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111-597: Those who refused to acknowledge the authority of the Council of Chalcedon were originally called Haesitantes; the Acephali developed from among them, and, according to Blunt, the earlier name – Haesitantes – seems to have been used for only a short time. With the apparent purpose of bringing the Orthodox and heretics into unity, Patriarch Peter III of Alexandria and Patriarch Acacius of Constantinople had elaborated

222-458: A Miaphysite , in 482, after Peter signed the Henoticon and was recognised by Zeno as the legitimate patriarch of Alexandria, by which they were "deprived of their head". They remained "without king or bishop" until they were reconciled with Coptic Orthodox Pope Mark II of Alexandria (799–819). The condemnation of Eutyches irritated the rigid Monophysites; the equivocal attitude taken towards

333-459: A nickname before this date. Blair Worden , the most recent historian to publish on the subject, concluded that the 1 November letter was the first recorded use of the term. The letter referred to extremists among the Army agitators: "They have given themselves a new name, viz. Levellers, for they intend to sett all things straight, and rayse a parity and community in the kingdom". Worden shows that

444-487: A political movement active during the English Civil War who were committed to popular sovereignty , extended suffrage, equality before the law and religious tolerance . The hallmark of Leveller thought was its populism , as shown by its emphasis on equal natural rights, and their practice of reaching the public through pamphlets, petitions and vocal appeals to the crowd. The Levellers came to prominence at

555-484: A book handed him by Aetius, the synodical letter of Leo to Flavian (Leo's Tome). After the reading of the letter, the bishops cried out: "This is the faith of the fathers, this is the faith of the Apostles. So we all believe, thus the orthodox believe. ... Peter has spoken thus through Leo. So taught the Apostles. Piously and truly did Leo teach, so taught Cyril. Everlasting be the memory of Cyril. Leo and Cyril taught

666-618: A canon of disputed validity, the Council of Chalcedon also elevated the See of Constantinople to a position "second in eminence and power to the Bishop of Rome ". The Council of Nicaea in 325 had noted that the Sees of Rome , Alexandria and Antioch should have primacy over other, lesser dioceses. At the time, the See of Constantinople was not yet of ecclesiastical prominence, but its proximity to

777-636: A collection of all the Acts and translate them into Latin. Most of the documents, chiefly the minutes of the sessions, were written in Greek; others, e.g. the imperial letters, were issued in both languages; others, again, e.g. the papal letters, were written in Latin. Eventually nearly all of them were translated into both languages. The metropolitan of Jerusalem was given independence from the metropolitan of Antioch and from any other higher-ranking bishop, given what

888-529: A committee of bishops appointed to study the orthodoxy of the Tome using Cyril's letters (which included the twelve anathemas) as their criteria unanimously determined it to be orthodox, and the council, with few exceptions, supported this. It approved the creed of Nicaea (325), the creed of Constantinople (381; subsequently known as the Nicene Creed), two letters of Cyril against Nestorius, which insisted on

999-470: A dissolution of Parliament within a year and substantial changes to the constitution of future Parliaments that were to be regulated by an unalterable "law paramount". The senior officers in the Army (nicknamed "Grandees") were angered by the "Case of the Army" and ordered the unofficial Agitators to give an account of their principles before the General Council of the Army. These debates, known as

1110-403: A formal and authoritative decision of the question. Eutyches appealed against the decision, labeling Flavian a Nestorian, and received the support of Pope Dioscorus I of Alexandria . John Anthony McGuckin sees an "innate rivalry" between the Sees of Alexandria and Constantinople. Dioscurus, imitating his predecessors in assuming a primacy over Constantinople, held his own synod which annulled

1221-399: A former Levellers agitator, was hanged on 27 April 1649. "At his burial a thousand men, in files, preceded the corpse, which was adorned with bunches of rosemary dipped in blood; on each side rode three trumpeters , and behind was led the trooper’s horse, covered with mourning; some thousands of men and women followed with black and green ribbons on their heads and breasts, and were received at

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1332-435: A local synod regarding a point of discipline connected with the province of Sardis . At the end of the session of this synod one of those inculpated, Eusebius, Bishop of Dorylaeum , brought a counter charge of heresy against the archimandrite . Eusebius demanded that Eutyches be removed from office. Flavian preferred that the bishop and the archimandrite sort out their differences, but as his suggestion went unheeded, Eutyches

1443-474: A new creed in which they expressly condemned both Nestorius and Eutyches , a presbyter and archimandrite , but at the same time rejected the decisions of the Council of Chalcedon. This ambiguous formula, though approved by Byzantine Emperor Zeno and imposed in his Henoticon , could only satisfy the indifferent. The term applied to a 5th-century faction among the Eutychians , who seceded from Peter,

1554-622: A pamphlet entitled "An Agreement Of The Free People Of England" (written on 1 May 1649). It includes reforms that have since been made law in England, such as the right to silence , and others that have not been, such as an elected judiciary . Shortly afterwards, Cromwell attacked the " Banbury mutineers ", 400 troopers who supported the Levellers and who were commanded by Captain William Thompson . Several mutineers were killed in

