Lecture 22: The Court of Justinian and Byzantine Christianity
position by decree in 533 and secured the approval of Pope
John II in 534.o In the affair of the Three Chapters, Justinian sought to appease
the monophysite party by condemning, in 543, three 4th-century
writers as guilty of Nestorianism. The West and Pope Vigilius
at first refused to accept this condemnation, but through
isolation and privation, Justinian pressured the pope to do so.
The Second Council of Constantinople in 553 condemned
the Three Chapters and, by implication, Vigilius, though it
continued to declare communion with Rome.o These incidents reveal a growing chasm between the western
(Chalcedonian) and eastern (monophysite) churches. We shall
see how the rift will grow ever greater until a final schism
occurs in the 11th century.• Justinian’s strong patronage of Christianity had as its dark side the
active suppression of other religious traditions.
o His Codex proscribed paganism, even in private life, and the
remnants of pagan observance were actively suppressed.o The civil rights of Jews were further restricted, and religious
privileges were threatened. Adding insult to injury, Justinian
wanted Jews to read Torah in the Greek Septuagint translation
rather than in Hebrew!o Against the Samaritans, Justinian leveled severe edicts because
they resisted conversion to Christianity, and many Manichaeans
were persecuted and killed during his reign.• Such interventions reveal a situation that would later be termed
caesaropapism, in which the state exercises total authority over
the church.
o The Second Council of Constantinople in 553 declared that the
church could affirm nothing contrary to the emperor’s will.