ANNO DOMINI MCCLXIV.
THE CYPRIOT CONSTITUTION OF POPE ALEXANDER IV
THE CYPRIOT CONSTITUTION OF POPE ALEXANDER IV. FIRST PUBLISHED IN GREEK, RENDERED INTO LATIN, AND ILLUSTRATED WITH NOTES BY VINCENT RICCARDI, CLERK REGULAR. (Printed at Rome by Stephanus Paulinus, 1636)
TO THE MOST EMINENT PRINCE, FRANCESCO BARBERINI, CARDINAL VICE-CHANCELLOR OF THE HOLY ROMAN CHURCH.
Most Eminent Prince, with that incredible sagacity which was to be expected, it was at your instigation that I was scouring the Greek Euchologia in the Altemps library, so that the errors which had crept into the printed editions might be perceived from the exemplars themselves; when behold, while I was turning through everything here and there with an eager and ready countenance, and peering about with searching eyes, there presented itself in a certain ancient Cypriot Euchologion the *Diataxis* (Constitution) of Pope Alexander, the fourth of that name. Reading it through with wonderful eagerness, I realized it had not yet been published in either Latin or Greek—indeed, not even noted in the acts of the Pontiffs—although it provides rich testimony to the supreme authority of the Roman See over the Greeks and the island of Cyprus, and reveals many things unknown to ecclesiastical writers. Lest, however, it should perish entirely, buried any longer under deep silence, I resolved to rescue it from perpetual oblivion by rendering it into Latin from the Greek exemplar and restoring it, as far as I am able, to its original Latin integrity. Indeed, so that I might perform the role of a hunting dog—a title by which I recall being honored some time ago by your saintly uncle, Urban VIII—I lay this prey, gained and increased in your name, at the feet of you, my sole lord and singular patron, to whom I promise and profess everything from my heart, and I offer it up unharmed; a prize that carries weight not only by its own importance but also, and most especially, by the moment of its novelty. This Constitution, shunning the light, had left its native Latium—the soil in which it had been published—and, wandering far and wide, had hidden itself in secluded forests and winding caves, in an uncorrupted form of speech, gradually becoming invisible to Latins and Greeks alike. As I wandered, making a thorough search, with Your Eminence lighting the way, into that wild and uncultivated forest of Greek codices in the Altemps library, I looked within and found it lurking in a strange habit, inscribed in that thorny Greek—familiar to the Cypriots and likewise most harsh—that was peculiar to that time; I seized it immediately, transcribed it, rendered it into Latin, and I now deliver the whole prize to Your Eminence, as a token of my observance and a lure for your benevolence, so that, by your efforts, the entire world may receive it back from postliminy, and, in like manner, admire it through you.
and take it up in his name, surely auspicious and happy. May God prosper it! Meanwhile, let Your Excellency unbend a little, take some respite from your cares, and, with the charming allurements of letters, welcome with a kindly disposition the fawning whelp as it flatters with all its heart; and, worn out by long labor and heavy with falling sweat and panting, meet it benignly, and receive it—both it and its prey hanging from its mouth—with a grateful face and open arms.
From the house of St. Andrew at the City. Calends of February, the year 1636.
Your Excellency’s most humble servant, VINC. RICCARDUS, Clerk Regular.
HISTORY OF THE CONSTITUTION OF CYPRUS, PREPARED BY VINCENZO RICCARDU, CLERK REGULAR
Cyprus, an island of the Pamphylian Sea, separated far from the continent and lying toward the rising and setting of the sun—opposite Cilicia and Syria—is distinguished by its harbors, supreme pleasantness of location, manifold fertility, and such abundance of wealth and supplies that it is rightfully called Macaria. A Indeed, it is itself an opulence of fleeting things; happy and blessed in its condition; a seat of nine kingdoms; tributary once to the Roman people; shaped by the most holy institutions of the Christian faith by the apostles themselves; cultivated almost always with the Greek tongue and, likewise, the pious and orthodox rite; frequently pressed by the tyranny of the Agarenes; and asserted into liberty many times by the Greek emperors whom it obeyed. Finally, in the twelfth century from Christ, when the Greeks were oppressed by the Richard, King of the English, because of their savage inhumanity toward the English—whom, their fleet having been shattered, they cast out, beaten, and thrust against the Cyprian shores—and their leaders were driven away by that English martial virtue, the whole island was subjugated and conceded to the jurisdiction and power of the Latins. For the invincible Richard, whom the host had rejected as a friend, being incensed by the violation of the rights of hospitality, afterward endured him as a bad guest and felt him to be an enemy. B It then obeyed the Lusignan French, who, having received it from the Roman pontiffs, enriched it in the name of the kingdom. But, distracted and stained by slaughter, dissensions, and seditions, stubborn toward those above, arrogant toward equals, and ungrateful to the Roman see, it was smitten by ecclesiastical thunderbolts and was laid waste by the pugnacious dissension of its nobles and prelates. Wherefore, the rebels having been driven out by the Roman pontiffs, Greek perfidy having been eliminated, and the fourteen sees of the Greek bishops having been withdrawn, the ecclesiastical province was contracted. Only four sees of bishops were left for the whole island by Celestine III of this name, with two prelates assigned to each city, a Latin namely and a Greek, each performing his pontifical duties in one and the same city according to his own native rite. The primacy of these, which once for almost up to the fourth century had been by metropolitan right with the Archbishop of Paphos, then with the Constantian, finally in the twelfth century from Christ existed with the Nicosian—Nicosia, once a regal city, having been restored as the metropolis of the whole island. C But the Greek prelate of Nicosia having died, the Greeks elected their own townsman, Germanus, who, considering himself appointed bishop by an integral and plenary right, as of the urban populace, so also of the city and the whole island, assumed the name and right of archbishop and contended that by metropolitan right all the Greeks of the whole island were of his jurisdiction. While he was performing this pontifical right and office, Hugh, the Latin Archbishop of Nicosia, rose up. He accused Germanus, charging that he was neither rightly elected nor canonically ordained, and he barked that he unjustly claimed the right; he insisted, urged, and proved, in contentious and pugnacious tumult, that there was only one archbishop, and he a Latin, constituted by metropolitan right in the whole island, according to the decrees of the supreme pontiffs; and he sought to drive the Greek Germanus from his throne as one invading alien rights and summoned him to his own tribunal, harassing and gravely troubling him. Bearing all these things with a bitter mind, Germanus, having made an appeal to the Roman Pontiff Alexander IV, eluded Hugh’s judgment. He flew to the Roman city, attended by a throng of his own fellow bishops. He demanded redress for the injury brought upon him; he complained that he had suffered unworthy and intolerable injustices; he implored the pontifical aid by which he might calm the waves of the Cypriots, by which the whole island was being agitated. D Hugh, the Archbishop of Nicosia, also sent his own orators, though he would have come himself had he not feared to leave the island without any prelate, completely destitute of a ruler and shepherd. He appointed and sent to Rome men to defend the rights of the Latin metropolitan in the name of another, but in reality before the most keen stronghold of the law, in the supreme court of equity, the apostolic
