire’s long-lost glory.
