Anastasius Bibliothecarius or Anastasius the Librarian (c. 810 – c. 878) was ''bibliothecarius'' (literally "librarian") and chief

archivist An archivist is an information professional who assesses, collects, organizes, preserves, maintains control over, and provides access to records and archives determined to have long-term value. The records maintained by an archivist can consis ...

of the Church of Rome and also briefly a claimant to the

papacy The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

Early life

He was a nephew of

Bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is c ...

Arsenius of Orte, who executed important commissions as Papal legate. Anastasius learned the

Greek language Greek ( el, label= Modern Greek, Ελληνικά, Elliniká, ; grc, Ἑλληνική, Hellēnikḗ) is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages, native to Greece, Cyprus, southern Italy ( Calabria and Salento), southe ...

from

Eastern Roman The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

monk A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...

s and obtained an unusual education for his era, such that he appears to be the most learned ecclesiastic of

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

in the 9th century.Kirsch, Johann Peter. "Anastasius Bibliothecarius." The Catholic Encyclopedia
Vol. 16 (Index). New York: The Encyclopedia Press, 1914. 13 December 2018

Abbot of Santa Maria and secretary of Nicholas I

During the pontificate of Pope Nicholas I (858–867) Anastasius was

abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the male head of a monastery in various Western religious traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not the head of a monastery. The ...

Santa Maria in Trastevere The Basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere ( it, Basilica di Santa Maria in Trastevere); en, Our Lady in Trastevere) is a titular minor basilica in the Trastevere district of Rome, and one of the oldest churches of Rome. The basic floor plan and ...

on the farther side of the

Tiber The Tiber ( ; it, Tevere ; la, Tiberis) is the third-longest List of rivers of Italy, river in Italy and the longest in Central Italy, rising in the Apennine Mountains in Emilia-Romagna and flowing through Tuscany, Umbria, and Lazio, where ...

. He was employed by the pope in various matters. He was also active as an author, and translated Greek language works into

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

. Among them was the biography of St. John the Merciful, which he dedicated to Nicholas I. He has been shown by Ernst Perels to be the '

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' behind much papal official correspondence of these years. The successor of Nicholas,

Pope Adrian II Pope Adrian II ( la, Adrianus II; also Hadrian II; 79214 December 872) was the bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from 867 to his death. He continued the policy of his predecessor, Nicholas I. Despite seeking good relations with Louis ...

(867–872), appointed Anastasius ''bibliothecarius'' (Head of archives) of the Roman Church, an important office at the

Lateran Palace The Lateran Palace ( la, Palatium Lateranense), formally the Apostolic Palace of the Lateran ( la, Palatium Apostolicum Lateranense), is an ancient palace of the Roman Empire and later the main papal residence in southeast Rome. Located on St. ...

that gave him further influence at the Papal court.

Envoy to Constantinople

In 869 he was sent by Louis II, Holy Roman Emperor as envoy to

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya ( Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis ( ...

, with two men of high rank in the

Frankish Frankish may refer to: * Franks, a Germanic tribe and their culture ** Frankish language or its modern descendants, Franconian languages * Francia, a post-Roman state in France and Germany * East Francia, the successor state to Francia in Germany ...

Empire, to negotiate a marriage between

Leo VI the Wise Leo VI, called the Wise ( gr, Λέων ὁ Σοφός, Léōn ho Sophós, 19 September 866 – 11 May 912), was Byzantine Emperor from 886 to 912. The second ruler of the Macedonian dynasty (although his parentage is unclear), he was very well ...

, oldest son of the

Eastern Roman emperor This is a list of the Byzantine emperors from the foundation of Constantinople in 330 AD, which marks the conventional start of the Eastern Roman Empire, to its fall to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 AD. Only the emperors who were recognized as l ...

Basil I Basil I, called the Macedonian ( el, Βασίλειος ὁ Μακεδών, ''Basíleios ō Makedṓn'', 811 – 29 August 886), was a Byzantine Emperor who reigned from 867 to 886. Born a lowly peasant in the theme of Macedonia, he rose in the ...

, and Louis's only child, Ermengard. When the envoys arrived at Constantinople, the Fourth Council of Constantinople was still in session, and Anastasius, who attended the last session (February, 870), zealously defended the papal cause and was of much service to the papal legates. On their way home the papal legates were robbed, and the "Acts" of the council were carried off. However, they had given most of the declarations of obedience of the Greek bishops to Anastasius, who also had a copy of the "Acts", and was thus able to bring these documents to the pope. At the pope's order, he translated the "Acts" into Latin. The Greek originals are lost.

Continued influence

The successor of Adrian II,

Pope John VIII Pope John VIII ( la, Ioannes VIII; died 16 December 882) was the bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from 14 December 872 to his death. He is often considered one of the ablest popes of the 9th century. John devoted much of his papacy ...

(872–882), also esteemed Anastasius, confirmed him in the office of librarian, entrusted important affairs to him, and encouraged him to further literary work. Anastasius was in correspondence with the deposed Byzantine patriarch, Photius, and sought to mediate between the patriarch and the pope and also to assuage the controversy over the

Holy Ghost For the majority of Christian denominations, the Holy Spirit, or Holy Ghost, is believed to be the third person of the Trinity, a Triune God manifested as God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, each entity itself being God.Gru ...

by assuming that the Latins understood the ''processio'' (procession) of the Holy Ghost from the Son in the sense of ''missio'' (transmission).