see as the bulwark of its defense. Alexander received all of them kindly and gave them a friendly hearing. Moved deeply, however, by the divergent aims of the quarreling bishops, he undertook to pacify the province. At Anagni, a city in Latium, his homeland, in a public assembly, with Germanus himself present, as well as three other Greek bishops of Cyprus—Nicholas of Soli, Joachim of Karpasia, and Matthew of Lefka—and the Latin Archbishop of Nicosia, Hugh, along with their orators and many Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church sitting in attendance, the Pontiff, as the champion of peace, having heard and maturely weighed the arguments of both dissident parties, by the counsel of his brethren, ordained a peace-making constitution. He decreed that Germanus, as long as he lived, should enjoy the right, title, and office of archbishop; and so that there would not be two archbishops for the single city of Nicosia, and lest, in granting rights to Germanus, he should appear to be stripping them from Hugh, he assigned the see of Nicosia to Hugh and the see of Soli to Germanus, having transferred Nicholas to the vacant Church of Arsinoe. He granted all the metropolitan rights of the Greeks to the Greek, Germanus, but took them away from all the Greeks thereafter: for he decreed that upon the death of Germanus, no other Greek metropolitan was to be elected, so that against the holy canons there might not be two metropolitans in the one province, nor that the name, right, or office of archbishop should exist in the future, save for one, namely the Latin pontiff of Nicosia. He declared that all subsequent bishops of Germanus were to be honored only with the name and see of Soli, and were to be subject under metropolitan law to the Latin metropolitan of Nicosia, just as the other Greek pontiffs were. He also located the sees of the Greek prelates within the cities of the Latins, having set forth the rights of both parties and clearly assigning to each his own, and he established the Greek bishops within the Latin empire and dominion to live with a concordant spirit and in the greatest possible peace.
This Constitution was first issued in the year of our Lord 1260, by Pope Alexander, supreme pontiff, in the Roman tongue, in the manner of the Roman pontiffs; then, upon the advice of their own people, it was rendered into Greek by the Greeks, and in the year of our Lord 1297, presented to Leo, the new bishop who had succeeded to the see of Soli, from the archives of Nicosia, and was publicly confirmed by the genuine testimony of wealthy witnesses. But by the incursion of wars and the negligence of the Latins, the Latin edition was lost, and only the Greek version—copied by Greek scribes who never spared their pens—is found in a certain ancient manuscript Cypriot Euchologion in the Altemps library. Lest it be utterly obliterated, having until now been passed over in deep silence and thus falling into oblivion, it seemed good to restore it from the genuine Greek exemplar into Latin, and now for the first time to publish it in both Latin and Greek for the public good of the Church.
CYPRIAN CONSTITUTION OF POPE ALEXANDER IV
A Decrees of Pope Alexander IV, duly and canonically established in the controversy of the Churches of the island of Cyprus and their prelates, both Italian and Greek.
ALEXANDER, Bishop, Servant of the Servants of God, for a perpetual memorial of the matter.
Since the cultivation of justice is perpetually and widely manifested when the contentious disputes of litigants, which in no way reconcile charity but destroy it, are suppressed by the silence of peace; therefore, in the controversies that have arisen, in which discordant ecclesiastical men contend among themselves—who, by the very fact that they ought to be the proclaimers of peace for others, should themselves be peaceful—it is necessary to watch with the utmost zeal, through an accurate examination of judicial inquiry and the bond of charity, to reconcile dissensions: not indeed in the vehement noise of storms, which very often disturbs the tranquil state of affairs; nor in the tumult of disturbances, which more frequently tears apart the Catholic observance of union by the sharp impulse of dissensions; but rather in the sound of a gentle breeze, namely, the placid meekness of a settled spirit, by which the burning minds of the dissidents are mitigated. B After our venerable brother Germanus, Archbishop of the Greeks who are in Cyprus, and the proctors of our venerable brother the Archbishop of Nicosia came to our tribunal, both the Archbishop of the Greeks himself and others with him C [names] Prasinus, an Italian, and Germanus Pesimandrus, a Greek, both Archbishops of the island of Cyprus.
[alt-version omitted]
The peace-loving Pontiff excellently commends peace with a long and obscure hyperbaton of the interpreter, drawing his exordium from the words of Isaiah (XXXII, 17): "And the work of justice shall be peace, and the service of justice silence, and security forever"; although the Greek interpreter, perhaps not very skilled in the Latin language, distorted the words and poured forth darkness, so much so that D it almost required an Oedipus to understand the riddles of the Greek diction.
A They reported to us that, the archbishop of the Greeks of the aforementioned island having died long ago, and their metropolis being vacant, it was commanded to them that some Germanus or another person suitable for this office—whom Pope Innocent of blessed memory, our predecessor, had deemed worthy of the archbishopric in his letters—should be preferred. The universal synod and the order did not oppose this, nor did Peter, bishop of Albano, of blessed memory, who was once the legate of the Apostolic See in those parts, when he gave the power to promote the same Germanus as their own bishop. Our venerable brother, the bishop of Tusculum, who was at that time the legate of the said See in those same parts, was commanded by our predecessor that whomsoever the aforementioned bishops had canonically elected, provided he was worthy, he should confirm. When, however, the matter of ordaining this Germanus was addressed by his supporters, he confirmed his election, as it had been made freely and ingeniously, and acted so that his suffragans would consecrate him bishop. Subsequently, an oath of obedience having been received in the name of the Roman Church from Germanus himself and his suffragans, the said suffragans promised canonical obedience to him as their metropolitan. But when Germanus himself was in possession of the office of the archbishopric, and was peacefully granting the metropolitical rights to the clergy and people of the Greeks who dwelt on that island, the aforementioned archbishop of Nicosia, not content with his own bounds—since he neither recognizes any superior to himself save the Roman pontiff alone, B nor does he have any right to speak regarding those Greeks who are under the empire of the same—[did not cease to disturb him].
