Birkin Mikhail

"Auctoritas" and "potestas" as a metaphor for the bishop’s role models in the canons of the Councils of Toledo of the 7th century

Abstract

The article is concerned with the key medieval opposition between auctoritas and potestas. It is explored in connection with the figure of the bishop as mainly exemplified in the canons of the Councils of Toledo. Since these words were not attributed to secular or ecclesiastical authority alone, a brief overview of the word usage is first given. Firstly, it made possible to specify the interaction between royal power and the Church, for which secular power was understood as alien. Secondly, examples of the non-technical use of the terms auctoritas and potestas in relation to the bishop have been detected. These cases are then examined. The author briefly retraces the continuity of the Roman notion of auctoritas in relation to the authority of the bishop (mature age, experience, eloquence, euergetism, reputation based among others on such right qualities as grauitas, prudentia, probitas etc.). As in Roman period, the auctoritas of the bishop means above all his power of persuasion, therefore his main management tools were preaching and admonition (sacerdotalis admonitio). The subordinates were supposed to take the path of correction by their will (uoluntas propria). If the bishop lacked authority, he could resort to various types of punishment (animaduersio sacerdotalis). Animaduersio sacerdotalis was linked to the potestas concept. The author suggests that the words auctoritas and potestas could be used as metaphors for describing the bishop's role models. If potestas model, relatable to the sphere of the secular, prevailed, this could cause destruction of the community as a sacralized small community where relationships were to be based on consensus reached non-violently. These observations help to clarify the widespread statement that since the fifth century auctoritas was supposedly connected only with spiritual power and potestas with secular power.

Keywords

auctoritas, potestas, authority, bishop, Visigothic Kingdom of Toledo, Councils of Toledo, Isidore of Seville, Late Antiquity

