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278 CONSTANTINOPLE (COUNCILS) purpose of obtaining the solemn condemnation of what is known in church history as the "three chapters," viz.: the person and wri- tings of Theodore, bishop of Mopsuestia ; the writings of Theodoret, bishop of Cyrrhus, so far as they favored Nestorianism, or opposed the twelve anathemas of St. Cyril ; and an epis- tle written by Ibas, bishop of Edessa, to one Ma- ris, a Persian, censuring Cyril and the council of Ephesus. Justinian, who was much given to theological disputation, had been induced by the Monophysite Theodore Ascidas, bishop of Csesarea, and by the empress Theodora, to issue in 546 a decree called " Confession of Faith," condemning these " three subjects " (/ce^aAam). As they had been passed on by the council of Chalcedon, Pope Vigilius looked upon this unauthorized proceeding of the emperor as a censure of the council. On his arrival in Constantinople, he excommunicated the em- press and Theodore Ascidas, assembled a coun- cil of bishops, and published a sentence styled judicatum, in which, without pronouncing on the authenticity of the inculpated documents, he condemned their heretical meaning, " with- out prejudice to the council of Chalcedon." This saving clause incensed the emperor and the Monophysites, and drew upon the pope a cruel persecution which well nigh cost him his life, while the fact of his condemning the " three chapters " roused the indignation of the orthodox and produced a schism. To remedy this evil, the fifth general council was called, the pope barely yielding a reluctant as- sent, protesting against the partial and irregu- lar way in which the assembly was organized, and refusing to preside over it. The meetings were called conferences. In the third the bishops gave in their adhesion to the four gen- eral councils, condemning all that was contrary thereto. In the eighth and last conference they condemned by a formal sentence the texts laid before them, as well as their authors. The pope, who had pledged himself to give his judgment separately, had prepared what is known as his constitutum, which was pub- lished Feb. 24, 554. While condemning the errors contained in the texts, Vigilius re- minded the fathers of the council that they themselves regarded these texts as having been probably interpolated. He refused to condemn the person of Theodore of Mopsuestia, dead a century before, and reproved the animosity manifested toward Theodoret and Ibas, whose orthodoxy had been admitted by the council of Chalcedon. This doctrinal sentence and approbation of Vigilius was ratified by his suc- cessors. III. The sixth general council met Nov. 7, 680, under Pope Agatho, the emperor Constantino IV. assisting at some of the sub- sequent sessions. Its object was to condemn the Monothelite heresy, which maintains that in Christ there is but one will. The fathers, after reaffirming the doctrinal decisions of the five general councils, decreed that as in Christ both the divine and the human nature remain CONSTANTIUS unconfused and entire after their union, so each nature performs its own vital operations through its proper faculties, the divine nature through the divine intellect and will, the human nature through its human intellect and will ; the hu- man will, however, being ever subject to the divine. The council closed its labors, after 18 sessions, A.ug. 16, 681. IV. The eighth gen- eral council, 869, met in the church of St. Sophia under the presidency of the legates of Pope Adrian II., and in presence of the em- peror Basil the Macedonian. Its object was to remedy the evil caused by the usurpation of Photius, who was condemned both for his intrusion and his heretical opinions. Those among his followers who subscribed to the pro- fession of faith proposed by the council were allowed to retain their position in the church ; the recusants were excommunicated and de- posed. The iconoclasts were also condemned. CONSTAOTIUS. I. Surnamed Chlorus (the Pale), a Roman emperor, father of Constan- tine the Great, born about A. D. 250, died at York, England, in July, 306. During his short reign the emperor Carus purposed to adopt Constantius, then governor of Dalma- tia, in place of his own son, the unworthy Carinus; but his sudden death in 283 pre- vented the execution of this project. Con- stantius afterward served with distinction, especially under Diocletian. In 292 the joint emperors Diocletian and Maximian made over a part of the actual exercise of government to their favorite generals, Galerius and Constan- tius, with the title of Caesars, obliging each of them to divorce his wife and marry a daughter of one of the emperors. Constantius, who was appointed by Diocletian, received the govern- ment of Britain, Gaul, and Spain, his capital being the modern Treves. He defeated the Franks on the lower Rhine, the Alemanni on the upper Rhine, and the usurper Allectus in Britain. He governed with great humanity, and gave special protection to the Christians. In 305, when Diocletian and Maximian abdica- ted, Constantius and Galerius were proclaimed Augusti, the precedence being assigned to the former. He died while on an expedition against Scotland, 14 years after he was created Caesar, and 15 months after receiving the title of Au- gustus. II. A Roman emperor, second son of Constantine the Great by his second wife Fausta, born at Sirmium in Pannonia, Aug. 6, 317, died at Mopsocrene in Cilicia, Nov. 3, 361. After the death of Constantine the empire was apportioned between his three sons, Constan- j tius, then 20 years of age, receiving Thrace and the countries of the East, including Egypt. He, however, seized upon Constantinople, which had been assigned to his elder brother Con- stantine, and put to death two of his uncles and seven of his cousins; but it was soon agreed between the three brothers that Con- stantinople should be restored to Constantine. He waged a protracted war against the Per- sians, which prevented him from taking any