C ...[regarding the footnote content: Innocent III was created in the year 1198 and died in the year 1216; therefore, Germanus had ruled the Church of Nicosia for more than fifty years, and incongruously Archbishop Hugo, fifty years later, brought a suit against Germanus regarding the metropolitical right and election, which by the right of prescription after thirty years from can. 17 of the Council of Chalcedon should have settled the metropolitical rights.] Nor did Germanus, worn out by age, though vigorous and healthy, go to Rome, and he complained of his age rather than his poverty, lest the suit be prolonged further by various arguments brought forward. Peter, bishop of Albano, and Otho, bishop of Tusculum, existed under Innocent IV.
The name of this cardinal is not found, who was certainly dead at that time, since he is called [a man] of blessed memory. I have found, however, in the acts of the Council of Lyons under Innocent IV, in the sentence passed against the Emperor Frederick, that the Supreme Pontiff says: "Our special legates, our venerable brother P., Bishop of Albano, then Archbishop of Rouen, and our beloved son, William, cardinal priest of the basilica of the Holy Apostles." He calls Peter "brother" because he is a bishop, but William "son" because he is a priest. [He came] from the castle of Rodulfus, diocese of Bourges, as a legate to Cyprus after Peter, bishop of Albano, under Innocent IV, to whom letters were given regarding the rites of the Greeks, at which time they acted as legates in Cyprus. Later, having returned to Rome, under Alexander IV, he subscribed to this Constitution at Anagni. In the Life of Innocent it is held: "Innocent wrote many letters to Cardinal Otho (would that they were still extant!) and commanded him to institute the bishoprics of the Greeks on the island of Cyprus." Germanus asserts that he recognizes no superior pontiff except the Roman one alone. Because Cyprus was once the only metropolis among those that were under its own law, subject to no empire; which metropolis the Greeks call autokephalos, because this metropolis is a head to itself and rules itself, not being governed by others, and is not constituted under the jurisdiction of any patriarch of the East. D Theodorus Balsamon, concerning the privileges of patriarchs in book VI of the *Juris Orientalis*: "Except for the only autokephalous archbishops—I mean those of Bulgaria and Cyprus, and a few other metropolitans who obtain this right from the special imperial munificence." Which right of the archbishops of Cyprus is indeed most ancient. And Theodorus Balsamon himself, in his comments on the Trullan canons, refers that to the Council of Ephesus, saying: "That the Church of Cyprus was defined to be autokephalous is shown from the decree of a certain bishop of Cyprus named Reginus, and the bishop of Antioch was forbidden to perform ordinations there; it is decreed that it shall have its own [jurisdiction] and the rights of Constantinople, and likewise the churches of the provinces of the Hellespont and the Church of Cyzicus, and that the ordinations of their bishops shall be made by the bishop..."
A of Cyprus. But today, none of these Churches is subject to the archbishopric of Cyprus, nor does it even possess the rights of Constantinople. B Indeed, it is the right of those who preside over the holy churches in Cyprus, according to the canons of the holy Fathers and ancient custom, to remain unimpaired and inviolate, making the ordinations of the most reverend bishops by themselves.
A ...he does not acknowledge the high priest of Rome, nor does he possess any leave to plead a case before the Greeks subject to him; he summoned him to his own tribunal so that he might answer regarding certain matters which were brought against him, as he had ordained. And since the same archbishop Germanus, having yielded to the task, and carrying on his person, it is said, a sentence of censure, brought many burdens upon such a Germanus and his Church, from which it is proven that he suffered harms and very great expenses. For this reason, such a Germanus sought from us, together with the others, to recover the burdens laid upon him through the aforementioned archbishop of Nicosia, and to restrain the same from such and similar non-permitted exercise of power over the Greeks and those things belonging to them, in the matter of tithes and other violations of rights, which he was plotting. And even though before the previously mentioned bishop of Tusculum, to whom we had given the task to hear such complaints, the aforementioned proctors asserted that the archbishop of Nicosia, for such a reason, had never been lawfully summoned to court by any man, nor were they themselves sent by him for this same reason—but rather for other needs—and for this reason, regarding those things presented by the archbishop Germanus, they were not bound to hold judgment. Nevertheless, by our instruction, lest it seem to the archbishop of the Greeks that the fullness of justice was absent, C the auditor himself compelled them to respond to the inquiries of this man, just as [they were] of the aforementioned archbishop.
They declared, therefore, in the judgment, that no request regarding the appointment of such a Germanus had occurred; since it was not right that the archbishop should be elected by the aforementioned bishops. D Their right [was] not new; that right, however, was the right that the metropolitan of Cyprus be elected by the synod of Cyprus and consecrated by the bishops of the same island, not by the patriarch of Antioch or any other. When, therefore, Germanus thought himself created archbishop of the Greeks—as if metropolitan of the Greeks of the island—he rightly did not wish to obey Hugo, the Latin metropolitan. However, those privileges are always understood to be saved given the right of the precedence of the Roman pontiff, and therefore he maintains that he alone has authority over him.