References

1. André, J.-M. (1982) “La conception de l’etat et de l’empire dans la pensée gréco-romaine des deux premiers siècles de notre ère”, in W. Haase (ed.) Aufstieg und Niedergang der römischen Welt. Bd. II.30.1. Sprache und Literatur (Literatur der augusteischen Zeit: Allgemeines; einzelne Autoren). Berlin; New York, pp. 3–74.
2. Aurov O. (2019) Ispaniia v epokhu vestgotov. Kratkaia istoriia. St. Petersburg (in Russian).
3. Baraz D. (1998) “Seneca, Ethics, and the Body: The Treatment of Cruelty in Medieval Thought”. Journal of the History of Ideas, 1998, vol. 59/2, pp. 195–215.
4. Berger A. (1953) Encyclopedic Dictionary of Roman Law. Philadelphia.
5. Birkin M. (2020) Episkop v vestgotskoi Ispanii. St. Petersburg (in Russian).
6. Birkin M. (2020) “Durnoi episkop kak tiran v ¡Sententsiiakh″ Isidora Sevil′skogo”. Shagi / Steps, vol. 6/2, pp. 259–291 (in Russian).
7. Blaise A. (1954) Dictionnaire Latin-Français des auteurs chrétiens. Turnhout.
8. Brandt A. (1999) Moralische Werte in den Res gestae des Ammianus Marcellinus. Göttingen.
9. Brown P. (1992) Power and Persuasion in Late Antiquity: Towards a Christian Empire. Madison.
10. Castellanos S. (2003) “Significance of Social Unanimity in a Visigothic Hagiography: Keys to an Ideological Screen”. Journal of Early Christian Studies, 2003, vol. 11/3, pp. 387–419.
11. Classen C. J. (2010) Aretai und Virtutes: Untersuchungen zu den Wertvorstellungen der Griechen und Römer. Berlin; New York.
12. Cottrell A. (1993) “Auctoritas and Potestas: A Reevaluation of the Correspondence of Gelasius I on Papal-Imperial Relations”. Mediaeval Studies, 1993, vol. 55, pp. 95–109.
13. Cowan E. (2016) “Contesting Clementia: The Rhetoric of Severitas in Tiberian Rome before and after the Trial of Clutorius Priscus”. The Journal of Roman Studies, 2016, vol. 106, pp. 77–101.
14. Drake H. A. (2000) Constantine and the Bishops: The Politics of Intolerance. Baltimore.
15. Ensslin W. (1954) “Auctoritas und Potestas. Zur Zweigewaltenlehre des Papstes Gelasius I”. Historisches Jahrbuch, 1954, vol. 74, pp. 661–668.
16. Finley M. I. (1973) Democracy Ancient and Modern. New Brunswick.
17. Finley M. I. (1982) Authority and Legitimacy in the Classical City-state. Copenhagen.
18. Fontaine J., Pellistrandi C. (eds) (1992) L’Europe héritière de l’Espagne wisigothique. Madrid.
19. Galinsky K. (1998) Augustan Culture: An Interpretive Introduction. Princeton.
20. Garnsey P. (1970) Status and Legal Privilege in the Roman Empire. Oxford.
21. Gaudemet J. (1989) L’église dans l’empire romain (IVe–Ve siècles). Paris.
22. Gizewski C., Willvonseder R. (1996) ”Auctoritas”, in H. Cancik, H. Schneider (eds) Der Neue Pauly: Enzyclopädie der Antike. Bd. 2. Stuttgart; Weimar, pp. 266–267.
23. Gratsianskiy M. (2019) “Istoricheskii i ideinyi kontekst poslaniia papy Gelasiia I ¡Famuli vestrae pietatis″”. Vizantiiskii vremennik, vol. 103, pp. 85–112 (in Russian).
24. Gwynn D. M. (2012) “Episcopal Leadership”, in S. F. Johnson (ed.) The Oxford Handbook of Late Antiquity. Oxford, pp. 876–915.
25. Heinze R. (1925) “Auctoritas”. Hermes, 1925, vol. 60/3, pp. 348–366.
26. Hellegouarc’h J. (1963) Le vocabulaire latin des relations et des partis politiques sous la République. Paris.
27. Heßler W. (1965) “Auctoritas im deutschen Mittellatein: Eine Zwischenbilanz im Mittellateinischen Wörterbuch”. Archiv für Kulturgeschichte, 1965, vol. 47/3, pp. 255–265.
28. Hölkeskamp K.-J. (2018) “Auctoritas”, in The Encyclopedia of Ancient History. 2018. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1002/9781444338386.wbeah30473
