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33-449: In the early 5th century, Pope Celestine I appointed Cyril of Alexandria as Commissary Apostolic, in order to judge Nestorius in the Pope's name. Cardinal Wolsey and Cardinal Campeggio were appointed Commissaries Apostolic for the divorce case of Henry VIII of England . Various Roman congregations are presided over by commissaries appointed on a permanent basis. The full extent of

66-511: A delegated jurisdiction superadded to that which he already possessed; such an Apostolic commission is said to 'excite', not to alter, his ordinary jurisdiction. As a Commissary Apostolic is a delegate of the Holy See, an appeal may be made to the Pope against his judgments or administrative acts. When several commissaries have been appointed for the same case, they are to act together as one; but if, owing to death or any other cause, one or other of

99-534: A projected fifth volume did not appear). Muratori reprinted Bianchini's edition, adding the remaining popes through John XXII (Scriptores rerum Italicarum, III). Migne also republished Bianchini's edition, adding several appendixes (P. L., CXXVII-VIII). Modern editions include those of Louis Duchesne ( Liber Pontificalis. Texte, introduction et commentaire , 2 vols., Paris, 1886–92) and Theodor Mommsen ( Gestorum Pontificum Romanorum pars I: Liber Pontificalis , Mon. Germ. hist. , Berlin, 1898). Duchesne incorporates

132-434: Is an "unofficial instrument of pontifical propaganda." The title Liber Pontificalis goes back to the 12th century, although it only became current in the 15th century, and the canonical title of the work since the edition of Duchesne in the 19th century. In the earliest extant manuscripts it is referred to as Liber episcopalis in quo continentur acta beatorum pontificum Urbis Romae ('episcopal book in which are contained

165-517: Is known of his early history except that his father's name was Priscus. According to John Gilmary Shea , Celestine was a relative of the emperor Valentinian . He is said to have lived for a time at Milan with St. Ambrose . The first known record of him is in a document of Pope Innocent I from the year 416, where he is spoken of as "Celestine the Deacon". According to the Liber Pontificalis ,

198-604: Is mostly copied from other works with small additions or excisions from the papal biographies of Pandulf, nephew of Hugo of Alatri , which in turn was copied almost verbatim from the original Liber Pontificalis (with the notable exception of the biography of Pope Leo IX ), then from other sources until Pope Honorius II (1124–1130), and with contemporary information from Pope Paschal II (1099–1118) to Pope Urban II (1088–1099). Duchesne attributes all biographies from Pope Gregory VII to Urban II to Pandulf , while earlier historians like Giesebrecht and Watterich attributed

231-592: Is recognized by the Oriental Orthodox , Eastern Orthodox , and Catholic Churches as a saint. Liber Pontificalis The Liber Pontificalis ( Latin for 'pontifical book' or Book of the Popes ) is a book of biographies of popes from Saint Peter until the 15th century. The original publication of the Liber Pontificalis stopped with Pope Adrian II (867–872) or Pope Stephen V (885–891), but it

264-403: Is repeated by Martin of Opava , who extended the work into the 13th century. Other sources attribute the early work to Hegesippus and Irenaeus , having been continued by Eusebius of Caesarea . In the 16th century, Onofrio Panvinio attributed the biographies after Damasus until Pope Nicholas I (858–867) to Anastasius Bibliothecarius ; Anastasius continued to be cited as the author into

297-413: Is understood that the latter phrase refers only to persons and things of equal or lower importance than those that are expressly named, and under no circumstances can the commissary's power extend to what is higher or more dignified (Cap. xv, de rescript.). If a bishop be appointed commissary Apostolic in matters that already belong to his ordinary (mainly diocesan) jurisdiction, he does not thereby receive

330-585: The Gesta Romanorum Pontificum alongside the Liber Censuum of Pope Honorius III . Boso drew on Bonizo of Sutri for popes from John XII to Gregory VII , and wrote from his own experiences about the popes from Gelasius II (1118–1119) to Alexander III (1179–1181). An independent continuation appeared in the reign of Pope Eugene IV (1431–1447), appending biographies from Pope Urban V (1362–1370) to Pope Martin V (1417–1431), encompassing

363-528: The Leonine Catalogue , which is no longer extant. Most scholars believe the Liber Pontificalis was first compiled in the 5th or 6th century. Because of the use of the vestiarium , the records of the papal treasury , some have hypothesized that the author of the early Liber Pontificalis was a clerk of the papal treasury. Edward Gibbon 's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (1788) summarised