(7) The auditor, namely, a cardinal. For in former times cardinals were constituted as auditors of particular cases by the supreme pontiff. Innocent III, *Regest.* xii, ep. 45: "To you and F., archdeacon of Toul, we have appointed our venerable brother H., bishop of Ostia, as auditor." *Epist.* [...]: "To the prior and brothers of the SS. Quatuor Coronatorum. Whereas a contention was pending between you and N., prior and the convent of the Lateran, concerning the use and right of the parish, we have given our beloved son C., cardinal priest of the title of St. John and Paul, as auditor to the parties; who heard the petition and received the witnesses on both sides." And *Regest.* xv, ep. [...]: "Before our beloved son P., cardinal priest of the title of St. Cecilia, whom we have given to you as auditor." See also epist. [...] and 69.
are held by the bond of a general censure A, and the apostolic letters, in which the aforementioned permission to elect had been granted to them, were held back by those who had been involved in the bond of excommunication. For these reasons it seemed right to the Archbishop of Nicosia himself, who was absent at that time, through his representatives, not to proceed to an election, or confirmation, or consecration. Such a decree—if one may call it that—by the Archbishop of Nicosia was made because B at the command of Celestine of holy memory, our predecessor, who, on account of the contumacy and perfidy of the Greek inhabitants of the island of Cyprus toward the Pope, had given the island to the Catholic Latins to hold, it came about that, the Greek sees having been ejected, four Latin bishops and sees were established, whose pontiffs, substituted in the place of the Greeks, obtained by right of substitution the tithes and other ecclesiastical rights which the Greek bishops had in that island. And the same Celestine subjected the remaining sees to one of the four, namely Nicosia, with the power C that he should preside by metropolitan authority over all the other churches of that island. But later the said Bishop of Albano, by the authority or jurisdiction of the legation which he exercised, decreed—and his decree was confirmed by the apostolic see—that there should be only four Greek bishops in the aforementioned island, and that they should hold certain places within the dioceses of the Latins; these, having taken an oath of obedience, devoted themselves to the Archbishop of Nicosia as their metropolitan and to the Latin bishops in whose dioceses he had placed them. D Therefore it is clearly established that no other metropolitan except the Archbishop of Nicosia could or should have granted rights on that island, which is indeed one province. Wherefore...
[Note: The remaining text in the column is a critical apparatus/commentary section which lists the following details:]
(8) *General censure.* Concerning this universal censure, nothing is found in the published acts of the Roman Pontiffs or in ecclesiastical records. It is hinted at by Emilius, Lib. V; Petrus Maturius in his notes to Part III of the *Summa* of St. Antoninus, § 21, cap. 8, for the year 1254, says: "Under Pope Innocent IV, the island of Cyprus had two archbishops, one Latin and one Greek; the Latin ruled over the Greek, and the Greek, because he would not obey, was forced to leave the land." The Greek bishops were forbidden by the Latin archbishop from celebrating divine services. To this, much of the old Cypriot nobility, counted among the impious, having been shifted to the contention of others who thought differently regarding the sacred and the pontifical law, have no form of agreeing and true piety.
(9) *Celestine.* ...of this name the third, since it does not seem to conform to reason that it was the fourth, because he died eighteen days after his creation, and in such a short interval could not have taken care of Cypriot affairs, nor were his household and urban matters settled; nor Celestine II, created in 1143, since Cyprus had not yet come under Latin rule, and almost thirty years after Celestine II, under the Patriarch Luke of Constantinople, in the year 1170, as it is related in his synodical decree by Balsamon in the *Nomocanon* of Photius, tit. 18, cap. 28, there were more than twelve Greek bishops on that island, whose rights were recognized by reason of appeal to the Patriarch of Constantinople. How, therefore, could it happen that Celestine II expelled the Greek bishops and established only four Latins? Wherefore it must necessarily be asserted that this Celestine was the third of that name, created in 1191, for in the time of Clement III, whom Celestine III succeeded, Richard, King of England, subdued Cyprus, having ejected the Greek lords. But those things which the orators of Hugh brought forward in judgment to Pope Alexander do not cohere with what Joannes Maginius wrote in his *Cosmography* of Ptolemy, dealing with Cyprus, saying: "There were once fourteen bishops in the island of Cyprus, and all of them Greeks; but Innocent III, acceding to the petitions of Queen Alice, reduced them to only four, both Greeks and Latins." Although these Cypriot orators assert that this was not done by the prayers of Queen Alice, but as a punishment for contumacy, the Greeks failing in their obedience to the Roman see, and not by Innocent III, but by his predecessor Celestine III, who, having ejected the Greek pontiffs, established only four Latin sees on that island. Then Petrus, Bishop of Albano, legate of Innocent IV, by the authority of the supreme pontiff, added four Greek bishops to the four Latin bishops, having their sees in distinct places from the Latin cities, who would rule the Greeks of those dioceses.
A And the aforementioned procurators, together with others, requested that the decree issued against the law, regarding the ordination of the aforementioned Germanus to the Church of Nicosia, and whatever might have followed thereafter from this ordination or on account of it, be rendered void by us, and that we should prohibit this same Germanus from exercising any archiepiscopal rights in Cyprus.
Finally, a tumult having arisen over these matters, and many questions having been raised by those who upheld the defense of both sides: since it appeared that the dissensions of the controversy would be drawn out to great length due to the very proofs of law [offered by the parties], the said Archbishop Germanus humbly supplicated us not to allow him to be circumvented and delayed by such long-drawn-out disputes, given the poverty of the Church of the Greeks: nor to allow so many and such tedious difficulties to be brought forward. Being concerned for his condition and for peace, we deemed it equitable, by a peaceful constitution and apostolic disposition, to adopt a salutary counsel whereby the litigations of the dissidents might be quieted and the aforementioned Greeks might lead a peaceful life under the dominion of the Church of Rome. B Nor is it any wonder if the race of Latins and Greeks of that same Church of Cyprus, being agitated by various disturbances, should boil over with seditions, seeing that there was growing—as we judge—that which provided an occasion and suggested the matter for dissension: namely, that manifold and indiscriminate faculty of pleading and offering law on both sides, for the reason that even the diverse discrepancy of their persons and customs is wont to beget dissensions in the familiar conversation of those who live together under the various institutions of different nations. C We, therefore, who by the apostolic office enjoined upon us are bound and desire to pasture in peace not only those who are near, but also those who are far off—striving diligently to heal [the situation] by composing the aforementioned Churches together through a firm constitution, that they may enjoy mutual peace in Christ—have very opportunely decided to settle their dissensions by a placid constitution, dividing them, so to speak, with the sword of a consistorial deliberation or judicial decision. D Since, therefore, grave and seditious contentions, launched by the most trivial objections through tumultuous disputes, were springing up on both sides, proceeding to infinity in the desire to prevail, by the counsel of our brethren and the plenitude of apostolic power, with the said Germanus, the Archbishop of the Greeks, and the reverend brethren…
Nicolas of Solia, Joachim of Carpasia, and Matthew of Leucara, bishops of the Greek sees and procurators of the Archbishop of Leucosia, we determine by this present constitution, and for the peace of both Churches concerning the matters brought forward and others which could in the future give rise to a cause for seditious discord, we inviolably ordain that in the island of Cyprus, within the dioceses of the Latin bishops and under the metropolis of Leucosia, there shall be established only four A seats for Greek pontiffs, formally assigned to their own distinct places by the aforementioned Bishop of Albano: since in that same island it is recognized that there are only four seats of Latin bishops. We will that one pontifical seat of the Greek Church be at Solia in the diocese of Leucosia; a second at Arsinoe in Paphos; a third at Carpasia in Famagusta; [and] a fourth at Leucara in Nemesos; and it is from these cities that the seats are to be named, and the pontiffs who canonically govern these Churches shall be named for them.
