medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
On Tuesday, May 17, 2005, at 6:22 pm, Phyllis wrote:
> Today (18. May) is the feast day of:
> John I (d. 526) John was a Tuscan who became archdeacon in Rome and
> was elected pope in 523. King Theodoric shipped him off on a mission
> to Constantinople, which occupied most of his pontificate. J.
> returned to find that the king had decided he was a traitor,
> apparently implicated in the same (perhaps) plot as had led to
> Boethius' arrest and execution. Whether the charges were true or
> not, J. was arrested as soon as he landed and imprisoned at Ravenna;
> he died of ill treatment.
Re-reading Thomas Noble's 1992 Spoleto congress communication "Theodoric
and the Papacy" whilst preparing a response to Phyllis' question of
today about "Arianism and the early Middle Ages," I came across the
following (art. cit., p. 420; umlaut dots in the original replaced here
by 'e' adscript):
"[Theodoric] ordered John to remain in Ravenna and held him "_in offensa
sua_", which Loewe plausibly interpreted as meaning that he removed his
favor and protection from the pope (89). John, an old man worn out by
his travels, died in Ravenna. Judging from the almost hysterical
account in the _Liber Pontificalis_, the notion that Theodoric had
imprisoned and abused John began to spread almost immediately (90).
Actually, there is no convincing evidence that Theodoric mistreated the
pope in any way. ... Something went wrong, but later writers were so
intent on vilifying Theodoric that they have left us precious few solid
details (91)."
"(89) Heinz Loewe, _Theoderich der Grosse und Papst Johann I._, in
_Historisches Jahrbuch_, LXXII (1952), pp. 83-100.
(90) Some modern historians continue to repeat the charges against
Theodoric: A. Franzen and R. Baeumer, _Papstgeschichte_, Freiburg im
Breisgau 1974, p. 29; Harald Zimmermann, _Das Papsttum im Mittelalter_,
Stuttgart 1981, p. 26. Examples could be multiplied.
(91) Especially intriguing is Vasiliev's suggestion (_Justin_, p. 219)
that a 527 edict against heretics does not mention Goths or Arians
because of John's mission. If this is true, then it is difficult to see
what Theodoric was angry about, unless it was that, in 526, the emperor
had refused to commit himself to a lenient policy vis-a-vis the Arian
Goths."
Best,
John Dillon
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