The ''apocrisiarius'' or apocrisiary was the legate from the

pope The pope is the bishop of Rome and the Head of the Church#Catholic Church, visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the po ...

to the

patriarch of Constantinople The ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople () is the archbishop of Constantinople and (first among equals) among the heads of the several autocephalous churches that comprise the Eastern Orthodox Church. The ecumenical patriarch is regarded as ...

, circa 452–743, equivalent to the modern nunciature.

Nomenclature

The term '' apocrisiarius'' comes from the

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

word ''apokrisis'', "response". The

Latin language Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

name for the office would have been '' responsalis'', from the word ''responsum''. The term was also used by other ecclesiastical envoys, either between bishops or between a bishop and a royal court, although this specific office was one of the first and most notable examples.

History and functions

In part, the role of the ''apocrisiarius'' was to represent the interests of the Roman church at the imperial court in Constantinople.Ekonomou, 2007, p. 8. Relations between the pope and the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived History of the Roman Empire, the events that caused the ...

were also managed at the court of the

Exarchate of Ravenna The Exarchate of Ravenna (; ), also known as the Exarchate of Italy, was an administrative district of the Byzantine Empire comprising, between the 6th and 8th centuries, the territories under the jurisdiction of the exarch of Italy (''exarchus ...

—where the pope had another permanent ''apocrisiarius''—and between the archbishop of Ravenna and the papacy. The later had a special role as '' responsalis'' at the papal court during the papacy of Gregory I. According to the ''

Catholic Encyclopedia ''The'' ''Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the Constitution, Doctrine, Discipline, and History of the Catholic Church'', also referred to as the ''Old Catholic Encyclopedia'' and the ''Original Catholic Encyclopedi ...

'', "in view of the great importance attaching to the relations between the popes and the imperial court of Constantinople, especially after the fall of the Western Empire (476), and during the great dogmatic controversies in the Greek Church, these papal representatives at Constantinople took on gradually the character of permanent legates and were accounted the most important and responsible among the papal envoys." Most were

deacons A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian denominations, such as the Catholi ...

, as they were the most educated and potentially skilled in diplomatic negotiations. The ''apocrisiarius'' held "considerable influence as a conduit for both public and covert communications" between pope and

Byzantine emperor The foundation of Constantinople in 330 AD marks the conventional start of the Eastern Roman Empire, which Fall of Constantinople, fell to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 AD. Only the emperors who were recognized as legitimate rulers and exercised s ...

. During the Byzantine Papacy, seven ''apocrisiarii'' went on to be selected as pope. According to one commentator, "to be sent as ''apocrisiarius'' to Constantinople was to graduate for the papacy."Howorth, 1913, p. xxvi. When in

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

, the ''apocrisiarius'' resided in the Placidia Palace, as early as the end of the Acacian schism in 519.Herrin, 1989, p. 152.Ekonomou, 2007, p. 9.

End of the office

The popes continued to have a permanent apocrisiary in Constantinople until the time of the

Byzantine Iconoclasm The Byzantine Iconoclasm () are two periods in the history of the Byzantine Empire when the use of religious images or icons was opposed by religious and imperial authorities within the Ecumenical Patriarchate (at the time still comprising the ...

edict of 726.Silas McBee,
Normal Relations
" p. 651-53 (PDF). Thereafter, popes Gregory II, Gregory III, Zacharias, and Stephen II are known to have sent non-permanent apocrisiaries to Constantinople. The office ceased having any religious role in the 8th century, although it continued to be regularly occupied well into the 10th century. Circa 900, the office began being referred to as '' syncellus''. A permanent envoy may have been re-established after the reconciliation of 886. A ''syncellus'', unlike an ''apocrisiarius'', was a representative to the emperor, not the patriarch. These ambassadors continued into the 11th century, even after the

East–West Schism The East–West Schism, also known as the Great Schism or the Schism of 1054, is the break of communion (Christian), communion between the Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church. A series of Eastern Orthodox – Roman Catholic eccle ...

Later use of the title

According to the ''Catholic Encyclopedia'', "from the reign of

Charlemagne Charlemagne ( ; 2 April 748 – 28 January 814) was List of Frankish kings, King of the Franks from 768, List of kings of the Lombards, King of the Lombards from 774, and Holy Roman Emperor, Emperor of what is now known as the Carolingian ...

(d. 814) we find ''apocrisiarii'' at the court of the Frankish kings, but they are only royal arch-chaplains decorated with the title of the ancient papal envoys."

List of ''apocrisiarii''

References

Sources

*Ekonomou, Andrew J. 2007. ''Byzantine Rome and the Greek Popes: Eastern influences on Rome and the papacy from Gregory the Great to Zacharias, A.D. 590-752''. Lexington: Lexington Books. *Henry Hoyle Howorth. 1913. ''Saint Augustine of Canterbury''. Google Books. {{DEFAULTSORT:Apocrisiarius Byzantine Empire–Holy See relations *