242 Ephesus, Ecumenical Council of
He captured Richard, who was soon eliminated, and
claimed the throne as Henry IV (r. 1399–1413).
THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY AND
THE WARS OF THE ROSESAs king, Henry IV was always troubled by this question-
able seizure of power. King HENRYV, his son, succeeded
him and embarked on a policy of political recovery based
on a lucrative war abroad and peace at home. Henry won
a great victory at AGINCOURTin 1415 and proceeded to
conquer Normandy and collect on his claim to occupy
the throne of France on the death of King Charles VI in
- That was recognized in the Treaty of Troyes in
1420, along with his marriage with Catherine de Valois
(1401–22), Charles daughter. On Henry’s death in 1422,
his infant son succeeded to the throne, as King Henry VI
(r. 1422–61, 1470–71).
During Henry VI’s reign the English lost almost all
their possessions in France by 1453. Henry was a person-
ally weak king who had obvious mental problems. The
dynastic and very bloody WARS OF THEROSES(1455–85)
between the Lancastrian Henry VI and the house of York,
headed eventually by EDWARDIV, resulted. After several
battles and changes in fortune for both sides, the Yorkist
claimant, Edward IV, won the Crown. After his death in
1483, RICHARDIII, his brother and successor, lost and
was killed at the Battle of BOSWORTHFIELDin 1485 to
Henry VII TUDOR(1485–1509). The house of Tudor then
occupied the throne until the death of Elizabeth I in
See also BEDE THE VENERABLE,SAINT;BONIFACE,
SAINT;CLARENDON, CONSTITUTIONS OF.
Further reading:See“British Isles” in Bibliography,
pp. 840–844.
Ephesus, Ecumenical Council of This was a council
at Ephesus in western Anatolia that met primarily to
decide the Blessed Virgin MARY’s relationship to her son,
Jesus Christ. The Third Ecumenical Council was called in
431 at Ephesus by the emperor Theodosios II (408–50),
to settle a dispute between Nestorius (ca. 381–451),
patriarch of CONSTANTINOPLE, and CYRIL, patriarch of
ALEXANDRIA, about the exact relationship of Christ’s
human and divine natures. Following the theological
school at ANTIOCH, Nestorius believed that although the
two natures were in contact, they were essentially inde-
pendent of each other. This led him to state that Mary
was not, properly speaking, the Theotokos,or “bearer of
God,” but only the mother of a man, Christ. After all,
Nestorius reasoned, can one say that God, who is
unchanging, was born and grew up.
This perceived attack on Mary aroused great pas-
sion within the church. Cyril borrowed 1,500 pounds
of GOLDfor bribes. His supporters roamed the streets of
Ephesus looking for trouble. Nestorius’s house had to
be guarded for his protection. John I (d. 441/442), the
patriarch of Antioch and Nestorius’s main supporter,
arrived three weeks late; the delay allowed Cyril to
manage Nestorius’s condemnation. John I responded by
organizing a rival council on the spot to condemn
Cyril, who was declared deposed. At first Theodosios II
let the two depositions stand, Cyril’s money and influ-
ence at court, including that of Theodosios II’s sister,
Pulcheria (399–453), triumphed. Cyril was allowed to
resume his see while the writings of Nestorius were
burned.
Nestorius traveled to EGYPTand remained there in
exile. In 433 moderates on both sides agreed to accept
the epithet Theotokosfor Mary and agreed to a compro-
mise formula stating that Christ had two natures that
existed in a complete union. Nestorius’s followers
retreated to EDESSA and, after the emperor Zeno (r.
474–475, 476–491) drove them from that city in 489, to
Nisibis, in Persia.
See also CHRISTOLOGY AND CHRISTOLOGICAL CON-
TROVERSY.
Further reading:Norman P. Tanner, ed., Decrees of
the Ecumenical Councils,Vol. 1, Nicaea to Lateran V(Lon-
don: Sheed and Ward, 1990), 37–74.epic literature In the Middle Ages epic literature
included heroic poems. Originally oral narratives, they
were about noble characters delivered in a more elevated
style than that of normal discourse using verse, music,
and heightened diction in Latin or the vernacular. They
concerned the great and mythical deeds of a central
heroic figure, or group of figures, usually at a time of cri-
sis in the history of a culture. Their setting was in an ear-
lier “heroic” period. They were written only after a long
period of oral transmission. The Anglo-Saxon BEOWULF,
the German NIBELUNGENLIED,and the French Song of
Rolandare examples. Their narration mixed legendary
and real details from the heroic period and the actual
time of their composition and narration. Secondary or lit-
erary epics were long, ambitious poems, composed by a
single poet on the models of the older and mythical
forms and more allusive and figurative. There were many
examples of this kind of literature in the Middle Ages and
early Renaissance.
See alsoBEAST EPICS;BEOWULF;CHANSONS DE GESTE;
RODRIGODÍAZ DEVIVAR, HISTORY AND LEGENDS OF.
Further reading:W. T. H. Jackson, Medieval Litera-
ture: A History and a Guide(New York: Collier Books,
1966).epigraphy Epigraphy is the study of inscriptions writ-
ten on durable material. The term epigraphyis derived
from the Greek “to write on.” These inscriptions were
made in order to transmit certain statements to the public
in a way that was to last. The most common inscriptions