1665-534: A pro-monophysite mob to enter the church which assaulted Flavian as he clung to the altar. Flavian died three days later. Dioscorus then placed Eusebius of Dorylaeum under arrest and demanded the assembled bishops approve his actions. Fearing the mob, they all did. The papal legates refused to attend the second session at which several more orthodox bishops were deposed, including Ibas of Edessa, Irenaeus of Tyre, Domnus of Antioch, and Theodoret. Dioscorus then had Cyril of Alexandria's Twelve Anathemas declared orthodox with

1776-466: A property the right to vote. He argued that a person must have a "permanent interest of this kingdom" to be entitled to vote, and that "permanent interest" means owning property, which is where he and the Levellers disagreed. To modern eyes, the debates seem to draw heavily on the Bible to lay out certain basic principles. This is to be expected in an age still racked by religious upheavals in the aftermath of

1887-679: A reasonable [rational] soul and body; consubstantial [co-essential] with the Father according to the Godhead, and consubstantial with us according to the Manhood; in all things like unto us, without sin; begotten before all ages of the Father according to the Godhead, and in these latter days, for us and for our salvation, born of the Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, according to the Manhood; one and

1998-418: A second letter to John of Antioch. The bishops responded, "We all so believe: Pope Leo thus believes ... we all thus believe. As Cyril so believe we, all of us: eternal be the memory of Cyril: as the epistles of Cyril teach such is our mind, such has been our faith: such is our faith: this is the mind of Archbishop Leo, so he believes, so he has written." Beronician, clerk of the consistory, then read from

2109-573: A sect of Acephali at the end of the 5th century. They had no succession of priests, and professed to keep up the celebration of a valid Eucharist by placing a few crumbs of some of the bread which had been consecrated by Dioscorus into a vessel of meal, and then using as fully consecrated the bread baked from it. The Barsanuphians separated from the Acephali in the late 6th century and developed their own episcopal hierarchy. According to Brewer, acephalites were also certain bishops exempt from

2220-520: A serious threat to the established order. The term "leveller" had been used in 17th-century England as a term of abuse for rural rebels. In the Midland Revolt of 1607, the name was used to refer to those who levelled hedges and walls in enclosure riots . As a political movement, the term first referred to a faction of New Model Army Agitators and their London supporters who were allegedly plotting to assassinate Charles I of England . But

2331-861: A significant turning point in the Christological debates, it also generated heated disagreements between the council and the Oriental Orthodox Church, who did not agree with such conduct or proceedings. This disagreement would later inform the separation of the Oriental Orthodox Churches from the rest of Christianity , and led to the council being regarded as Chalcedon, the Ominous . The council's other responsibilities included addressing controversy, dealing with issues such as ecclesiastical discipline and jurisdiction, and approving statements of belief such as

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2442-636: A speedy end, and asked the council to make a pronouncement on the doctrine of the Incarnation before continuing the trial. The council fathers, however, felt that no new creed was necessary, and that the doctrine had been laid out clearly in Leo's Tome. They were also hesitant to write a new creed as the First Council of Ephesus had forbidden the composition or use of any new creed. Aetius, deacon of Constantinople then read Cyril's letter to Nestorius, and

2553-460: Is now known as autocephaly , in the council's seventh session whose "Decree on the Jurisdiction of Jerusalem and Antioch" contains: "the bishop of Jerusalem, or rather the most holy Church which is under him, shall have under his own power the three Palestines". This led to Jerusalem becoming a patriarchate , one of the five patriarchates known as the pentarchy , when the title of patriarch

2664-546: Is rejected by the Oriental Orthodox Churches , the latter teaching rather that "The Lord Jesus Christ is God the Incarnate Word . He possesses the perfect Godhead and the perfect manhood. His fully divine nature is united with His fully human nature yet without mixing, blending or alteration." The Oriental Orthodox contend that this latter teaching has been misunderstood as monophysitism , an appellation with which they strongly disagree but, nevertheless, refuse to accept

2775-574: The Council of Ephesus who followed neither Patriarch Cyril I of Alexandria nor Patriarch John I of Antioch were called Acephali . Esaianites were one of the sects into which the Alexandrian Acephali separated at the end of the 5th century. They were the followers of Esaias, a deacon of Palestine, who claimed to have been consecrated to the episcopal office by the Bishop Eusebius. His opponents averred that after

2886-739: The Creed of Nicaea (325), the Creed of Constantinople (381, subsequently known as the Nicene Creed ), two letters of St. Cyril of Alexandria against Nestorius , and the Tome of Pope Leo I . The Christology of the Church of the East may be called " non-Ephesine " for not accepting the Council of Ephesus, but did finally gather to ratify the Council of Chalcedon at the Synod of Mar Aba I in 544. Through

2997-616: The Earl of Manchester , as a Royalist sympathiser because he had protected an officer who had been charged with treason . It was the campaigns to free Lilburne from prison that spawned the movement known as the Levellers. Richard Overton was arrested in August 1646 for publishing a pamphlet attacking the House of Lords . During his imprisonment, he wrote an influential Leveller manifesto, "An Arrow Against All Tyrants and Tyranny". The soldiers in

3108-515: The New Model Army elected "Agitators" from each regiment to represent them. These Agitators were recognised by the Army's commanders and had a seat on the General Council. However, by September 1647, at least five regiments of cavalry had elected new unofficial agitators and produced a pamphlet called "The Case of the Army truly stated". This was presented to the commander-in-chief, Sir Thomas Fairfax, on 18 October 1647. In this, they demanded

