Page:Dictionary of Christian Biography and Literature (1911).djvu/463

 had undertaken to reconcile to that instrument, he became an ardent partisan of the council of Chalcedon, and, after having headed the religious tumults in the city which at one time threatened Anastasius's throne, was in his turn deposed and succeeded by Timotheus, 511. The new patriarch not only signed the "Henoticon," but pronounced an anathema on the council of Chalcedon. Flavianus, accused of being a concealed Nestorian, was ejected from Antioch in 512, where the Monophysite Severus, who had raised religious riots in the streets of Alexandria and Constantinople, reigned supreme. Elias of Jerusalem, though making large concessions to the Catholic party, refused to go all lengths with them, and was deposed in 513. "Throughout Asiatic Christendom it was the same wild struggle. Bishops deposed quietly, or, where resistance was made, the two factions fighting in the streets, in the churches. Cities, even the holiest places, ran with blood" (Milman, u.s. p. 245).

The "Henoticon," so fruitful a source of dissension in the East, became also the watchword of rival parties in the West. Gelasius, succeeding Anastasius II., sought to re-unite the churches by the proposal, couched in the very spirit of the "Henoticon," that Acacius's name should be quietly left on the diptychs. On his death in 498 a contested election ensued, exasperated by differences of opinion on the "Henoticon" and the schisms in the East. Two rival pontiffs were consecrated on Dec. 22, 499—Laurentius an advocate of union, and Symmachus its uncompromising opponent. Theodoric decided in favour of Symmachus, who had received the largest number of votes. This choice was fatal to the restoration of peace in the East on the terms of the "Henoticon." Pope and emperor hurled at one another charges of heresy and messages of defiance. The turbulent orthodox party at Constantinople was supported in its obstinate resistance to the emperor by the Roman see. The rebellion of Vitalian, characterized by Gibbon as "the first of the religious wars," whose battle-cry was the council of Chalcedon, was countenanced by Symmachus's still more haughty successor, Hormisdas, who reaped the fruits of the humiliation of the aged Anastasius and became "the dictator of the religion of the world." The demand of Hormisdas for the public anathematization of the authors and maintainers of the "Henoticon" was indignantly rejected by Anastasius. The conflict only ended with the life of Anastasius, who died worn out by strife at the age of nearly 90 years, 518. His successor, Justin, was an unlettered soldier of unbending orthodoxy. The new patriarch, John of Cappadocia, "a man of servile mind though unmeasured ambition," was prepared to adopt any course which would secure his power. He had seconded all the measures of Anastasius, but at the demand of the mob he now hastily assembled a synod of 40 bishops, which anathematized all upholders of the "Henoticon," recalled the banished bishops, and deposed the so-called usurpers. All heretics, i.e. those who refused the council of Chalcedon, were made incapable of civil or military office. Hormisdas profited by the favourable opportunity to press his demands, which were admitted without question. The names of the patriarchs Acacius, Fravitta, Euphemius, and Macedonius, together with those of the emperor Zeno and Anastasius, were erased from the diptychs, and Acacius was branded with a special anathema. Fresh disturbances were created when it was found that Hormisdas demanded the condemnation of all who had communicated with Acacius, and turned a deaf ear to the repeated applications of both emperor and patriarch for some relaxation of these terms (Evagr. H. E. iv. 4; Labbe, Concil. iv. 1542; Natal. Alexand. Hist. Eccl. t. ii. p. 448). Hormisdas at last consented that Epiphanius, John's successor, should act for him in receiving churches into communion. Some honoured names were allowed to remain on the diptychs, and eventually Euphemius, Macedonius, Flavian of Antioch, Elias of Jerusalem and some others who had died during the separation, were admitted to the Roman Calendars (Tillem. Mém. eccl. t. xvi. p. 697; Bolland. Apr. 25, p. 373).

Thus ended the unhappy schism. The "Henoticon," without being formally repealed, was allowed to sink into oblivion. The four oecumenical councils, including Chalcedon, were everywhere received, save m Egypt, and one common creed expressed the religious faith of the Christian world. Gibbon, Decline and Fall, c. xlvii.; Tillem. ''Mém. eccl.'' vol. xvi. "Acace"; Schröckh, Kirchengesch. vol. xviii.; Migne, Patr. t. lviii.; Evagr. H. E. libb. iii. iv.; Liberat. Breviar.; Walch, Ketzerhist. vol. vi.; Fleury, ''Hist. eccl.'' t. vi. vii.; Neander, ''Ch. Hist.'' vol. iv. pp. 253 ff. (Clarke's trans.); Dorner, Person, div. ii. vol. i. pp. 123 ff.; Milman, ''Hist. of Lat. Christ.'' vol. i. bk. iii. cc. i. iii.

[E.V.]

Heraclas, patriarch of Alexandria, 233–249; brother of the martyr Plutarch, one of Origen's converts (Eus. H. E. vi. 3). From being a pupil he became an assistant in teaching to Origen, who left the school to him when he retired from Alexandria to Caesarea (ib. 15, 26). Heraclas retained the school but a short time, for on the death of Demetrius he was elected to the archiepiscopal throne. Heraclas did not adopt any of his teacher's peculiar views, but voted for his deprivation both from his office as teacher and from his orders and for his excommunication at the two synods held by Demetrius, nor when elected bishop did he attempt to rescind these sentences. Eusebius (ib. 31) narrates a visit paid to Heraclas by Africanus the annalist on hearing of his great learning, and (ib. vii. 7), on the authority of his successor Dionysius, gives his rule respecting the treatment of heretics. Le Quien, Oriens Christ. ii. 392; Phot. Cod. 118; Acta SS. Boll. Jul. 3. 645–647.

[L.D.]

Heracleon (1), a Gnostic described by Clement of Alexandria (Strom. iv. 9, p. 595) as the most esteemed (δοκιμώτατος) of the school of Valentinus; and, according to Origen (Comm. in S. Joann. t. ii. § 8, Opp. t. iv. p. 66), said to have been in personal contact (γνώριμος) with Valentinus himself. He is barely mentioned by Irenaeus (ii. 41) and by Tertullian (adv. Valent. 4). The common source of Philaster and Pseudo-Tertullian (i.e. probably