(12) For Germanus, when he had usurped for himself the name of Archbishop of Leucosia, besides four bishops, was making five seats for the Greeks contrary to the decree of Celestine and Innocent. And perhaps Peter, Bishop of Albano, legate of Innocent IV, had given to the four Greek bishops four Churches and palaces in those same cities in which the seats of the Latin bishops were; but Alexander IV ordained four distinct cities for the Greek bishops from those of the Latins, though within the same dioceses of the Latins, from which cities the bishops were to take their name, so that from the seat of Solæa the Greek bishop in the diocese of Leucosia would be called the Bishop of Solæa. This is confirmed by Joannes Maginius saying: In the island of Cyprus the Greek archbishop B and the other Greek bishops were under the rule of the Latins, by whom, after their election in the royal council, the bishops were confirmed and the causes of their appeals were heard. Nor did they have seats in the cities of the Latin bishops for that reason: for Alexander IV placed their seats in their cities, as is held in his *Summa*, which is called the *Alexandrina*. Would that it had been my lot to read it! However, there also existed of old the same cities as seats of the bishops, before the Latin empire. For at the Council of Ephesus, Evagrius, Bishop of Solæa, sat, and at the Council of Nicaea, Eustathius, also Bishop of Solæa. From the acts of the councils, moreover, I elicit that these cities were seats of bishops: Paphos, Salamis or Constantia, Solæa, Trinithuntum, Thamassus, Cittium, Curium, Chytrium, Amathum, Carpasia, Arsinoe, Neapolis, Cyrene. In the Council of Sardica, twelve names of bishops of the island of Cyprus are found, though without the names of their cities. From the Synod of Constantinople, convened under Patriarch Lucas because of the deposition of John, Bishop of Amathus, in Balsamon, can. 12, *Carthagin.*, it is gathered that in that year, namely 1170, there existed more than twelve bishops of that island. Joannes Maginius: In the whole island there were once fourteen bishops. Pliny, Book V, *Hist. nat.*, cap. 30: Fifteen towns in the island: Paphos, Palæpaphos, Curia, Cittium, Coriacum, Salamis, Amathus, Japethos, Sole, Tamasus, Epidaurum, Chytri, Arsinoe, Carpasia, Golgi; there were also Cinyra, Marium, Idalium. Stephanus adds to these another city: There is also, moreover, Penacrus, a city of Cyprus. In the *Menaea* of the Greeks, day 4 of May, of the holy hieromartyr Theodotus, bishop of Cyrinia of Cyprus, under Emperor Licinius. In the acts of the Council of Ephesus: *Cirenes Cypri*. C
(13) Leucosia. In the *Menologium* of the Greeks, from the *Typicon* of St. Sabas, thus on the 12th of June, of the holy Triphyllius, Bishop of Leucosia of Cyprus. Nicephorus Callistus, however, in Book VIII, cap. 42, calls him Bishop of Ledra; Sozomen, also in his *Historia*, cap. 11, calls him the Ledrensis [sic] bishop. By the Latins it is called Nicosia, and in the time of Innocent III it had been increased by metropolitan right, whose confirmation of the archbishop looked to the Supreme Pontiff, from whom he also received the pallium. Innocent III, *Regest.* XIV, ep. 139, to the Patriarch of Jerusalem, legate of the Apostolic See: "The election having been presented to us which the beloved sons, the chapter of the Church of Nicosia, celebrated concerning the beloved son Master Durandus, treasurer of the same Church, we were unable to examine that election sufficiently, according to the custom of the Apostolic See. But since it would be onerous and grievous, on account of the dangers of the sea and the roads, for him to return again to the Apostolic See, we have therefore decided to send the pallium of the pontifical office to you, to be delivered to him, strictly commanding your fraternity, etc. You are to instruct him and confer upon him the pallium in the form which we transmit to you."
(14) In Paphos. St. Jerome in the *Life of Hilarion*, "Hilarion having entered Paphos, a city of Cyprus, noble in the verses of poets." Ancient Paphos was situated D on the shore of the East, of old the metropolis of the whole island, as the seat of the proconsul, from *Acts of the Apostles*, cap. XIII. In the first Council of Nicaea, the Bishop of Paphos held the first place among the bishops of Cyprus: "Province of Cyprus, Cyrillus of Paphos, Gelasius of Salamis." Likewise also in the first Council of Constantinople. In the Council of Ephesus, however, at the end of action I, it is found first, then Rheginus, Bishop of Constantia, Sapricius of Paphos of Cyprus. And in Act VII, Constantia of Cyprus is frequently termed the metropolis.
(15) Arsinoe. In the Council of Chalcedon, act I, the Bishop of Arsinoe [appears]. Stephanus reports ten cities called by that name, of which, he says, the seventh is Arsinoe in Cyprus, which was formerly called Marium.
(16) Famagusta. The Greeks call Famagusta thus... [original-script column: see facsimile] ...also, moreover, Panacro, cities of Cyprus... of the holy hieromartyr Theodotus, bishop of Cyrinia of Cyprus... of the bishop of Leucosia of Cyprus. Rheginus, bishop of the city of Constantia, Sapricius of Paphos of Cyprus... of Cyprus, which was formerly called Marium...
A to possess the name and authority of the pontifical office.
