Council of Chalcedon
The fourth ecumenical council, following the Tome of Pope Leo I, defined Christ as one person “in two natures”; its rejection in Egypt and much of Syria divided the eastern churches for good.
- Date
- 8 October – 1 November 451exact date · duration: 24 daysDate in the Julian calendar
- Place
- Chalcedontoday: Kadıköy, Istanbul, Turkey · Balkans and Anatolia
- Participants
- Marcian, Pope Leo I, Byzantine Empire
- Threads
- Europe in the Roman age (1st–5th c.)
- Also known as
- Fourth Ecumenical Council; IV Вселенский собор
Emperor Marcian convened the council to undo the “Robber Synod” of Ephesus (449), which had backed the one-nature teaching of Eutyches. About 520 bishops met at Chalcedon, across the Bosporus from Constantinople. They accepted Leo’s Tome — “Peter has spoken through Leo”, the bishops are said to have cried — and issued a definition that Christ is known in two natures, without confusion, change, division or separation. Dioscorus of Alexandria was deposed.
Canon 28 gave the see of Constantinople, “New Rome”, privileges equal to those of Rome, which the pope refused to accept. The churches of Egypt, much of Syria and later Armenia rejected the council’s definition and formed the Oriental Orthodox communion — a division that still exists.
Connections
Related events
- First Council of Nicaeabetween May and June 325 – between July and August 325 · Balkans and Anatoliathe fourth ecumenical council reaffirmed the Nicene Creed
- Founding of Constantinople11 May 330 · Balkans and Anatoliacanon 28 raised the see of “New Rome” to equal rank with Rome
Same participants
- Division of the Roman Empire17 January 395 · Western and Central Europevia Byzantine Empire
- Vandal sack of Rome2–16 June 455 · Western and Central Europevia Pope Leo I
- Deposition of Romulus Augustulus4 September 476 · Western and Central Europevia Byzantine Empire
Same place
- Corpus Juris Civilis7 April 529 – 16 November 534 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Construction of Hagia Sophia23 February 532 – 27 December 537 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Plague of Justinian541–549 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Jordanes and Procopius describe the Sclaveni and the Antesbetween 550 and 554 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Avar–Persian siege of Constantinople29 June – 7 August 626 · Balkans and Anatolia
- First Arab siege of Constantinople674–678 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Second Arab siege of Constantinoplebetween 15 July and 15 August 717 – 15 August 718 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Byzantine Iconoclasmbetween 726 and 730 – 11 March 843 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Rus’ attack on Constantinople18 June – 4 August 860 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Oleg’s campaign against Constantinople907 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Rus’–Byzantine Treaty of 9112 September 911 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Igor’s campaigns against Byzantium11 June 941 – 944 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Rus’–Byzantine Treaty of 944between 944 and 945 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Olga’s visit to Constantinople and her baptism9 September – 18 October 957 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Sack of Constantinople12–13 April 1204 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Reconquest of Constantinople25 July 1261 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Fall of Constantinople29 May 1453 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Accession of Suleiman the Magnificent30 September 1520 · Balkans and Anatolia
Adjacent events in the thread
- Battle of the Catalaunian Plains20 June 451 · Western and Central Europe
Meanwhile in the world
Other regions, within 25 years of this event
Western and Central Europe
- Battle of the Catalaunian Plains20 June 451
- Vandal sack of Rome2–16 June 455
- Deposition of Romulus Augustulus4 September 476
Eastern Europe
- Early Slavic cultures: Prague-Korchak, Penkovka and Kolochinc. 450 – c. 700
- Chernyakhov culturebetween 200 and 250 – between 400 and 430
- Kyiv culturec. 200 – between 400 and 430
Africa
- Vandal conquest of Roman AfricaMay 429 – 442
The same period
Sources
- Wikipedia (English): Council of Chalcedon
- Wikipedia (Russian): Халкидонский собор
- Price R., Gaddis M. The Acts of the Council of Chalcedon. — Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 2005.
- Карташёв А. В. Вселенские соборы. — Париж, 1963.
- Wikidata: Q170531