Différentes évaluations d’une crise : considérations de l’empereur Justinien et du pape Vigile sur la situation ecclésiale à la veille de la controverse des Trois Chapitres (540)
Résumé
Preserved in the Collectio Avellana, the two couriers of Vigilius of September 540 are not just a defense given by a pope in difficulty. Founded on the authority of the Apostolic See, Vigilius also manifests a clear perception of ecclesiological changes brought by the emperor. He therefore intends to contain the legislative initiative of Justinian in the affairs of the major sees. Thus Holy Scriptures, law, history and pastoral discourse are used to highlight the limits of the law. More precisely, Roman doctrine and ecclesiology are recalled in their pretended intangibility by a subtle interplay of a specific reference to the most eloquent tradition and the most topical situation. As the letters show, even before the Three Chapters controversy, Vigilius identifies systemic and complex nature of the relationship between preservation of Petrine ideology on one hand and pentarchical imperial purpose on the other.