IMC 2022: Sessions

Session 219: Social and Literary Authority in Late Antiquity, II: Authority and Ecclesiastical Controversy

Monday 4 July 2022, 14.15-15.45

Sponsor:	Postgraduate & Early-Career Late Antiquity Network
Organiser:	Nicola Ernst, School of Historical & Philosophical Inquiry, University of Queensland
Moderator/Chair:	Robin Whelan, Faculty of Classics, University of Cambridge
Paper 219-a	John Philoponus' Letter to Justinian in Its Broader Political Context (Language: English) Matthew Hassall, Faculty of History, University of Cambridge Index terms: Byzantine Studies, Ecclesiastical History, Philosophy, Political Thought
Paper 219-b	Imperial and Ecclesiastical Letters around the Council of Chalcedon, 451: The Power Perspective (Language: English) Marijke Kooijman, Vakgroep Geschiedenis, Universiteit Gent Index terms: Ecclesiastical History, Law, Politics and Diplomacy, Rhetoric
Paper 219-c	Symphony between Sacerdotium and Imperium: Reality or Propaganda? - The 'Three-Chapters Controversy' as a Test Case (Language: English) Paolo Costa, Dipartimento di Giurisprudenza, Università degli Studi di Genova / Facoltà Biblica, Pontificio Istituto Biblico di Roma Index terms: Administration, Byzantine Studies, Law, Political Thought
Abstract	The competition for authority within ecclesiastical structures often manifested during the numerous ecclesiastical controversies of the late antique period. This session will consider these tensions through three papers. Paper -a (Hassall) discusses how John Philoponus' opposition to Justinian's doctrine mirrors the tactics used by those in political debates. Paper -b, (Kooijman) considers the issues of authority and power through written correspondence between emperors and clerics at the 451 Council of Chalcedon. Finally, paper -c (Costa), explores the 'Three Chapters Controversy' as a display of authority by the emperor Justinian and what this implicated.