3219-692: The New Model Army in the wake of the First Civil War. Early drafts of the Agreement of the People emanated from army circles and appeared before the Putney Debates of October and November 1647, and a final version, appended and issued in the names of prominent Levellers Lt. Col. Lilburne, Walwyn, Overton and Prince appeared in May 1649. It called for an extension of suffrage to include almost all

3330-720: The Parliamentary cause. His offence was slandering William Lenthall , the Speaker of the House of Commons , whom he accused of corresponding with Royalists . He was freed in October 1645 after a petition requesting his release, signed by over 2,000 leading London citizens, was presented to the House of Commons. In July 1646, Lilburne was imprisoned again, this time in the Tower of London , for denouncing his former army commander,

3441-552: The Putney Debates , were held in St. Mary's Church, Putney , in the county of Surrey between 28 October and 11 November 1647. The Agitators were assisted by some civilians, notably John Wildman and Maximilian Petty , who had been connected to the Army as civilian advisers since July 1647. On 28 October, the Agitator Robert Everard presented a document entitled " An Agreement of the People ". This manifesto , which

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3552-470: The Reformation and particularly in an army where soldiers were, in part, selected for their religious zeal. It is notable that John Wildman resisted religious language, arguing that the Bible produced no model for civil government and that reason should be the basis of any future settlement. The Corkbush Field rendezvous on 17 November 1647, was the first of three meetings to take place as agreed in

3663-662: The Roman Empire . The Eastern position could be characterized as being political in nature, as opposed to a doctrinal view. In practice, all Christians East and West addressed the papacy as the See of Peter and Paul or the Apostolic See rather than the See of the Imperial Capital. Rome understands this to indicate that its precedence has always come from its direct lineage from the apostles Peter and Paul rather than its association with Imperial authority. After

3774-495: The first seven ecumenical councils . All the sessions were held in the church of St. Euphemia , Martyr, outside the city and directly opposite Constantinople. As to the number of sessions held by the Council of Chalcedon there is a great discrepancy in the various texts of the Acts, also in the ancient historians of the council. Either the respective manuscripts must have been incomplete; or the historians passed over in silence several sessions held for secondary purposes. According to

3885-597: The king ." This usage is now considered obsolete. Council of Chalcedon The Council of Chalcedon ( / k æ l ˈ s iː d ən , ˈ k æ l s ɪ d ɒ n / ; Latin : Concilium Chalcedonense ) was the fourth ecumenical council of the Christian Church. It was convoked by the Roman emperor Marcian . The council convened in the city of Chalcedon , Bithynia (modern-day Kadıköy , Istanbul , Turkey ) from 8 October to 1 November 451. The council

3996-599: The magister militum , to marry Marcian. Leo had pressed for it to take place in Italy , but Emperor Marcian instead called for it to convene at Chalcedon, because it was closer to Constantinople, and would thus allow him to respond quickly to any events along the Danube, which was being raided by the Huns under Attila. The council opened on 8 October 451. Marcian had the bishops deposed by Dioscorus returned to their dioceses and had

4107-412: The "Leveller" leaders – Walwyn, Overton, Lilburne and Thomas Prince – signed a manifesto in which they called themselves Levellers. The first ideological identification was due to Thomas Edwards , who, in his work Gangraena (1646), summed up Levellers' views and attacked their radical political egalitarianism that showed no respect for the constitution. The prime targets in part III of his work were

4218-597: The 1994 Common Christological Declaration between the Catholic Church and the Assyrian Church of the East, the Assyrian Church of the East and the Catholic Church each accepted and confessed the same doctrine of Christology. In 325, the first ecumenical council ( First Council of Nicaea ) determined that Jesus Christ was God, " consubstantial " with the Father, and rejected the Arian contention that Jesus

4329-523: The Church of Constantinople a ray of that Apostolic splendor which you possess, for you have ever cherished this church, and you are not at all niggardly in imparting your riches to your children. ... Vouchsafe then, most Holy and most Blessed Father, to accept what we have done in your name, and in a friendly spirit ( hos oikeia te kai phila ). For your legates have made a violent stand against it, desiring, no doubt, that this good deed should proceed, in

4440-472: The Church, and that they disseminated many errors. In the Middle Ages the term denoted clerici vagantes , clergy without title or benefice. According to Brewer, acephalites were also a sect of Levellers during the reign of Henry I of England who acknowledged no leader. They were, according to Oxford English Dictionary Online , "a group of free socagers having no feudal superior except

4551-688: The Conquest. Levellers tended to hold fast to a notion of " natural rights " that had been violated by the King's side in the Civil Wars (1642–1651). At the Putney Debates in 1647, Colonel Thomas Rainsborough defended natural rights as coming from the law of God expressed in the Bible . Richard Overton considered that liberty was an innate property of every person. Michael Mendle has demonstrated

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4662-628: The Council of Chalcedon appeared to them insufficient, and many of them, especially the monks, deserted Peter, preferring to be without a head, rather than remain in communion with him. Later, they joined the adherents of the non-Chalcedonian Patriarch Severus of Antioch . They were, according to Oxford English Dictionary Online , a "group of extreme Monophysites" and "were absorbed by the Jacobites". Liberatus of Carthage wrote, in Breviarium causae Nestorianorum et Eutychianorum , that those at

