Letter of Pope Gelasius to Emperor Anastasius on the superiority of the spiritual over temporal power: The pope's view of the natural superiority of the spiriitual over the temporal power finds a clear expression the following remarkable letter of Gelasius I (494).
There are two powers, august Emperor, by
which this world is chiefly ruled, namely, the sacred authority of the priests
and the royal power. Of these that of the priests is the more weighty, since
they have to render an account for even the kings of men in the divine judgment.
You are also aware, dear son, that while you are permitted honorably to rule
over human kind, yet in
things divine you bow your head humbly before the
leaders of the clergy and await from their hands the means of your salvation. In
the reception and proper disposition of the heavenly mysteries you recognize
that you should be subordinate rather than superior to the religious order, and
that in these matters you depend on their judgment rather than wish to force
them to follow your will.
If the ministers of religion, recognizing the supremacy granted you from heaven in matters affecting the public order, obey your laws, lest otherwise they might obstruct the course of secular affairs by irrelevant considerations, with what readiness should you not yield them obedience to whom is assigned the dispensing of the sacred mysteries of religion. Accordingly, just as there is no slight danger in the case of the priests if they refrain from speaking when the service of the divinity requires, so there is no little risk for those who disdain - which God forbid -when they should obey. And if it is fitting that the hearts of the faithful should submit to all priests in general who properly administer divine affairs, how much the more is obedience due to the bishop of that see which the Most High ordained to be above ,ill others, and which is consequently dutifully honored by the devotion of the whole Church.
translated in J. H. Robinson, Readings in European History, (Boston: Ginn, 1905), pp. 72-73
Item Gelasius Papa Anastasio Inperatori.
Duo sunt quippe, inperator auguste, quibus principaliter hic
mundus regitur: auctoritas sacra Pontificum,et regalis potestas. In quibus tanto
grauius est pondussacerdotum, quanto
etiam pro ipso regibus hominum in diuino sunt reddituri
examine rationem. Et post pauca: §.
1. Nosti itaque inter hec ex illorum te pendere iudicio,
non illos ad tuam posse redigi uoluntatem.
§. 2. Talibus igitur institutis, talibusque fulti auctoritatibus
plerique Pontificum, alii reges,
alii inperatores excommunicauerunt. Nam si speciale aliquod de personis
principum requiratur exemplum, B.
Innocentius Papa Archadium inperatorem
(quia consensit, ut S. Iohannes Crisostomus a sua sede pelleretur),
excommunicauit. B.etiam
Ambrosius, licet sanctus, non tamen uniuersalis ecclesiae episcopus, pro culpa,
que aliis sacerdotibus non adeo
grauis uidebatur, Theodosium Magnum inperatorem
excommunicans ab ecclesia exclusit; qui etiam in suis
scriptis ostendit, quod aurum non
tam pretiosius sit plumbo, quam regia potestate sit altior ordo sacerdotalis,
hoc
modo circa principium sui pastoralis
scribens: "Honor,
fratres, et sublimitas episcopalis nullis
poterit conparationibus adequari. Si
regum fulgori conpares et principum diademati,
longe erit inferius quam si plumbi metallum ad
auri fulgorem conpares, quippe cum uideas
regum colla et principum submitti
genibus sacerdotum, et osculata eorum dextera,
orationibus eorum credant se communicari."
This text is part of the Internet Medieval Source Book. The Sourcebook is a collection of public domain and copy-permitted texts related to medieval and Byzantine history.
Unless otherwise indicated the specific electronic form of the document is copyright. Permission is granted for electronic copying, distribution in print form for educational purposes and personal use. If you do reduplicate the document, indicate the source. No permission is granted for commercial use.
(c)Paul Halsall Jan 1996
halsall@murray.fordham.edu