498 FOURTH PERIOD. A. D. 590-1049.
assembled the first Lateran Council (Oct., 649), so called from being held in the Lateran basilica in Rome. It was attended by one hundred and five bishops, anathematized the one- will doctrine and the two imperial edicts, and solemnly sanctioned the two-will doctrine. It anticipated substantially the decision of the sixth oecumenical council, and comes next to it in au thority on this article of faith.1
The acts of this Roman council, together with an encyclical of the pope warning against the Ekihesis and the Type, were sent to all parts of the Christian world. At the same time, the pope sent a Greek translation of the acts to the Emperor Constans II., and politely informed him that the Synod had con firmed the true doctrine, and condemned the heresy. Theodore of Pharan, Sergius, Pyrrhus, and Paul us had violated the full humanity of Christ, and deceived the emperors by the Ekihesis and the Type.
But the emperor, through his representative, Theodore Calliopa, the exarch of Ravenna, deposed the pope as a rebel and heretic, and removed him from Rome (June, 653). He im prisoned him with common criminals in Constantinople, exposed him to cold, hunger, and all sorts of injuries, and at last sent him by ship to a cavern in Cherson on the Black Sea (March, 655). Martin bore this cruel treatment with dignity, and died Sept 16, 655, in exile, a martyr to his faith in the doctrine of two wills.
Maximus was likewise transported to Constantinople (653), and treated with even greater cruelty. He was (with two of his disciples) confined in prison for several years, scourged, deprived of his tongue and right hand, and thus mutilated sent, in his old age, to Lazica in Colchis on the Pontus Euxinus, where he died of these injuries, Aug. 13, 662. His two companions like wise died in exile.
The persecution of these martyrs prepared the way for the
1 See the acts in Mansi, X., and Hefele, III. 212-230.
2 112. THE SIXTH (ECUMENICAL COUNCIL. 499
triumph of their doctrine. In the meantime province after province was conquered by the Saracens.
§ 112. T/ie Sixth (Ecumenical Council. A.D. 680.
Constans II. was murdered in a bath at Syracuse (668). His son, Constantino IV. Pogonatus (Barbatus, 668-685), changed the policy of his father, and wished to restore harmony between the East and the West. He stood on good or neutral terms with Pope Yitalian (657-672), who maintained a prudent silence on the disputed question, and with his successors, Adeodatus (672-676), Bonus or Domnus (676-678), and Agatho (678-681).
After sufficient preparations, he called, in concert with Aga tho, a General Council. It convened in the imperial palace at Constantinople, and held eighteen sessions from Nov. 7, 680, to Sept. 16, 681. It is called the Sixth (Ecumenical, and also the first Trullan Synod, from the name of the hall or chapel in the palace.1 The highest number of members in attendance was one hundred and seventy-four, including three papal legates (two priests and one deacon). The emperor presided in person, surrounded by civil and ecclesiastical dignitaries. The acts are preserved in the Greek original and in two old Latin versions.2
After a full discussion of the subject on both sides, the coun cil, in the eighteenth and last session, defined and sanctioned the two-will doctrine, almost in the very language of the letter of Pope Agatho to the emperor.3 Macarius, the patriarch of Alexandria, who adhered to Monotheletism, was deposed.
The epistle of Agatho is a worthy sequel of Leo's Epistle to the Chalcedonian Council, and equally clear and precise in stating the orthodox view. It is also remarkable for the
or TpovMiov, Trullum, Tritlla, Trullus, a technical term for build ings with a cupola. The Acts say that the sessions were held h ~<p GFKPF.TU Tor \9.-/'np -ra/nrlnv, rti nvru 7.?yoiih'<.) Tpoi'?.?.w, and Anastasius: ''in basilica, guce Ti'ti/lns appetlatur, infra palatium."
2 Mj.nsi, XL 195-922. See a full account in Hefele, III. 252-313. 8 See above, \ 110, p. 493 sq.