Whenever any of the aforementioned sees of the Greeks shall happen to be vacant, being deprived of its bishop, another cleric from that same see, having invoked the grace of the Holy Spirit, shall be elected bishop by vote, the election of whom the Latin bishop, in whose diocese that see is located, shall confirm, provided that he finds it to have been performed by canonical authority and duly ordered in the gravity of the person’s character; and without any delay he shall effect that it be conferred upon him by the Greek bishops of the neighboring dioceses, whom the same Latin bishop shall call for that purpose, for the sake of consecration. He shall deliver to him by his own authority the episcopal care of the monasteries, churches, clergy, and people residing in that city and diocese, and shall receive from him a prescribed confession of obedience in this form: B
I, Germanus, bishop of Solea of the diocese of Leucosia, from this hour and henceforth will be faithful and obedient to St. Peter and to the holy Roman Church, and to my lord Hugo, Archbishop of Leucosia, and to his successors who canonically enter. I will not be in counsel nor in deed to lose their life or limb, or to be captured by some evil capture. The counsel which they shall entrust to me, either by themselves or by a messenger or by letters, I will not reveal to anyone to their detriment. C
The Papacy of the Roman Church and the canons of the Holy Fathers
Epiphanius of Salamis, which is a city of Cyprus, was bishop; and a little after: Epiphanius was held in the highest esteem in monastic discipline both among the Egyptians and among the Palestinians. Afterwards he was also in no less glory among the Cypriots, among whom he was elected bishop of the primary city of the whole island. That city was honored by the preaching of St. Paul, Acts XIII: Paulus and Barnabas went to Seleucia and thence sailed to Cyprus, and when they arrived at Salamis they preached the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews. And perhaps it then became the metropolis when, after the Council of Nicaea, Paphos, having been shaken by frequent earthquakes, was destroyed. St. Jerome in the *Life of St. Hilarion*: “Hilarion entered Paphos... which, having frequently fallen by earthquake, now shows by the ruins alone what it once was.” D
(17) Carpasia, a city of Cyprus, which Pygmalion built, as Hellanicus says in his *Cypriacs*. Dionysius pronounces it with a diphthong, Carpaseia; Xenagoras writes Carpathia, but Theopompus, Carpasus.
(18) *Invocata sancti Spiritus gratia*. Register xv, epist. 204, in the Nicene chapter: We command your assembly that, coming together as one and having invoked the grace of the Holy Spirit as is the custom, you canonically and concordantly elect for yourselves a person as Father and bishop of your souls, who may be able to be of benefit and to preside.
A I will be his defender and protector, saving my own order, against all men. Being called to a synod, I will come, unless I am hindered by a canonical impediment. A legate of the apostolic see, whom I shall know to be certain, coming and returning, I will treat honorably and will assist in his necessities. So help me God, and these holy Gospels of God.
And every Latin bishop of the island of Cyprus shall receive this form of confession from the bishop of the Romans in his own diocese for himself and for his own Church.
And if the Latin bishop has recognized that election to be invalid, let him proceed to a deposition in such manner as is appropriate for the proceeding to be conducted.
But to ordain a Greek bishop who has been elected, the Greeks of his diocese shall be called by the Latin prelate, and without any tergiversation or delay, they are bound to assemble in accordance with the duty of the present constitution and order, and to fulfill the invocations and all things that are appropriate for the consecration.
B The deposition of Greek bishops, however, as well as their translation and expulsion, is reserved solely to the Roman pontiff on account of his apostolic eminence by a peculiar privilege, so that in these, just as in the other bishops, the condition and eminence of the pontifical dignity may be preserved.
In no Church of the Greeks deprived of its pastor shall a Latin bishop dare to create a bishop, unless perhaps those who are bound to elect a bishop have refused to elect someone to rule that Church by an immoderate delay—truly, once the time of three months has elapsed—in accordance with the constitutions of the general council. In that event, naturally, the Latin bishop shall not have the power to constitute any other person in the widowed see of the Church, unless he is a Greek by race, worthy of such honor and rank.
The goods of a Church of the Greeks deprived of its bishop shall be kept in faith by the steward and chapter of that same see for the future bishop, and shall be delivered to him afterwards.
C Furthermore, let the bishops of that island, canonically constituted in the aforementioned sees, have the faculty to issue laws for the monasteries, churches, clerics, and laymen of the Greeks entrusted to them, and let them command all those things which they know to belong to the duty of their dignity or the episcopal state by legitimate right; the Latin bishops shall usurp nothing of these for themselves, except in those causes only in which it is granted to a metropolitan by legitimate right. D
A Causes which pertain to the ecclesiastical forum, if they are disputed among Greeks, shall be judged by their own ethnic prelate; but if between a Latin and a Greek, or if a Greek is accused, they shall be referred to the Latin prelate of the place to be determined judicially, saving however the prerogative of the Apostolic See, to whose aid all who are vexed may appeal immediately. If an accusation is initiated by a Greek bishop against a Latin bishop in the diocese where the Greek happens to be bishop, then, should necessity require it, let recourse be had from there to the Archbishop of Nicosia.
By this present Constitution we decree that in the city or diocese in which the tribunal or court of the actor or of the defendant belongs to the Latin prelate, outside the place where the episcopal see of the Greeks is established, if a Greek bishop has any business, it is to be heard by one and the same forum, and there is no other legitimate tribunal of jurisdiction for the Greeks, unless by chance in some church of the Greeks of that same kingdom, or by archidiaconal or other power, a tribunal for hearing cases has existed from the beginning by right; from which church they may appeal to the Greek bishop, and from thence, step by step, those who are under his jurisdiction may appeal as often as anything shall occur to them.
We will that the Archbishop and Latin bishops have power over the Greeks of their cities or dioceses to judge canonically regarding crimes or injuries and the rights of their own Churches, in those cases in which it falls to the Latins by law. B
To the synod of the Latin prelate, the Roman bishop who holds his see in his diocese, and likewise the abbots and his priests who have the care of souls, are to hasten once a year, and they are bound to receive and observe the synodal decrees which, provided they are not repugnant to the Catholic faith in the customs of the Greeks, and are not opposed to the Churches received by the Greeks, do not conflict. But lest the said Greek bishops be burdened with a double weight from this observation of the Constitution, by which they would be compelled to attend C even the episcopal synods of the Latin prelates, we decree that they are not to be compelled to the diocesan synod.