4773-587: The East and the West. The claims that bishops being forced to approve actions, were challenged by Pope Dioscorus and the Egyptian Bishops at Chalcedon. The situation continued to deteriorate, with Leo demanding the convocation of a new council and Emperor Theodosius II refusing to budge, all the while appointing bishops in agreement with Dioscorus. All this changed dramatically with the Emperor's death and

4884-532: The Egyptians time to consider their rejection of Leo's Tome , is an extract from the minutes of the fourth session. In all likelihood an official record of the proceedings was made either during the council itself or shortly afterwards. The assembled bishops informed the pope that a copy of all the "Acta" would be transmitted to him; in March 453, Pope Leo commissioned Julian of Cos, then at Constantinople, to make

4995-657: The English Common law, particularly the Magna Carta , was the foundation of English rights and liberties, but others, like William Walwyn, compared the Magna Carta to a " mess of potage ". Lilburne also harked back in his writing to the notion of a Norman yoke that has been imposed on the English people and to some extent argued that the English were simply seeking to reclaim those rights they had enjoyed before

5106-523: The Imperial court gave rise to its importance. The Council of Constantinople in 381 modified the situation somewhat by placing Constantinople second in honor, above Alexandria and Antioch, stating in Canon III, that "the bishop of Constantinople ... shall have the prerogative of honor after the bishop of Rome; because Constantinople is New Rome". In the early 5th century, this status was challenged by

5217-550: The King, demanded that England be settled from "the bottom up" rather than the "top down" by giving the vote to most adult males. The debates help to throw light on the areas on which supporters of the Parliamentarian side agreed and those on which they differed. For example, Ireton asked whether the phrase in the Agreement "according to the number of the inhabitants" gave a foreigner just arrived in England and resident in

5328-536: The Putney Debates, was killed during an attempt to abduct him. His funeral was the occasion for a large Leveller-led demonstration in London, with thousands of mourners wearing the Levellers' ribbons of sea-green and bunches of rosemary for remembrance in their hats. On 20 January 1649, a version of the "Agreement of the People" that had been drawn up in October 1647 for the Army Council and subsequently modified

5439-496: The Putney Debates. The Army commanders Thomas Fairfax and Cromwell were worried by the strength of support for Levellers in the Army, so they decided to impose "The Heads of the Proposals" as the army's manifesto instead of the Levellers' "Agreement of the People". When some refused to accept this (because they wanted the army to adopt the Levellers' document), they were arrested and one of the ringleaders, Private Richard Arnold ,

5550-527: The Sovereignty and the Senate and enjoys equal privileges with the old imperial Rome, should in ecclesiastical matters also be magnified as she is, and rank next after her. In making their case, the council fathers argued that tradition had accorded "honor" to the see of older Rome because it was the first imperial city. Accordingly, "moved by the same purposes" the fathers "apportioned equal prerogatives to

5661-416: The Tome of Leo written against Eutyches and sent to Archbishop Flavian of Constantinople in 449. The work of the council was completed by a series of 30 disciplinary canons , the Ancient Epitomes of which are: Canon 28 grants equal privileges ( isa presbeia ) to Constantinople as of Rome because Constantinople is the New Rome as renewed by canon 36 of the Quinisext Council . Pope Leo declared

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5772-411: The Tome, but a group of thirteen Egyptians refused, saying that they would assent to "the traditional faith". As a result, the Emperor's commissioners decided that a credo would indeed be necessary and presented a text to the fathers. No consensus was reached. Paschasinus threatened to return to Rome to reassemble the council in Italy. Marcian agreed, saying that if a clause were not added to the credo ,

5883-553: The Tower, and Lilburne tried and acquitted, the Leveller cause had effectively been crushed. The Moderate was a newspaper published by the Levellers from July 1648 to September 1649. In the 1724 Levellers Rising in Dumfries and Galloway , a number of men who took part in it were called "Dykebreakers" (a dyke being a Scottish term for a stone wall without cement). They first met at the annual Horse Fair at Kelton Hill. They were confronted by six troops of dragoons , after which nocturnal attacks continued for six months, making it

5994-459: The adult male population (but excluding wage-earners, for reasons mentioned below), electoral reform, biennial elections, religious freedom, and an end to imprisonment for debt. They were committed broadly to the abolition of corruption within the parliamentary and judicial process, toleration of religious differences, the translation of law into the common tongue and, arguably, something that could be considered democracy in its modern form – arguably

6105-723: The army. In April, 300 infantrymen of Colonel John Hewson 's regiment, who declared that they would not serve in Ireland until the Levellers' programme had been realised, were cashiered without arrears of pay. This was the threat that had been used to quell the mutiny at the Corkbush Field rendezvous. Later that month, in the Bishopsgate mutiny , soldiers of the regiment of Colonel Edward Whalley stationed in Bishopsgate London made demands similar to those of Hewson's regiment; they were ordered out of London. When they refused to go, 15 soldiers were arrested and court martialed . Six of their number were sentenced to death. Of these, five were later pardoned, while Robert Lockyer (or Lockier),

