Pope Silverius

Silverius
Birth name	Silverius
Papacy began	June 8, 536
Papacy ended	March 537
Predecessor	Agapetus I
Successor	Vigilius
Born	??? ???
Died	June 20 537 Palmarola, Italy

Pope Saint Silverius was pope from June 8, 536 to March 537). Although his reign was short, it was remarkable for two reasons. First, Silverius was the son of a previous pope, Hormisdas, having been born before his father became a Roman deacon. Second, he was deposed due to political intrigues.

Two accounts of his reign in the Liber Pontificalis run diametrically opposite to each other. The first characterizes him as having been irregularly appointed pope not by the clergy by the Ostrogothic king Theodahad, much to the dismay of the other leaders of the church, who accepted him only out of fear. The second portrays him as the victim of the intrigues of the Byzantine empress Theodora, who arranged for him to be ousted because he opposed Monophysitism.

Silverius had been a subdeacon when Theodahad appointed him pope. He succeeded Agapetus I, who had earlier condemned Patriarch Anthimus of Constantinople for Monophysitism. Silverius continued the policy of excommunication against Anthimus, and consequently Theodora sent the eastern general Belisarius to Rome. After taking military control of the city, he gained the cooperation of key members of the Roman clergy, and had Silverius deposed and replaced by deacon Vigilius, who had been the papal delegate to Constantinople. The Ostrogothic king Witigis, Theodahad's successor, then surrounded Rome and besieged Belisarius' forces. Silverius, meanwhile, was accused of collaboration with the "barabarian" Goths, who had actually been in control of Rome for more than a century, with the close collaboration of many popes.

Silverius, stripped of his episcopal dignity and degraded to the rank of a simple monk, was banished from Rome to the Anatolian city of Lycia, in modern Turkey. Emperor Justinian I, after receiving his appeal, sent Silverius back to Rome for an inquiry, claiming not to have been fully aware of the situation previously. In the subsequent proceedings, however, Silverius was unable to regain control of the papacy from Vigilius. He was banished again, this time to Naples, where he reportedly died either by murder or starvation.

Biography

Background

Silverius's birthdate is not know, but his pedigree could hardly have been higher. He came from a wealthy and noble Roman family and was the son of Pope Hormisdas, who had been married before becoming one of the higher clergy. Silverius entered the service of the Roman church, no doubt at an early age and with his father's support. He must have witnessed his Hormisdas' support, while the latter was still a deacon, of Pope Symmachus' trials under the reign of anti-pope Laurnetius, as well as Hormisdas own long and difficult battles with Constantinople during the Acacian schism, which were ultimately resolved during Hormisdas' papacy.

The split between the Roman and eastern churches had only been healed as a result of the ascendancy of an anti-Monophyiste emperor in the East, namely Justin I. Now, however, Justinian I (the Great) had become emperor, and he pursued a less aggressive policy against Monophysitism. His wife, Theodora, was allegedly a secret Monophysite herself. Even if this were only a rumor, it was clear that Justinian's policy aimed at reconciling the remnant of the Monophysites, especially in Egypt (Alexandria) and Syria (Antioch), with the main body of the eastern church. Meanwhile, the Goths remained in power in the west. Even though most of the Gothic kings were Arian Christians, and thus heretics, they generally interfered little in church affairs, and the papacy succeeded for the most part in maintaining an independent stance. Such was apparently not the case with Sivlerius.

Election

Silverius and was subdeacon at Rome when Pope Agapetus died at Constantinople, April, 22 536. Empress Theodora, and perhaps Justinian I himself, had hoped for the election the Roman deacon Vigilius, who was then at Constantinople as a papal envoy. Vigilius must have seemed more understanding than most other Roman clergy of the need to bring the remnants of the Monophysites back into the fold. However, Theodahad (Theodatus), King of the Ostrogoths, did not want a pope so closely connected with Constantinople. He thus forestalled her, and caused the subdeacon Silverius to be chosen.