In punishing, however, the Greek bishops or those established in their jurisdiction, we will that the Latin prelates in their own cities and dioceses have that authority which the canons and decrees grant to metropolitans in punishing their own suffragans and those subject to them. D
When the Archbishop and Latin bishops [shall visit] those dioceses in which the Greeks consist with the diocese
A with the equity and measure of justice preserved, we decree that the money is to be exacted from the parishes: namely, the Archbishop himself shall exact [it] from only five parishes, the bishop of Paphos from four, [the bishop] of Famagusta from three, and [the bishop] of Limassol likewise from three. And they shall receive this money annually from the Greeks of that same diocese and parish; let each individual parish provide a sum of thirty B tornese solidi or as many byzants (21), not exceeding [that amount], but [rather] equating to that quantity. Although, considering the poverty of the Romans, we have decreed the number of parishes that are held to pay by reason of visitation to be so moderate out of merciful provision, yet since the goods of their own Churches have been handed over to Latin bishops so that they might be able to fulfill in them the due office of their ministry in its entirety, when there is need, if the necessity of the orthodox faith or the promptness of obedience which C is owed to the Roman Church, or the discipline of morals, demands that these same Greeks be visited more frequently, we will that the office of visitation be carried out without any burden to the Latins, [provided that] the Greeks themselves pay whatever is owed for the visitation at their own expense; when, however, the constitutions of the canons enjoin the office of visitation upon the bishops themselves, then it is necessary that the Latins themselves carry out the office at their own expense, since even the apostle Paul, the exemplar of our state, D sometimes obtained his own sustenance by the labor of his hands, so that he might not be a burden to those to whom he preached the Gospel, who, having been reluctant to provide the necessary expenses for their teacher, were by that very fact hindering the mystery of preaching from being spread.
As for what is equitable and just, we briefly command: let the Churches of the Latins in the aforementioned island have the tithes, and let the custom already obtained of exacting such tithes by the pontiffs and clerics of the Latins be committed to execution henceforth. Wherefore, since we assert that the custom is to be observed in this part, let no one of them think himself exempt from the payment of tithes due by canon and divine law.
Although, therefore, the Church of the Greeks of the kingdom of Cyprus will not henceforth have a metropolitan of its own nation by this constitution, we will however that such [a person as] Germanus, the archbishop of the Greeks, enjoy the name and honor of the archiepiscopal dignity as long as he shall live. For which reason, we will and decree that he be completely exempt from the power and jurisdiction of the archbishop of Nicosia until his death, and we command that, upon the death of such Germanus, no other Greek archbishop be appointed in the aforementioned kingdom. However, lest such [a person as]
(21) Byzants. Coins of one gold piece. Innocent III, lib. I, epist. ad regem Portugalliae: "Your father established as tributary one hundred byzants annually to the Roman Church." The weight of these is elicited from the response of the same king to the pontiff: for he responds that for the annual tribute he had sent one thousand gold pieces for ten years. Thus, individual byzants paid for one gold piece. More clearly, the same [Innocent], Regist. xv, ep. 179, to the patriarch of Antioch, [says] that he had given your brother one thousand byzants, to the value of one thousand gold pieces.
A Archbishop Germanus, wandering about, acceptable to no throne, we release the aforementioned bishop of the Greek see of Solia, of the diocese of Nicosia, from the bond by which he is held to his Church, and by the authority of the apostolic power and the counsel of our aforementioned brothers, we transfer him to the episcopal see of Arsinoe, of the diocese of Paphos, which is vacant, and we grant him the liberty to proceed freely to that same see. To the aforementioned Archbishop Germanus, we entrust the aforesaid Solia see and Church, in both spiritual and temporal matters, by the same counsel and the same power, to be held by him always with his own honor and the title of archiepiscopal dignity, and to be governed with episcopal authority; so that it may be within his power and will to reside, as he pleases, either at said see of Solia or to dwell at the Greek church of St. Barnabas of Nicosia, which we wish to pertain in perpetuity to the bishop of this see by the benefit of this our present Constitution. But when this archbishop has died, the see of Solia, as often as it shall be bereft of its pastor, shall have a bishop chosen exclusively from the Greek people, who shall be subject to the bishop of Nicosia in the same manner as other Greek bishops are bound to be subject to the Latin bishops, according to the tenor of this present Constitution. B Furthermore, we promote the same Germanus, bishop of the Greeks, to govern the monasteries, churches, clergy, and people of the Greeks of the city and diocese of Nicosia, endowed with that power in the see entrusted to him, which the other Greek bishops of the kingdom of Cyprus obtain by similar provision over the Greeks established under their jurisdiction. C Finally, while this Greek archbishop is alive, or discharging the function of his archiepiscopal dignity, the power to stir up the matter of the dispute regarding the rights of the archbishop over the Greeks is removed from both the archbishop himself and the Latin bishops, so that the cause of dissension may be removed. We therefore command and enjoin that this same Greek Archbishop Germanus, as long as he shall live, by the disposition of this Constitution, shall freely, without controversy from the Latin bishops, whenever Greeks in Cyprus shall have been canonically elected to be afterwards ordained as bishops, and have been confirmed by the Latin prelates in whose dioceses they are, consecrate them with metropolitan authority as they are promoted to holy orders; and he shall summon the other Greek bishops of the same kingdom to perform the sacrament of such ordination; and he shall exercise the duty of visitation with the same authority over all the Greeks of the same kingdom as often as it shall be lawfully exercisable; and in those bishoprics or in those who are within his jurisdiction by reason of the bishopric, which divine canons designate as metropolitan, he shall have plenary power, and shall govern them during the life of the archbishop himself: since
the Latins A to whom these and other rights belong, according to the decree of the present constitution, shall possess them after the death of the said archbishop; but if he is unwilling, they shall by no means intrude themselves; yet in this matter and in other remaining cases, let the power of the archbishop of Nicosia and the Latin bishops over the others persist. However, let the Greek archbishop have the power which this constitution grants to him, in the same way as it is given to the archbishop of Nicosia by reason of his metropolis, and to him [it is given] over the other Latin bishops by reason of the parishes, over all the Greeks of the aforementioned kingdom, according to our disposition.