29. Jégou L. (2011) L’évêque, juge de paix: l’autorité épiscopale et le règlement des confl its entre Loire et Elbe (milieu VIIIe-milieu XIe siècle). Turnhout.
30. Kargaltsev A. (2015) “Afrikanskie sobory III v.: episkopy i ispovedniki”. Mnemon: Issledovaniia i publikatsii po istorii antichnogo mira, 2015, no. 15, pp. 432–445 (in Russian).
31. Knabe G. (1981) Kornelii Tatsit (Vremia. Zhizn′. Knigi). Moscow (in Russian).
32. Lendon J. E. (1997) Empire of Honour: The Art of Government in the Roman World. Oxford.
33. Lowrie M. (2009) Writing, Performance, and Authority in Augustan Rome. Oxford.
34. Lütcke K.-H. (1986) “Auctoritas”, in C. Mayer (ed.) Augustinus-Lexikon. vol. 1: Aaron–Conuersio. Basel, Sp. 498–510.
35. Magdelain A. (1947) Auctoritas principis. Paris.
36. Magdelain A. (1990) “Auctoritas rerum”, in A. Magdelain Jus Imperium Auctoritas. Études de droit romain. Rome, pp. 685–705.
37. Magdelain A. (1990) “De l’‘auctoritas patrum’ à l’‘auctoritas senatus’”, in A. Magdelain Jus Imperium Auctoritas. Études de droit romain. Rome, pp. 385–403.
38. Marey A. (2017) Avtoritet, ili Podchinenie bez nasiliia. St. Petersburg (in Russian).
39. Marey E. (2012) “Fenomen ¡vestgotskoi simfonii″ v 75-om kanone IV-go Toledskogo sobora 633 g. (k probleme perekhoda k srednevekovoi gosudarstvennosti)”. Elektronnyi nauchnoobrazovatel′nyi zhurnal “Istoriya”, 2012, vol. 3, no. 3 (11), available at https://history.jes.su/s207987840000372-8-1/ (accessed 30.09.2022; in Russian).
40. Markus R. A. (1985) “The Sacred and the Secular: From Augustine to Gregory the Great”. The Journal of Theological Studies, 1985, vol. 36/1, pp. 84–96.
41. Markus R. A. (1990) The End of Ancient Christianity. Cambridge.
42. Markus R. A. (2010) “The Secular in Late Antiquity”, in É. Rebillard, C. Sotinel (eds) Les frontières du profane dans l’Antiquité tardive. Rome, pp. 353–361.
43. Martin C. (2008) “L’innovation politique dans le royaume de Tolède: le sacre du souverain”, in C. Péneau (ed.) Élections et pouvoirs politiques du VIIe au XVIIe siècle: actes du colloque réuni à Paris 12 du 30 novembre au 2 décembre 2006. Paris, 2008, pp. 281–300.
44. Meyer E. (1975) Römischer Staat und Staatsgedanke. Zürich.
45. Miethke J. (1980) “Autorität I”, in G. Krause, G. Müller (eds) Theologische Realenzyklopädie, vol. 5, Berlin, 1980, pp. 17–32.
46. Morstein-Marx R. (2004) Mass Oratory and Political Power in the late Roman Republic. Cambridge.
47. Nelson J. L. (1967) “Gelasius I’s Doctrine of Responsibility: A Note”. The Journal of Theological Studies, 1967, vol. 18/1, pp. 154–162.
48. Niermeyer J. F. (ed.) (1976) Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus. Leiden.
49. Oexle O. G. (1990) “Stand, Klasse (Antike und Mittelalter)”, in R. Koselleck (ed.) Geschichtliche Grundbegriffe, vol. 6, Stuttgart, pp. 156‒200.
50. Orlandis J., Ramos-Lissón Domingo (1986) Historia de los concilios de la España romana y visigoda. Pamplona.
51. Peachin M (2011) “Introduction”, in M. Peachin (ed.) The Oxford Handbook of Social Relations in the Roman World. Oxford, pp. 3–36.
52. Pöschl V. (1967) Grundwerte römischer Staatsgesinnung in den Geschichtswerken des Sallust. Berlin.
53. Prinz O. (ed.) (1999) Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert, vol. 2, Munich.
54. Rabe H. (1972) “Autorität”, in R. Koselleck (ed.) Geschichtliche Grundbegriffe, vol. 1, Stuttgart, 1972, pp. 382–406.
55. Rees R. (2018) “Authorising Freedom of Speech under Theodosius”, in D. W. P. Burgersdij k, A. J. Ross (eds) Imagining Emperors in the Later Roman Empire. Leiden, pp. 289–309.
56. Reydellet M. (1981). La royauté dans la littérature latine de Sidoine Apollinaire à Isidore de Séville. Paris.
