The Acts of the Council of Constantinople of 553
With Related Texts on the Three Chapters Controversy

The Council of Constantinople of 553 (often called Constantinople-II or the Fifth Ecumenical Council) has been described as by far the most problematic of all the councils. This title covers the acts of the council, session by session, and the related documents, particularly those that reveal the shifting stance of Pope Vigilius.

The editor argues that the work of the council deserves a more sympathetic evaluation that it has generally received in western Christendom, since it arguably clarified rather than distorted the message of Chalcedon and influenced the whole subsequent tradition of eastern Orthodoxy. In interpreting Chalcedon the conciliar acts provide a fascinating example of how a society in this case the imperial Church of Byzantium determines its identity by how it understands its past.

Preface
Abbreviations
GENERAL INTRODUCTION I. The Road from Chalcedon 451-518
II. The Ecclesiastical Policy of the Emperor Justinian
III. The Trials of Pope Vigilius
IV. The Theology: Problems and Solutions
V. The Three Chapters
1. Theodore of Mopsuestia
2. The Controversial Writings of Theodoret
3. The Letter of Ibas to Mari the Persian
VI. The Reception of the Council
VII. Texts and Versions
LETTERS FROM AFRICA (545-6)
1. Bishop Pontianus to Justinian
2. Ferrandus, Letter 6 to the Deacons of Rome
JUSTINIAN, EDICT ON THE ORTHODOX FAITH (551)
LETTERS BY OR ON POPE VIGILIUS (551-2)
1. Letter of Excommunication to Ascidas and Menas
2. Letter from the Church of Milan to the Frankish Envoys
3. Encyclical Letter, Dum in Sanctae Euphemiae
THE ACTS OF THE COUNCIL OF 553 Session I, 5 May
Session II, 8 May
Session III, 9 May
Session IV, 12 May
Session V, 17 May
VOLUME ONE TABLE OF CONTENTS VOLUME TWO Abbreviations
THE ACTS OF THE COUNCIL OF 553 Session VI, 19 May 3 Session VII, 26 May 72 Session VIII, 2 June 102
VIGILIUS, THE TWO CONSTITUTA (553-4) 1. First Constitutum 141 2. Second Letter to Eutychius of Constantinople 214 3. Second Constitutum 219
APPENDICES I. The Anti-Origenist Canons (543 and 553)
1. Canons of 543
2. Letter of Justinian to the Council (553)
3. Canons of 553
II. The Attendance and Subscription Lists
MAPS 1. Patriarchates and Provinces
2. The Balkans
3. Western Asia Minor
4. Eastern Asia Minor
5. Syria and Palestine
6. Egypt
7. Italy and Africa
GLOSSARY
BIBLIOGRAPHY 1. Primary Sources
2. Secondary Literature
INDICES 1. Persons in the Texts
2. Documents
3. The Commentary