6216-415: The bishop's death, his hands had been laid upon the head of Esaias by some of his friends. Paulitae were a sect of Acephali who followed Chalcedonian Patriarch Paul of Alexandria , who was deposed by a synod at Gaza, in 541, for his uncanonical consecration by the Patriarch of Constantinople, and who, after his deposition, sided with the Miaphysites. Barsanians, later called Semidalites, were

6327-404: The bishops of Alexandria, but the Council of Chalcedon confirmed in Canon XXVIII: For the Fathers rightly granted privileges to the throne of old Rome, because it was the royal city. And the One Hundred and Fifty most religious Bishops, actuated by the same consideration, gave equal privileges ( ἴσα πρεσβεῖα ) to the most holy throne of New Rome, justly judging that the city which is honoured with

6438-415: The bishops would have to relocate. The Committee then sat in the oratory of the most holy martyr Euphemis and afterwards reported a definition of faith which while teaching the same doctrine was not the Tome of Leo. Although it could be reconciled with Cyril's Formula of Reunion, it was not compatible in its wording with Cyril's Twelve Anathemas. In particular, the third anathema reads: "If anyone divides in

6549-427: The body of Flavian brought to the capital to be buried honorably. The Emperor asked Leo to preside over the council, but Leo again chose to send legates in his place. This time, Bishops Paschasinus of Lilybaeum and Julian of Cos and two priests Boniface and Basil represented the western church at the council. The council was attended by about 520 bishops or their representatives and was the largest and best-documented of

6660-480: The canon 28 null and void and only approved the canons of the council which were pertaining to faith. Initially, the council indicated their understanding that Pope Leo's ratification was necessary for the canon to be binding, writing, "we have made still another enactment which we have deemed necessary for the maintenance of good order and discipline, and we are persuaded that your Holiness will approve and confirm our decree. ... We are confident you will shed upon

6771-451: The child we have honored its parent. ... We have informed you of everything with a view of proving our sincerity, and of obtaining for our labors your confirmation and consent." Following Leo's rejection of the canon, Bishop Anatolius of Constantinople conceded, "Even so, the whole force of confirmation of the acts was reserved for the authority of Your Blessedness. Therefore, let Your Holiness know for certain that I did nothing to further

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6882-447: The council by order of the emperor was whether Flavian, in a synod held by him at Constantinople in November, 448, had justly deposed and excommunicated the Archimandrite Eutyches for refusing to admit two natures in Christ. Dioscorus began the council by banning all members of the November 448 synod which had deposed Eutyches from sitting as judges. He then introduced Eutyches who publicly professed that while Christ had two natures before

6993-407: The council stated: We all teach harmoniously [that he is] the same perfect in godhead, the same perfect in manhood, truly God and truly man, the same of a reasonable soul and body; homoousios with the Father in godhead, and the same homoousios with us in manhood ... acknowledged in two natures without confusion, without change, without division, without separation. Whilst this judgment marked

7104-403: The council) a seat at the council. As a result, he was moved to the nave of the church. Paschasinus further ordered the reinstatement of Theodoret and that he be given a seat, but this move caused such an uproar among the council fathers, that Theodoret also sat in the nave, though he was given a vote in the proceedings, which began with a trial of Dioscorus. Marcian wished to bring proceedings to

7215-419: The deacon Rusticus, there were in all sixteen sessions; this division is commonly accepted by scholars, including Karl Josef von Hefele , historian of the councils. If all the separate meetings were counted, there would be twenty-one sessions; several of these meetings, however, are considered as supplementary to preceding sessions. Paschasinus refused to give Dioscorus (who had excommunicated Leo leading up to

7326-433: The decrees of the council. Many Anglicans and most Protestants consider it to be the last authoritative ecumenical council. These churches, along with Martin Luther , hold that both conscience and scripture preempt doctrinal councils and generally agree that the conclusions of later councils were unsupported by or contradictory to scripture. The Council of Chalcedon issued the Chalcedonian Definition , which repudiated

7437-408: The development of Leveller ideas from elements of early parliamentarian thought as expressed by men such as Henry Parker . According to George Sabine , Levellers held to "the doctrine of consent by participation in the choice of representatives ". In July 1645, John Lilburne was imprisoned for denouncing Members of Parliament who lived in comfort while the common soldiers fought and died for

7548-421: The elevation of Marcian to the imperial throne. To resolve the simmering tensions, Marcian announced his intention to hold a new council to set aside the 449 Second Council of Ephesus which was named the "Latrocinium" or "Robber Council" by Pope Leo. Pulcheria , the sister of Theodosius, may have influenced this decision, or even made the convention of a council a requirement during her negotiations with Aspar ,

7659-443: The end of the First English Civil War (1642–1646) and were most influential before the start of the Second Civil War (1648–49). Leveller views and support were found in the populace of the City of London and in some regiments in the New Model Army . Their ideas were presented in their manifesto " Agreement of the People ". In contrast to the Diggers , the Levellers opposed common ownership , except in cases of mutual agreement of

