September 879 A.D. Anastasius Bibliothecarius—Anti-Pope of Benedict III; Librarian of Rome; Most Learned Cleric in Rome
September 879
A.D. Anastasius
Bibliothecarius—Anti-Pope of Benedict III; Librarian of Rome; Most Learned Cleric in Rome
Librarian of
the Roman Church, b. about 810; d. 879. He was a nephew of Bishop Arsenius of Orta, who executed important commissions as papal legate. Anastasius learned Greek from Greek monks,
and obtained an unusual education for his era, so that he
appears to be the most learned ecclesiastic of Rome in the barbaric period of
the ninth century. During the reign of Nicholas I (855-67) Anastasius was abbot of the monastery of the Virgin Mary on the farther side of
the Tiber (in Trastevere), and he was employed by the pope in
various matters. He was also active as an author, and translated Greek works into Latin, one of these being
the biography of St. John the Almsgiver, which he dedicated to Nicholas I. The successor of Nicholas, Adrian II(867-72), appointed Anastasius librarian of the Roman Church, an important office which gave him much influence at the papal Court. In 869 he was sent
by Emperor Louis II as envoy to Constantinople, with two
men of high rank in the Frankish Empire, to negotiate a marriage between the oldest son of
the Byzantine emperor and the daughter
of the emperor in the West. When the envoys
arrived at Constantinople, the
Eighth Oecumenical Council was still in session, and Anastasius, who attended
the last session (February, 870), zealously defended the papal cause and was of much service
to the papal legates. On their way home the papal legates were robbed, and the
"Acts" of the council were carried off.
However, they had given most of the declarations of obedience of the Greek bishops to Anastasius, who also had
a copy of the "Acts", and was thus able to bring these documents to
the pope.
At the pope's order he translated the
"Acts" into Latin. The succeeding pope, John VIII (872-82), also esteemed Anastasius, confirmed him in the office of
librarian, entrusted important affairs to him, and encouraged him to further literary work. Anastasius was in correspondence
with the deposed Byzantine patriarch, Photius, and sought to mediate between the patriarch and the pope and also to assuage the
controversy over the Holy Ghost by assuming that the Latins understood the procession (processio) of the Holy Ghost from the Son in the sense of
transmission (missio).
Kirsch,
Johann Peter. "Anastasius
Bibliothecarius." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 16 (Index). New York: The
Encyclopedia Press, 1914.
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/16002b.htm. Accessed 19 Aug 2014.
Anastasius Bibliothecarius
If a passage
in the annals of Hincmar of Reims is genuine (Mon. Germ.
Hist.: Scriptores, I, 447) and Hincmarhas not confused two men, then the librarian Anastasius is identical with the Roman presbyter Anastasius who in 874 became titular priest of St. Marcellus, and in 848
fled from Rome,
and resided in various cities. On account of his flight he was excommunicated by a Roman synod in 850, and, as he did
not return, wasanathematized and deposed by another synod in 853. After the death
of Leo IV in 855 this Anastasius was elected as antipope by the imperial party,
but the rightfully elected pope, Benedict III, gained the supremacy, and acted kindly towards the
usurper. During the pontificate of Adrian II Anastasius became involved in
serious difficulties, in 868 a near relative of his named Eleutherius forcibly carried off the
daughter of the pope,
and soon after killed both her and her mother.
The murderer was executed and Anastasius, who was
regarded as the instigator of the murder,
was punished by excommunication and deposition. He lived at
the imperial Court, and sought by the intervention of the emperor to exculpate
himself before the pope. Hergenröther (Photius, II, 230-240)
maintains, with good reason, that the librarian and the presbyter Anastasius (the antipope) were one and the same person,
and weaves all the statements concerning the latter into the biography of Anastasius, while Langen (Geschichte der römischen
Kirche, III, 270 sqq.) considers them different persons. In August, 879, Zacharias of Anagni appears as librarian of
the Roman Church, so that Anastasius must have died shortly
before this date.
Anastasius
translated from Greek into Latin the "Acts" of
the Seventh and Eighth Ecumenical Councils, as well as
several legends of saints,
and other writings. He also compiled a historical work, "Chronographia
tripartita", from the Greek writings of Theophanes, Nicephorus, and Syncellus, and made a collection of documents concerning the affairs
of Pope Honorius. Several important letters written by him have
been preserved. His writings are to be found in P.G., XXIX; P.L., LXXIII,
CXXII, CXXIX. The "Liber Pontificalis", which was formerly ascribed to him, was
not written by him; he seems to have shared in the revision of the
"Life" of Nicholas I.
Sources
LAPOTRE,
De Anastasio Bibliothecario (Paris, 1884); KRUMBACHER, Geschichte der
byzantinischen Litteratur, 2nd ed., 344 sq.; FRIEDRICH, Ein Brief des
Anastasius Bibliothecarius an den Bischof Gaudericus von Vellevri in
Sitzungsber. der bayer. Akademie der Wiss. phil.-hist. Klasse (1892-93), 393
sqq.; D'AVRIL, La lettre d'Anastase le Bibliothecaire in Revue de l'Orient
chretien (1896), 124 sqq.
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