The monastic canons of the Council of Chalcedon: a commentary Cover Image

Kanony monastyczne soboru chalkedońskiego: komentarz
The monastic canons of the Council of Chalcedon: a commentary

Author(s): Ewa Wipszycka
Subject(s): Cultural history, Ancient World
Published by: Wydawnictwo Naukowe Sub Lupa
Keywords: Imperial regulations of monasticism; emperor Marcian; Anatolius patriarch of Constantinople; monks of Constantinople; monasteries of Constantinople; consacrated virgins; Council of Chalcedon; canons

Summary/Abstract: The aim of the article is to propose new answers to four fundamental questions concerning the rulings of the Council of Chalcedon in 451 which were passed with the intention to regulate the functioning of monastic communities: 1. What were the reasons that encouraged the actual authors of the canons in question (emperor Marcian and patriarch Anatolios) to propose legal regulations for the key organizational aspects of the life of monastic communities? 2. Which monastic groups were to be subject to these regulations? 3. What were the chances for the regulations' implementation? 4. What was the role of the canons in the actual relations between the Church and the monks after Chalcedon? In her conclusions, the author emphasizes the Constantinopolitan context of the canons. She sees them as an example of "declarative law", which is important in the sphere of ideology but hardly utilizable in practice. Contrary to opinions expressed in scholarship on the subject, the author believes that the canons' impact on the life of the Churches in the Empire was insignificant.

  • Issue Year: 2016
  • Issue No: XV
  • Page Range: 97-116
  • Page Count: 20
  • Language: Polish