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396-687: The First Council of Ephesus , which addressed the same issue . Four letters written by him on that occasion, all dated 15 March 431, together with a few others, to the African bishops, to those of Illyria , of Thessalonica , and of Narbonne , are extant in re-translations from the Greek ; the Latin originals having been lost. Celestine actively condemned the Pelagians and was zealous for Roman orthodoxy. To this end he

429-465: The lapsi , but Celestine argued that reconciliation should never be refused to any dying sinner who sincerely asked for it. He was zealous in refusing to tolerate the smallest innovation on the constitutions of his predecessors. As St. Vincent of Lerins reported in 434: In a letter to certain bishops of Gaul, dated 428, Celestine rebukes the adoption of special clerical garb by the clergy. He wrote: "We [the bishops and clergy] should be distinguished from

462-440: The 17th century, although this attribution was disputed by the scholarship of Caesar Baronius , Ciampini , Schelstrate and others. The modern interpretation, following that of Louis Duchesne , is that the Liber Pontificalis was gradually and unsystematically compiled, and that the authorship is impossible to determine, with a few exceptions (e.g. the biography of Pope Stephen II (752–757) to papal "Primicerius" Christopher;

495-462: The Holy See the names of four persons capable of receiving such delegation for his diocese. It has consequently become customary for the Pope to choose commissaries Apostolic from the locality where they are to investigate or pass judgment or execute a mandate. Pope Celestine I Pope Celestine I ( Latin : Caelestinus I ) (c. 376 – 1 August 432) was the bishop of Rome from 10 September 422 to his death on 1 August 432. Celestine's tenure

528-570: The acts of the blessed pontiffs of the city of Rome') and later the Gesta or Chronica pontificum . During the Middle Ages, Saint Jerome was considered the author of all the biographies up until those of Pope Damasus I (366–383), based on an apocryphal letter between Saint Jerome and Pope Damasus published as a preface to the Medieval manuscripts. The attribution originated with Rabanus Maurus and

561-557: The authority of commissaries apostolic must be learnt from the diploma of their appointment. The usual powers which they possess, however, are defined in the common law of the Church . Commissaries can be empowered not only for judicial but also for executive purposes. When a papal commission mentions explicitly certain persons and certain things as subject to the authority of a commissary, and then adds in general that "other persons and other things" ( quidam alii et res aliœ ) are also included, it

594-539: The biographies of Gregory VII, Victor III, and Urban II to Petrus Pisanus , and the subsequent biographies to Pandulf. These biographies until those of Pope Martin IV (1281–1285) are extant only as revised by Petrus Guillermi in the manuscripts of the monastery of St. Gilles having been taken from the Chronicle of Martin of Opava . Early in the 14th century, an unknown author built upon the continuation of Petrus Guillermi, adding

627-413: The biographies of Pope Nicholas I and Pope Adrian II (867–872) to Anastasius). Duchesne and others have viewed the beginning of the Liber Pontificalis up until the biographies of Pope Felix III (483–492) as the work of a single author, who was a contemporary of Pope Anastasius II (496-498), relying on Catalogus Liberianus , which in turn draws from the papal catalogue of Hippolytus of Rome , and

660-401: The biographies of popes Martin IV (d. 1285) through John XXII (1316–1334), with information taken from the " Chronicon Pontificum " of Bernardus Guidonis , stopping abruptly in 1328. Independently, the cardinal-nephew of Pope Adrian IV , Cardinal Boso intended to extend the Liber Pontificalis from where it left off with Stephen V, although his work was only published posthumously as

693-415: The commissaries should be hindered from acting, the remaining members have full power to execute their commission. In case the commissaries be two in number and they disagree in the judgment to be given, the matter must be decided by the Holy See. A commissary Apostolic has the power to subdelegate another person for the cause committed to him, unless it has been expressly stated in his diploma that, owing to

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726-526: The common people [plebe] by our learning, not by our clothes; by our conduct, not by our dress; by cleanness of mind, not by the care we spend upon our person". Celestine died on 26 July 432. He was buried in the cemetery of St. Priscilla in the Via Salaria , but his body, subsequently moved, now lies in the Basilica di Santa Prassede . In art, Celestine is portrayed as a pope with a dove, dragon, and flame, and