7770-480: The first instance, from your provident hand. But we, wishing to gratify the pious Christian emperors, and the illustrious Senate, and the capital of the empire, have judged that an Ecumenical Council was the fittest occasion for effecting this measure. Hence we have made bold to confirm the privileges of the aforementioned city (tharresantes ekurosamen) as if your holiness had taken the initiative, for we know how tenderly you love your children, and we feel that in honoring

7881-410: The first session of this synod were read at the Council of Chalcedon, 451, and are thus preserved. The remainder of the Acts (the first session being wanting) are known through a Syriac translation by a Miaphysite monk, written in the year 535 and published from a manuscript in the British Museum. Nonetheless, there are somewhat different interpretations as to what actually transpired. The question before

7992-542: The first time contemporary democratic ideas had been formally framed and adopted by a political movement. The Levellers have been seen as having undemocratic tendencies by some as they excluded household servants and those dependent upon charitable handouts from suffrage as Levellers feared that poor, dependent men would simply vote as their masters wished. It would also have excluded women; most adult women were married and, as wives, were legally and financially dependent on their husbands. Some Levellers like Lilburne argued that

8103-453: The grave by a numerous crowd of the inhabitants of London and Westminster ." In 1649, Lieutenant-Colonel John Lilburne , William Walwyn , Thomas Prince , and Richard Overton were imprisoned in the Tower of London by the Council of State (see above). It was while the leaders of the Levellers were being held in the Tower that they wrote an outline of the reforms the Levellers wanted, in

8214-444: The incarnation, the two natures had merged to form a single nature after the incarnation. Of the 130 assembled bishops, 111 voted to rehabilitate Eutyches. Throughout these proceedings, Hilary (one of the papal legates) repeatedly called for the reading of Leo's Tome, but was ignored. The Eastern Orthodox Church has very different accounts of The Second Council of Ephesus. Pope Dioscorus requested deferring reading of Leo's Tome, as it

8325-530: The intent of condemning any confession other than one nature in Christ. According to a letter to the Empress Pulcheria collected among the letters of Leo I, Hilary apologized for not delivering to her the pope's letter after the synod, but owing to Dioscurus, who tried to hinder his going either to Rome or to Constantinople, he had great difficulty in making his escape in order to bring to the pontiff

8436-545: The jurisdiction and discipline of their patriarch. Cooper explains that they are "priests rejecting episcopal authority or bishops that of their metropolitans." Blunt described clerici acephali as those clergy who were ordained with a sinecure benefice and who generally obtained their orders by paying for them, that is, by simony . The Council of Pavia, in 853, legislated its canons 18 and 23 against them, from which it appears, according to Blunt, that they were mostly chaplains to noblemen, that they produced much scandal in

8547-565: The matter, knowing always that I held myself bound to avoid the lusts of pride and covetousness." However, the Canon has since been viewed as valid by the Eastern Orthodox Church. According to some ancient Greek collections, canons 29 and 30 are attributed to the council: canon 29, which states that an unworthy bishop cannot be demoted but can be removed, is an extract from the minutes of the 19th session; canon 30, which grants

8658-629: The men who were to be recognized as the leaders of the Leveller party. The Oxford English Dictionary dates the first written use of the term for a political movement to 1644, in Marchamont Needham 's pamphlet The Case for the Commonwealth of England Stated which however dates from 1650. The OED notes the term was also used in a letter of 1 November 1647. The 19th-century historian S. R. Gardiner suggested that it existed as

8769-405: The most holy see of new Rome" because "the city which is honored by the imperial power and senate and enjoying privileges equaling older imperial Rome should also be elevated to her level in ecclesiastical affairs and take second place after her". The framework for allocating ecclesiastical authority advocated by the council fathers mirrored the allocation of imperial authority in the later period of

8880-487: The news of the result of the council. Hilary, who later became pope and dedicated an oratory in the Lateran Basilica in thanks for his life, managed to escape from Constantinople and brought news of the council to Leo who immediately dubbed it a "synod of robbers" – Latrocinium  – and refused to accept its pronouncements. The decisions of this council now threatened schism between

8991-472: The notice must prevent the presence of any other bishop of the West. He provided his legates, one of whom died en route, with a letter addressed to Flavian explaining Rome's position in the controversy. Leo's letter, now known as Leo's Tome , confessed that Christ had two natures, and was not of or from two natures. On August 8, 449 the Second Council of Ephesus began its first session. The Acts of

9102-447: The notion of a single nature in Christ, and declared that he has two natures in one person and hypostasis . It also insisted on the completeness of his two natures: Godhead and manhood. The council also issued 27 disciplinary canons governing church administration and authority. In a further decree, later known as canon 28, the bishops declared that the See of Constantinople (New Rome) had

9213-436: The one Christ the hypostases after the union, joining them only by a conjunction of dignity or authority or power, and not rather by a coming together in a union by nature, let him be anathema." This appeared to some to be incompatible with Leo's definition of two natures hypostatically joined . However, the council would determine (with the exception of 13 Egyptian bishops) that this was an issue of wording and not of doctrine;

9324-399: The orthodoxy of Leo's Tome, judging it by the standard of Cyril's Twelve Chapters, as some of the bishops present raised concerns about their compatibility. This committee was headed by Anatolius, Patriarch of Constantinople, and was given five days to carefully study the matter. The committee unanimously decided in favor of the orthodoxy of Leo, determining that what he said was compatible with