Presumed identification with antipope Anastasius

If a passage in the annals of

Hincmar of Reims Hincmar (; ; la, Hincmarus; 806 – 21 December 882), archbishop of Reims, was a Frankish jurist and theologian, as well as the friend, advisor and propagandist of Charles the Bald. He belonged to a noble family of northern Francia. Biography Ea ...

is genuine and Hincmar has not confused two men, then the ''bibliothecarius'' Anastasius is identical with the Roman presbyter Anastasius who in 874 became titular priest of St. Marcellus. This Anastasius had fled from Rome in 848, to reside in various cities. As a result of his flight he was

excommunicated Excommunication is an institutional act of religious censure used to end or at least regulate the communion of a member of a congregation with other members of the religious institution who are in normal communion with each other. The purpose ...

by a Roman synod in 850, and, as he did not return, was

anathema Anathema, in common usage, is something or someone detested or shunned. In its other main usage, it is a formal excommunication. The latter meaning, its ecclesiastical sense, is based on New Testament usage. In the Old Testament, anathema was a cr ...

tized and deposed by another synod in 853. After the death of Pope Leo IV in 855 this Anastasius was elected as Antipope by the imperial party, but the rightfully elected

Pope Benedict III Pope Benedict III ( la, Benedictus III; died 17 April 858) was the bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from 29 September 855 to his death. Early career Little is known of Benedict's life before his papacy. His father was named Peter. B ...

gained the supremacy, and acted kindly towards the usurper. During the pontificate of

, Anastasius became involved in serious difficulties when, in 868, his brother Eleutherius forcibly carried off the daughter of the Pope and soon afterwards killed her and her mother. Eleutherius was executed and Anastasius, who was regarded as the instigator of the murder, was punished by excommunication and deposition. He lived at the Imperial court and sought by the intervention of the Emperor to exculpate himself before the Pope.

Joseph Hergenröther Joseph Hergenröther (15 September 1824 – 3 October 1890) was a German Church historian and canonist, and the first Cardinal-Prefect of the Vatican Archive. Biography Born in Würzburg, he was the second son of Johann Jacob Hergenröth ...

maintains that the ''bibliothecarius'' and the presbyter Anastasius (the antipope) were one and the same person, and weaves all the statements concerning the latter into the biography of Anastasius, while

Joseph Langen Joseph Langen (3 June 1837 – 13 July 1901) was a German theologian and priest, who was instrumental for the German Old Catholic movement. Langen was born at Cologne, studied at Bonn, and was ordained priest for the Roman Catholic Church in 1 ...

considers them different persons. In August, 879, Zacharias of Anagni appears as Head of archives of the Roman Church, so Anastasius must have died shortly before this date.

Translator and author

Anastasius translated from Greek into Latin the "Acts" of both the

Second Council of Nicaea The Second Council of Nicaea is recognized as the last of the first seven ecumenical councils by the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church. In addition, it is also recognized as such by the Old Catholics, the Anglican Communion, an ...

and the Fourth Council of Constantinople, as well as several

hagiographies A hagiography (; ) is a biography of a saint or an ecclesiastical leader, as well as, by extension, an adulatory and idealized biography of a founder, saint, monk, nun or icon in any of the world's religions. Early Christian hagiographies might ...

of saints, along with other writings. Knowledge of Greek was so unusual that only he could revise his translations. The attribution to Anastasius of the ancient Latin translation of the Acts of the

Third Council of Constantinople The Third Council of Constantinople, counted as the Sixth Ecumenical Council by the Eastern Orthodox and Catholic Churches, as well by certain other Western Churches, met in 680–681 and condemned monoenergism and monothelitism as heretical ...

has been proved to be wrong on manuscript evidence by Rudolph Riedinger. He also compiled a historical work, "Chronographia tripartita", from the Greek writings of Theophanes, Nicephorus, and

George Syncellus George Syncellus ( el, Γεώργιος Σύγκελλος, ''Georgios Synkellos''; died after 810) was a Byzantine chronicler and ecclesiastic. He had lived many years in Palestine (probably in the Old Lavra of Saint Chariton or Souka, near Tekoa ...

, and made a collection of documents concerning the affairs of

Pope Honorius I Pope Honorius I (died 12 October 638) was the bishop of Rome from 27 October 625 to his death. He was active in spreading Christianity among Anglo-Saxons and attempted to convince the Celts to calculate Easter in the Roman fashion. He is chief ...

. Several important letters written by him have been preserved.His writings are to be found in ''

Patrologia Graeca The ''Patrologia Graeca'' (or ''Patrologiae Cursus Completus, Series Graeca'') is an edited collection of writings by the Christian Church Fathers and various secular writers, in the Greek language. It consists of 161 volumes produced in 1857– ...

'', XXVIII; '' Patrologia Latina'', LXXIII, CXXII, CXXIX. The '' Liber Pontificalis'', which was formerly ascribed to him, was not written by him; he seems to have shared in the revision of the ''Life'' of Nicholas I.

Notes

:''This article incorporates text from the 1913 ''

Catholic Encyclopedia The ''Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the Constitution, Doctrine, Discipline, and History of the Catholic Church'' (also referred to as the ''Old Catholic Encyclopedia'' and the ''Original Catholic Encyclopedia'') i ...

'' article
Anastasius Bibliothecarius
by J.P. Kirsch, a publication now in the

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly waived, or may be inapplicable. Because those rights have expired, ...

.''

External links

Opera Omnia by Migne Patrologia Latina with analytical indexes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bibliothecarius, Anastasius Year of birth uncertain Year of death uncertain 810s births 870s deaths 9th-century antipopes 9th-century Christian clergy Antipopes 9th-century Latin writers Greek–Latin translators Italian librarians People excommunicated by the Catholic Church People of medieval Rome 9th-century Italian historians 9th-century translators