759-439: The duration of the ensuing sede vacante . Pope Adrian II (867–872) is the last pope for which there are extant manuscripts of the original Liber Pontificalis : the biographies of Pope John VIII , Pope Marinus I , and Pope Adrian III are missing and the biography of Pope Stephen V (885–891) is incomplete. From Stephen V through the 10th and 11th centuries, the historical notes are extremely abbreviated, usually with only

792-453: The importance of the matter at issue, he is to exercise jurisdiction personally. By the plenitude of his power, the Pope can constitute a layman commissary Apostolic for ecclesiastical affairs, but according to the common canon law only prelates or clerics of the major orders should receive such a commission (Lib. Sext., c. II, de rescr., 1, 3). The Council of Trent (Sess. XXV, c. xvi, de Ref.) prescribes that each bishop should transmit to

825-579: The period of the Western Schism . A later recension of this continuation was expanded under Pope Eugene IV . The two collections of papal biographies of the 15th century remain independent, although they may have been intended to be continuations of the Liber Pontificalis . The first extends from popes Benedict XII (1334–1342) to Martin V (1417–1431), or in one manuscript to Eugene IV (1431–1447). The second extends from Pope Urban VI (1378–1389) to Pope Pius II (1458–1464). The Liber Pontificalis

858-420: The pope's origin and reign duration. It was only in the 12th century that the Liber Pontificalis was systematically continued, although papal biographies exist in the interim period in other sources. Duchesne refers to the 12th-century work by Petrus Guillermi in 1142 at the monastery of St. Gilles ( Diocese of Reims ) as the Liber Pontificalis of Petrus Guillermi (son of William) . Guillermi's version

891-404: The scholarly consensus as being that the Liber Pontificalis was composed by "apostolic librarians and notaries of the viii and ix centuries" with only the most recent portion being composed by Anastasius. Duchesne and others believe that the author of the first addition to the Liber Pontificalis was a contemporary of Pope Silverius (536–537), and that the author of another (not necessarily

924-702: The second) addition was a contemporary of Pope Conon (686–687), with later popes being added individually and during their reigns or shortly after their deaths. The Liber Pontificalis originally only contained the names of the bishops of Rome and the durations of their pontificates. As enlarged in the 6th century, each biography consists of: the birth name of the pope and that of his father, place of birth, profession before elevation, length of pontificate, historical notes of varying thoroughness, major theological pronouncements and decrees, administrative milestones (including building campaigns, especially of Roman churches ), ordinations , date of death, place of burial, and

957-451: The start of his papacy was 3 November. However, Tillemont places the date at 10 September. The Vatican also gives his pontificate as starting on 10 September 422. Various portions of the liturgy are attributed to Celestine I, but without any certainty on the subject. In 430, he held a synod in Rome, at which the teachings of Nestorius were condemned. The following year, he sent delegates to

990-457: Was first edited by Joannes Busaeus under the title Anastasii bibliothecarii Vitæ seu Gesta Romanorum Pontificum (Mainz, 1602). A new edition, including the Historia ecclesiastica of Anastasius, was edited by Fabrotti (Paris, 1647). Another edition, editing the older Liber Pontificalis up to Pope Adrian II and adding Pope Stephen VI , was compiled by Fr. Bianchini (4 vols., Rome, 1718–35;

1023-736: Was involved in the initiative of the Gallic bishops to send Germanus of Auxerre and Lupus of Troyes travelling to Britain in 429 to confront bishops reportedly holding Pelagian views. He sent Palladius to Ireland to serve as a bishop in 431. Celestine strongly opposed the Novatians in Rome ; as Socrates Scholasticus writes, "this Celestinus took away the churches from the Novatians at Rome also, and obliged Rusticulus their bishop to hold his meetings secretly in private houses." The Novationists refused absolution to

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1056-480: Was largely spent combatting various ideologies deemed heretical. He supported the mission of the Gallic bishops that sent Germanus of Auxerre in 429, to Britain to address Pelagianism , and later commissioned Palladius as bishop to the Scots of Ireland and northern Britain. In 430, he held a synod in Rome which condemned the apparent views of Nestorius . Celestine I was a Roman from the region of Campania . Nothing

1089-608: Was later supplemented in a different style until Pope Eugene IV (1431–1447) and then Pope Pius II (1458–1464). Although quoted virtually uncritically from the 8th to 18th centuries, the Liber Pontificalis has undergone intense modern scholarly scrutiny. The work of the French priest Louis Duchesne (who compiled the major scholarly edition), and of others has highlighted some of the underlying redactional motivations of different sections, though such interests are so disparate and varied as to render improbable one popularizer's claim that it

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