57. Rodríguez A. H. (2013) “Auctoritas y potestas en la exégesis bíblica carolingia”. Bulletin du centre d’études médiévales d’Auxerre. BUCEMA, 2013, no. 7, available at http://journals.openedition. org/cem/12774 (accessed 30.09.2022).
58. Schulz F. (1936) Principles of Roman Law. Oxford.
59. Staedler E. (1941) “Über Rechtsnatur und Rechtsinhalt der Augustischen Regesten”. Zeitschrift der Savigny-Stiftung für Rechtsgeschichte: Romanistische Abteilung, 1941, vol. 61/1, pp. 77–122.
60. Stephens C. W. B. (2015) Canon Law and Episcopal Authority: The Canons of Antioch and Serdica. Oxford.
61. Suchan M. (2015) Mahnen und Regieren: Die Metapher des Hirten im früheren Mittelalter. Berlin; Boston.
62. Syme R. (1958). Tacitus, vol. 1, Oxford.
63. Teillet S. (2011). Des Goths à la Nation Gothique: Les origines de l’idée de nation en Occident du Ve au VIIe siècle. Paris.
64. Teja R. (1999) “Auctoritas vs. potestas: el liderazgo social de los obispos en la sociedad tardoantigua”, in R. Teja. Emperadores, obispos, monjes y mujeres. Protagonistas del cristianismo antiguo. Madrid, pp. 97–107.
65. Timpe D. (1995) Romano-Germanica: gesammelte Studien zur Germania des Tacitus. Stuttgart.
66. Utchenko S. (1973) “Eshche raz o rimskoi sisteme tsennostei”. Vestnik drevnei istorii, 1973, vol. 126/4, pp. 30–47 (in Russian).
67. Van Dam R. (2011) “Bishops and Clerics during the Fourth Century: Numbers and Their Implications”, in J. Leemans (ed.) Episcopal Elections in Late Antiquity. Berlin; Boston, pp. 217–242.
68. Velázquez S. I. (2003) “Pro patriae gentisque Gothorum statu”, in H.-W. Goetz, J. Jarnut, W. Pohl (eds) Regna and Gentes. The Relationship between Late Antique and Early Medieval People and Kingdoms in the Transformation of the Roman World. Leiden, pp. 161–217.
69. Wagenvoort H., Tellenbach G. (1950) “Auctoritas”, in Th. Clauser et al. (eds) Reallexikon für Antike und Christentum, vol. 1, Stuttgart, pp. 902–909.
70. Whelan R. (2021) “After Augustine, after Markus: The Problem of the Secular at the End of Antiquity”. Early Medieval Europe, 2021, vol. 29/1, pp. 12–35.
71. Wieacker F. (1988) Römische Rechtsgeschichte: Quellenkunde, Rechtsbildung, Jurisprudenz und Rechtsliteratur. I: Einleitung; Quellenkunde; Frühzeit und Republik. Munich.
72. Zakharov G. (2015) “Lev I Velikii. Zhizn′”, in Pravoslavnaia entsiklopediia, vol. 40, Moscow, pp. 227–232 (in Russian).
73. Zakharov G. (2022) “Vzaimootnosheniia Rimskoi, Fessalonikiiskoi i Konstantinopol′skoi kafedr v kontekste razvitiia sinodal′nykh institutov v pervoi polovine V v.”. Vestnik Pravoslavnogo Sviato-Tikhonovskogo gumanitarnogo universiteta. Seriia II: Istoriia. Istoriia Russkoi Pravoslavnoi Tserkvi, 2022, vol. 104, pp. 27–37 (in Russian).
74. Zakharov G., Anashkin A. (eds) (2022) Ekkleziologicheskaia traditsiia i tserkovnaia organizatsiia Illirika v kontse IV — pervoi polovine V v.: Issledovaniia i perevody. Moscow (in Russian).
75. Ziegler A. K. (1930) Church and State in Visigothic Spain. Washington.
76. Ziegler A. K. (1943) “Pope Gelasius I and His Teaching on the Relation of Church and State”. The Catholic Historical Review, 1943, vol. 27/4, pp. 412–437.

Information about the author

Birkin Mikhail

Place of work: St. Tikhon’s Orthodox University for the Humanities; 6/1 Likhov Pereulok, Moscow 127051, Russian Federation;
Post: junior research fellow;
ORCID: 0000-0001-9224-7585;
Email: mbirkin@gmail.com.

Acknowledgments

The reported study was funded by RFBR, project number 21-011-44125\21 ("Latin Ecclesiastical Tradition of the 4th - 7th centuries in the Modern Scientific and Theological Context").