Editing Monophysitism (section)

== Political situation of monophysitism after Chalcedon ==

Under Emperor [[Basiliscus]], who ousted Emperor [[Zeno (emperor)|Zeno]] in 475, "the monophysites reached the pinnacle of their power"{{whosequote}}. In his ''Encyclion'', which he issued in the same year, he revoked the Council of Chalcedon and recognized the [[Second Council of Ephesus]] of 449 except for its approval of Eutyches, whom Basiliscus condemned. He required his edict to be signed by each bishop. Among the signatures he obtained were those of three of the four Eastern Patriarchs, but the Patriarch and the populace of the capital protested so resolutely that in 476, seeing that his overthrow was imminent, he issued his ''Anti-Encyclion'' revoking his former edict. In the same year, Zeno returned victoriously.<ref>{{cite book|author=E. Glenn Hinson|title=The Early Church: Origins to the Dawn of the Middle Ages|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0ymn8dHYbaUC&pg=PT298|year=1996|publisher=Abingdon Press|isbn=978-0-687-00603-8|page=298}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Philip Hughes|title=History of the Church: Volume 1: The World In Which The Church Was Founded|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gSPUAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA265|date= 1948|publisher=A&C Black|isbn=978-0-7220-7981-2|page=265}}</ref>

Events had made it clear that there was a split between the population, staunchly Chalcedonian in sympathies, of Constantinople and the Balkans and the largely anti-Chalcedonian population of Egypt and Syria. In an attempt to reconcile both sides, Zeno, with the support of [[Acacius of Constantinople]] and [[Peter III of Alexandria]], tried to enforce the compromise [[Henoticon]] (Formula of Union) decree of 482, which condemned Eutyches but ignored Chalcedon. Schisms followed on both sides. [[Holy See|Rome]] excommunicated Acacius (leading to the 35-year [[Acacian schism]]), while in Egypt the [[Acephali]] broke away from Peter III. The Acacian schism continued under Zeno's successor, the monophysite [[Anastasius I Dicorus]] and ended only with the accession of the Chalcedonian [[Justin I]] in 518.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Bryan Ward-Perkins|author2=Michael Whitby|title=The Cambridge ancient history. 14. Late antiquity: empire and successors, A.D. 425–600|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Qf8mrHjfZRoC&pg=PA51|year=2000|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-32591-2|pages=51–52}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Justo L. González|title=A History of Christian Thought Volume II: From Augustine to the Eve of the Reformation|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kEXOzNeSgWoC&pg=PA79|date= 2010|publisher=Abingdon Press|isbn=978-1-4267-2191-5|pages=79–82}}</ref>

Justin I was succeeded by the Chalcedonian [[Justinian I]] (527–565), whose wife [[Theodora (wife of Justinian I)|Empress Theodora]] protected and assisted the monophysites.<ref name=":0" /> [[Ghassanids|Ghassanid]] patronage of the monophysite Syrian Church under [[phylarch]] [[Al-Harith ibn Jabalah]] was crucial for its survival, revival, and even its spread.<ref>Rome in the East, Warwick Ball, Routledge, 2000, p. 105</ref> Justinian I was followed by [[Justin II]], who after being a monophysite, perhaps because of Theodora's influence, converted to the Chalcedonian faith before obtaining the imperial throne. Some time later, he adopted a policy of persecuting the monophysites.<ref name=":0">{{cite book|author=John Wesley Barker|title=Justinian and the Later Roman Empire|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LiJljEXvwAoC&pg=PA212|year=1966|publisher=Univ of Wisconsin Press|isbn=978-0-299-03944-8|pages=212–213}}</ref> From Justinian I on, no emperor was a declared monophysite, although they continued their efforts to find compromise formulas such as [[monoenergism]] and [[monothelitism]].