{{Short description, 4th-century list of Christian popes The ''Liberian Catalogue'' ( la, Catalogus Liberianus) is a list of the bishops of Rome from

Peter Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a sur ...

to Liberius (died 366). For each bishop, the list gives the lengths of his episcopate, the corresponding consular dates and the names of the reigning emperors. In many cases there are other details. The catalogue is found in copies of the ''

Chronography of 354 The ''Chronograph of 354'' (or "Chronography"), also known as the ''Calendar of 354'', is a compilation of chronological and calendrical texts produced in 354 AD for a wealthy Roman Christian named Valentinus by the calligrapher and illustrator ...

'', a "collection of tracts .. edited (apparently by one

Furius Dionysius Philocalus Furius Dionysius Filocalus was a Roman scribe and stone engraver, specialized in epigraphic texts, who was active in the second half of the fourth century. Chronography of 354 One of his most noteworthy works is the "Chronography of 354", als ...

) in 354". The ''Liberian Catalogue'' is clearly the work of a compiler using earlier texts. It has been suggested that it is largely dependent on a work of Bishop

Hippolytus of Rome Hippolytus of Rome (, ; c. 170 – c. 235 AD) was one of the most important second-third century Christian theologians, whose provenance, identity and corpus remain elusive to scholars and historians. Suggested communities include Rome, Palestin ...

(died 235), and is his lost ''Chronica''. The character of the entries changes after Pontian. There are a number of "strange errors" (Edmundson 1913, lecture VIII) in the ''Liberian Catalogue'', some of which may be the product merely of copyist errors. The texts in the Chronography do display damage in transmission.

Anomalies in the ''Liberian Catalogue''

George Edmundson pointed out a number of anomalies. "The deaths of St. Peter and St. Paul are stated to have taken place in A.D. 55 Clement succeeds Linus in A.D. 67, and Anencletus, the real successor of Linus, is duplicated and follows Clement, first at Cletus, then as Anacletus. Clement’s death is recorded as having occurred sixteen years before he became bishop according to the generally received date." Nor were the errors confined to the first-century episcopates. The Hippolytean source is not even accurate about Pope Pius himself, who in the words of the

Muratorian fragment The Muratorian fragment, also known as the Muratorian Canon (Latin: ), is a copy of perhaps the oldest known list of most of the books of the New Testament. The fragment, consisting of 85 lines, is a 7th-century Latin manuscript bound in a 7th- o ...

lived "very recently in our own times". Hegesippus and Irenaeus, both of whom stayed some time in Rome soon after the death of Pius, both give the order of succession as Pius, Anicetus, Soter, Eleutherus. The ''Liberian Catalogue'' makes Pius the successor of Anicetus instead of the predecessor.

''Depositio martyrum'' and the ''Depositio episcoporum''

Two other lists are associated, in the sense that they occur in the same manuscript (the ''Chronographus anni'' 354). These are the ''Depositio martyrum'' and ''Depositio episcoporum''. While these names could be generic, for lists of martyrs and bishops, scholarly usage without qualification tends to mean these lists.

References

*George Edmundson, 1913. ''The Church in Rome in the First Century'' (

Bampton Lectures The Bampton Lectures at the University of Oxford, England, were founded by a bequest of John Bampton. They have taken place since 1780. They were a series of annual lectures; since the turn of the 20th century they have typically been biennial ...

)
Lecture VIII, on-line
*''Catholic Encyclopedia'': "Chronological Lists of Popes"

External links

Documents of the Catholic Church Christian anti-Gnosticism King lists 4th-century Christian texts

Anomalies in the ''Liberian Catalogue''

''Depositio martyrum'' and the ''Depositio episcoporum''

See also

References

External links