9435-569: The passage of the Canon 28, Rome filed a protest against the reduction of honor given to Antioch and Alexandria. However, fearing that withholding Rome's approval would be interpreted as a rejection of the entire council, in 453 the pope confirmed the council's canons while declaring the 28th null and void. This position would change and later be accepted in 1215 at the Fourth Council of the Lateran . Levellers The Levellers were

9546-476: The patriarchal status with "equal privileges" ( τῶν ἴσων ἀπολαύουσαν in Greek, aequalibus privilegiis in Latin) to the See of Rome . No reference was made in Canon 28 to the bishops of Rome or Constantinople having their authority from being successors to Peter or Andrew respectively. Instead, the stated reasons in the actual text of the Canon that the episcopacy of these cities had been granted their status

9657-506: The property owners. They were organised at the national level, with offices in a number of London inns and taverns such as The Rosemary Branch in Islington, which got its name from the sprigs of rosemary that Levellers wore in their hats as a sign of identification. They also identified themselves by sea-green ribbons worn on their clothing. From July 1648 to September 1649, they published a newspaper, The Moderate , and were pioneers in

9768-548: The same Christ, Son, Lord, only begotten, to be acknowledged in two natures, inconfusedly, unchangeably, indivisibly, inseparably; ( ἐν δύο φύσεσιν ἀσυγχύτως, ἀτρέπτως, ἀδιαιρέτως, ἀχωρίστως  – in duabus naturis inconfuse, immutabiliter, indivise, inseparabiliter ) the distinction of natures being by no means taken away by the union, but rather the property of each nature being preserved, and concurring in one Person ( prosopon ) and one Subsistence ( hypostasis ), not parted or divided into two persons, but one and

9879-727: The same Son, and only begotten God ( μονογενῆ Θεόν ), the Word, the Lord Jesus Christ; as the prophets from the beginning [have declared] concerning Him, and the Lord Jesus Christ Himself has taught us, and the Creed of the holy Fathers has handed down to us. The full text of the definition reaffirms the decisions of the Council of Ephesus and the pre-eminence of the Creed of Nicea (325). It also canonises as authoritative two of Cyril of Alexandria 's letters and

9990-409: The same thing, ... This is the true faith ... This is the faith of the fathers. Why were not these things read at Ephesus?" However, during the reading of Leo's Tome, three passages were challenged as being potentially Nestorian, and their orthodoxy was defended by using the writings of Cyril. Due to such concerns, the council decided to adjourn and appoint a special committee to investigate

10101-528: The sentence of Flavian, and absolved Eutyches. Through the influence of the court official Chrysaphius, godson of Eutyches, in 449, the competing claims between the Patriarchs of Constantinople and Alexandria led Emperor Theodosius II to call a council which was held in Ephesus in 449, with Dioscorus presiding. Pope Leo sent four legates to represent him and expressed his regret that the shortness of

10212-593: The skirmish. Captain Thompson escaped only to be killed a few days later in another skirmish near the Diggers community at Wellingborough . The three other leaders – William Thompson's brother, Corporal Perkins, and John Church – were shot on 17 May 1649. This destroyed the Levellers' support base in the New Model Army, which by then was the major power in the land. Although Walwyn and Overton were released from

10323-405: The teaching of Cyril. A number of other bishops also entered statements to the effect that they believed that Leo's Tome was not in contradiction with the teaching of Cyril as well. The council continued with Dioscorus' trial, but he refused to appear before the assembly. However, historical accounts from the Eastern Orthodox Church note that Dioscorus was put under solitary arrest. As a result, he

10434-453: The term first appeared in print in a book by Charles I called His Majesties Most Gracious Declaration . This tract was a printing of a letter that had been read in the House of Lords on 11 November 1647. Although George Thomason did not date this tract, the last date internal to the document was Saturday 13 November 1647, suggesting a publication date of 15 November 1647. The Levellers' agenda developed in tandem with growing dissent within

10545-472: The term to Lilburne's group during the Putney Debates of late 1647. Lilburne considered the term pejorative and called his supporters "Levellers so-called" and preferred "Agitators". The term suggested that the "Levellers" aimed to bring all down to the lowest common level. The leaders vehemently denied the charge of "levelling", but adopted the name because it was how they were known to the majority of people. After their arrest and imprisonment in 1649, four of

10656-442: The term was gradually attached to John Lilburne , Richard Overton , and William Walwyn and their "faction". Books published in 1647–1648 often reflect this terminological uncertainty. The public "identification" was largely due to the aspersions by Marchamont Needham , the author of the newspaper Mercurius Pragmaticus . Lilburne, John Wildman and Richard Baxter later thought that Oliver Cromwell and Henry Ireton had applied

10767-642: The unity of divine and human persons in Christ, and the Tome of Pope Leo I confirming two distinct natures in Christ. The dogmatic definitions of the council are recognized as normative by the Eastern Orthodox and Catholic Churches, as well by certain other Western Churches ; also, most Protestants agree that the council's teachings regarding the Trinity and the Incarnation are orthodox doctrine which must be adhered to. The council, however,