Likewise, while the said archbishop of the Greeks is living, B and also afterwards, as often as judgment must be rendered concerning crimes and other matters among the Romans of the city and diocese of Nicosia, the Latin archbishop shall sit in judgment without the aforementioned archbishop Germanus. This jurisdiction has been granted by this constitution to the other Latin bishops of the aforementioned kingdom over the bishops, clerics, and other Greeks of the same cities and dioceses. Although we desire the person of the archbishop Germanus, as long as he lives, to be immune in all things and through all things from the power of the Latin archbishop, nevertheless, let the observance of the present constitution begin with him himself.
The same archbishop Germanus, in the name of the see of Solia C granted to him, shall make a legitimate profession of obedience to the Latin archbishop according to the form handed down above. From this kind of profession and obedience, however, we do not wish the Latin archbishop to have any power at all to punish the person of the archbishop Germanus himself, or to command anything of him in any case whatsoever; but through a singular privilege of immunity given to his person alone by this constitution, he may lead a quiet and tranquil life entirely without any disturbance until the end.
As often as an appeal shall be made from the aforementioned Germanus, D archbishop of the Greeks, to the Latin archbishop, the appeal shall hold, saving the right of preference of the Apostolic See. After the death of the said Germanus, archbishop of the Greeks, the archbishop of Nicosia shall visit the Greeks of his province dwelling in the cities or dioceses of his suffragans by the right of his metropolis, which we will to be appropriate to him. From all the Greeks of these cities, however, taken generally in each city, for individual parishes he shall receive annually either the sum of sixty tournois solidi or just as many byzants, of no lesser or greater value, and nothing more.
We have granted the same power, which by the decrees of this present constitution we have handed down both to the Latin and Greek prelates of the kingdom of Cyprus in judicial matters, to be also decreed for the Syrians of the same kingdom, who are endowed with the same customs and institutions as the Greeks, from the common law
and a sententia of law to be observed by all, we command it to be confirmed by the authority of this present sanction.
Let no one, moreover, dare to infringe upon the decrees of this constitution of ours for either party, or to search further into the reasons for the metropolis or the immunity; but in Christ, who is the true peace of all, may each and every one, having been made members one of another through unanimous concord and the institution of their customs, be one body of their one Head. Amen.
Given at Anagni by the hand of Master Jordan, chamberlain and notary of the holy Roman Church, on the ninth day of July, in the 3rd indiction, in the year of our Lord’s Incarnation 1260, in the 5th year of the pontificate of Pope Alexander IV. B
Cardinal Subscriptions
I, Alexander, bishop of the Catholic Church, signed. I, Otto, bishop of Tusculum, signed. I, Stephanus, bishop of Praeneste, signed.
I, brother John, cardinal priest of Saint Lawrence in Lucina, signed. I, brother Hugo, the aforementioned, cardinal priest of Saint Sabina, signed. I, Riccardus, cardinal deacon of Saint Angelo, signed. I, Octavianus, cardinal deacon of Saint Mary of the Mother of God in Via Lata, signed. I, Joannes, cardinal deacon of Saint Nicholas in Carcere Tulliano, signed. I, Otthobonus, cardinal deacon of Saint Adrian, signed. C
And when a careful collation of this transumpt had been made with the ancient exemplar, we acknowledge this transumpt to be true and to contain the true meaning of the first exemplar, knowing that the things which have been written down have been inscribed by our decree and will, and by the accurate discussion of the undersigned notary, with nothing added, nor any syllable or letter taken away which might diminish or alter the substance of the truth. To which public transumpt we wish faith to be given in and out of court, just as D to the first exemplar. In witness and greater assurance of which matter, we have handed over this present transumpt or public instrument, transcribed from the aforementioned true exemplars, with the seal of the Faculty, to the procurator of the Church of Nicosia.
A Written in Nicosia, in the hall of the archbishop, in the year from the Incarnate Economy 1297, indiction xv, on the 4th day of May, written by the pen of Theobald, common notary, the aforementioned decree issued by the lord archbishop aforesaid by the living oracle of his voice, in the city of Nicosia, in the hall of the archbishop, with the archbishop himself seated for court, before the judicial witnesses: Adam of Carmel, Master Thomas, jurisconsult of Sarepta; Lord Cintinus, doctor and priest; Lord Crispinus, priest and exarch of the church of Nicosia; Clia Alemannus, exarch; Master Benetus of Vienne; Peter of Reggio, catholic notary; Nicholas Mutelarius, catholic notary; Bernard Risinii of Rivalto, domestic; and many other witnesses specially called for this purpose.
And I, Theobald of Verona, public notary, have transcribed the aforementioned transumpt from the authentic copies of the Pope already exhibited, just as I found it in the original, thus translating it word for word in this transumpt, by the mandate and order of the lord judge and official, as stated above, with nothing added or subtracted or changed in the substance of the writing, unless perhaps by carelessness some letter or syllable, escaping my eyes inadvertently, has been changed, and I have now marked it with my customary seal. B And upon a diligent collation of this transumpt being made with the original letters, this transumpt is proven to be true and to truly correspond to the written exemplar exhibited to us, which was described by our mandate and will, with the investigation of the notary described below. The witnesses, moreover, of these things were the lords, namely: Erithlus of Bern, Thomas Retomi, knight; Master Coraldus of Ancona; Master William, advocate of the Temple; Peter Anselmi and William Lamperti, both public notaries. In testimony and for the greater faith of which matter, the aforementioned minister fortified this with his own testimony. I, Theobald of Verona, public notary by forensic and imperial authority, confess it to be taken from the original writing. By the permission and faculty of the lord whose office it is, granted to me, and with his investigation inserted, I have subscribed with my own hand and translated in good faith, with nothing added or subtracted C that could change the sense or the meaning of the written exemplar; and being requested by the lord Pope Leo, economist, and the elect bishop of Solia, I was present at this deposition and signed it with my own peculiar seal.
(23) *Bishop elected by suffrages, not yet however consecrated, as if subject to calculations and suffrages, in that he is only elected by calculations, nor yet presented to the emperor, nor announced, nor consecrated.* Codinus, *De officiis Cpolit.*, cap. 20, n. 4, after he is elected by the suffrages of twelve bishops, the candidate patriarch comes; for the candidate is called such until that time, and he is D consecrated upon it. The candidate, or one subject to suffrages (thus Gretser renders it), for up to that point he is called by this name, and he sits on that throne. Then he is announced as patriarch by the emperor, and finally he is consecrated in the church of St. Sophia.