03 — The Council of 451

The Fourth Ecumenical Council met at Chalcedon, across the Bosphorus from Constantinople, from 8 October to 1 November 451 — the largest of the ancient councils, summoned by Marcian and Pulcheria, steered by imperial commissioners, and closely watched by Rome. This section carries the history: the sessions, the imperial role, the deposition of Dioscorus and the exact grounds of it, the fight over the wording of the Definition, and canon 28 with its own separate later history.

Tradition: Pan-Orthodox

Contents

File Description
the-sessions-and-the-deposition-of-dioscorus.md Marcian and Pulcheria; the move from Nicaea to Chalcedon; the numbers and the presidency; the annulment of 449; the trial and deposition of Dioscorus and precisely what he was condemned for; the restoration of Theodoret and Ibas; the reading of the Tome
drafting-the-definition-and-canon-28.md The bishops’ reluctance to write a new formula; the lost first draft and the fight over “out of two natures” against “in two natures”; the committee, the imperial ultimatum, and the adoption of the Horos on 22 October; then canon 28, the Roman objection, and its own long history — kept strictly apart from the christological question

Reading Order

Read The Sessions and the Deposition of Dioscorus first for the shape of the council, then Drafting the Definition and Canon 28 for how the Horos was produced and for the disciplinary canon that has been confused with it ever since. The Definition’s content is the subject of Section 04, not of this section.

A Warning About Canon 28

Canon 28 belongs to the history of the Roman primacy, not to the history of the christological schism. The non-Chalcedonian churches did not reject Chalcedon over canon 28; Rome, which objected to canon 28 for centuries, never wavered on the Definition. The two questions are treated in the same file only so that the reader can see them being held apart.

See Also