10878-561: The use of petitions and pamphleteering to political ends. London's printing and bookselling trade was pivotal to the movement. After Pride's Purge and the execution of Charles I , power lay in the hands of the Grandees in the Army (and to a lesser extent with the Rump Parliament ). The Levellers, along with all other opposition groups, were marginalised by those in power and their influence waned. By 1650, they were no longer

10989-444: Was a created being. This was reaffirmed at the First Council of Constantinople (381) and the First Council of Ephesus (431). About two years after Cyril of Alexandria 's death in 444, an aged monk from Constantinople named Eutyches began teaching a subtle variation on the traditional Christology in an attempt to stop what he saw as a new outbreak of Nestorianism . He claimed to be a faithful follower of Cyril's teaching, which

11100-412: Was advocating Docetism , a sort of reversal of Arianism – where Arius had denied the consubstantial divinity of Jesus , Eutyches seemed to be denying that Jesus was fully human. Pope Leo I wrote that Eutyches' error seemed to be more from a lack of skill than from malice. Eutyches had been accusing various personages of covert Nestorianism. In November 448, Flavian, Bishop of Constantinople held

11211-715: Was attended by over 520 bishops or their representatives, making it the largest and best-documented of the first seven ecumenical councils . The principal purpose of the council was to re-assert the teachings of the ecumenical Council of Ephesus against the teachings of Eutyches and Nestorius . Such doctrines viewed Christ's divine and human natures as separate ( Nestorianism ) or viewed Christ as solely divine ( monophysitism ). Autocephaly recognized by some autocephalous Churches de jure : Autocephaly and canonicity recognized by Constantinople and 3 other autocephalous Churches: Spiritual independence recognized by Georgian Orthodox Church: Semi-Autonomous: The ruling of

11322-483: Was bleeding of sickness". Pulcheria is said to have slapped Dioscorus in the face, breaking some of his teeth, and ordered the guards to confine him, which they did pulling his beard hair. Dioscorus is said to have put these in a box and sent them back to his Church in Alexandria noting "this is the fruit of my faith." Marcian responded by exiling Dioscorus. All of the bishops were then asked to sign their assent to

11433-472: Was condemned, but by an underwhelming amount (more than half the bishops present for the previous sessions did not attend his condemnation), and all of his decrees were declared null. Empress Pulcheria (Marcian's wife) told Dioscorus "In my father's time, there was a man who was stubborn (referring to St. John Chrysostom ) and you are aware of what was made of him", to which Dioscorus famously responded "And you may recall that your mother prayed at his tomb, as she

11544-440: Was created in 531 by Justinian . The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, s.v. patriarch (ecclesiastical) , also calls it "a title dating from the 6th century, for the bishops of the five great sees of Christendom". Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of World Religions, says: "Five patriarchates, collectively called the pentarchy, were the first to be recognized by the legislation of the emperor Justinian (reigned 527–565)". In

11655-643: Was declared orthodox in the Union of 433. Cyril had taught that "There is only one physis , since it is the Incarnation, of God the Word." Cyril apparently thought that the Greek word physis meant approximately what the Latin word persona (person) means, while most Greek theologians would have interpreted that word to mean natura (nature). The energy and imprudence with which Eutyches asserted his opinions led to his being misunderstood. Thus, many believed that Eutyches

11766-441: Was executed. At the other two meetings, the troops who were summoned agreed to the manifesto without further protest. The Levellers' largest petition , titled "To The Right Honourable The Commons Of England", was presented to Parliament on 11 September 1648 after amassing signatories including about a third of all Londoners. On 30 October 1648, Thomas Rainsborough , a Member of Parliament and Leveller leader who had spoken at

11877-460: Was inherently republican and democratic, appeared to conflict with the terms of settlement that had already been endorsed by the General Council in July entitled " The Heads of the Proposals " The "Heads of the Proposals" contained many demands that looked towards social justice but relied upon the King to agree to them and bring them into law through acts of Parliament. The new Agitators, who distrusted

11988-505: Was not seen as necessary to start with, and could be read later. This was seen as a rebuke to the representatives from the Church of Rome not reading the Tome from the start. Dioscorus then moved to depose Flavian of Constantinople and Eusebius of Dorylaeum on the grounds that they taught the Word had been made flesh and not just assumed flesh from the Virgin and that Christ had two natures. When Flavian and Hilary objected, Dioscorus called for

12099-471: Was presented to the House of Commons. At the end of January 1649, Charles I of England was tried and executed for treason against the people. In February, the Grandees banned petitions to Parliament by soldiers. In March, eight Leveller troopers went to the commander-in-chief of the New Model Army, Thomas Fairfax, and demanded the restoration of the right to petition . Five of them were cashiered out of

12210-433: Was summoned to clarify his position regarding the nature of Christ. Eventually Eutyches reluctantly appeared, but his position was considered to be theologically unsophisticated, and the synod finding his answers unresponsive condemned and exiled him. Flavian sent a full account to Pope Leo I. Although it had been accidentally delayed, Leo wrote a compendious explanation of the whole doctrine involved, and sent it to Flavian as

12321-401: Was the importance of these cities as major cities of the empire of the time. The Confession of Chalcedon provides a clear statement on the two natures of Christ, human and divine: We, then, following the holy Fathers, all with one consent, teach people to confess one and the same Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, the same perfect in Godhead and also perfect in manhood; truly God and truly man, of

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