The election of a subdeacon as bishop of Rome was highly unusual, and the author of the first part of the life of Silverius in the Liber pontificalis characterizes it as the result of Theodahad being bribed by Silverius and his supporters, and accepted by the clergy only "by force of fear" that they would "suffer the sword" if they did not vote for him. After Silverius had been consecrated bishop (probably on June 8, 536) all the Roman presbyters thus gave their consent in writing to his elevation. The author of the second part of Silverius' life in the Liber pontificalis, in complete contrast to the first part, is favorably inclined to the pope, and hostile not the the Ostrogroths, but to the Byzantine court.

According to this source, after Silverius had become pope, the Theodora sought to influence him to soften the papacy's stand against Monophysitism. She desired especially to have him enter into communion with the Monophysite patriarch of Constantinople, Anthimus, who had been excommunicated and deposed by Agapetus along with with Patriarch Severus of Antioch. However, the pope committed himself to nothing, and Theodora now resolved to overthrow him and to gain the papal see for Vigilius.

Deposition and exile

Meanwhile, troubled times befell Rome during the struggle that broke out in Italy between the Ostrogoths and the Byzantines after the death of the daughter of Theodoric the Great, Queen Amalasuntha. In December, 536, the Byzantine general Belisarius garrisoned Rome, and was received by the pope in a friendly and courteous manner. The Ostrogothic king Vitiges, who had ascended the throne in August, 536, then besieged the city. In the midst of all this, Antonina, the wife of Belisarius, allegedly influenced her husband to act as Theodora desired. The pope was accused of a treasonable agreement with the Gothic king who was besieging Rome. It was alleged that Silverius had offered the king to leave one of the city gates secretly open so as to permit the Goths to enter.

Silverius was consequently arrested in March, 537, rudely stripped of his episcopal dignity, given the clothing of a monk, and carried off to exile in the East. Vigilius was then duly consecrated bishop of Rome in his stead. Silverius was taken to Lycia, in Anatolia, where he was later sent to reside at Patara.

Second exile and death

File:800px-Isola Palmaria.jpg

Palmaria, the island on which Pope Silverius was exiled a second time, and soon died

There, the bishop of Patara soon became convinced that the deposed former pope was innocent. He journeyed to Constantinople and was able to lay before Emperor Justinian various evidence of Silverius' innocence, including an allegation that a letter proving Silverius' conspiracy with the Goths was forged. The emperor then wrote to Belisarius commanding a new investigation of the matter. He instructed that, should it turn out that the letter in question was forged, Silverius should be returned to the papacy. At the same time, the emperor allowed Silverius to return to Italy, and the former pope soon entered the country, apparently at Naples.

However, Vigilius arranged to take charge of his deposed predecessor. In this he allegedly acted in agreement with Empress Theodora, and was aided by Antonina, the wife of Belisarius. Silverius was taken to the Island of Palmaria in the Tyrrhenian Sea and kept there in close confinement. There, he died in consequence of the harsh treatment he endured.

The year of his death is unknown, but he probably did not live long after reaching Palmaria. He was buried on the island, according to the testimony of the "Liber pontificalis" on June 20, and his remains were never returned to Rome.

Legacy

The Liber pontificalis indicates that Silverius was invoked as a martyr after his death by the believers who visited his grave. Only in later times, however, was he was venerated as a saint. The earliest evidence of his sainthood is a list of saints of the eleventh century. The "Martyrologium" of Peter de Natalibus in of the fourteenth century also contains his feast, which is celebrated on June 20.

According to Ponza Islands legend, fishermen were in a small boat in a storm off Palmarola and they called on Saint Silverius for help. An apparition of Siverius called them to Palmarola where they survived.

Historically, Silverius' successor and later his persecutor, Pope Vigilius, proved to be an unwilling tool of Byzantine policy. During the Three Chapters controversy, he was taken by force to Constantinople, where he was held for eight years until he agreed to endorse the Second Council of Chalcedon, which had been called by Justinian I. While we will never know how Silverius' reign as pope might have turned out if he had remained in office, the reign Vigilius is considered one one of the papacy's low points.

References

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Roman Catholic Popes
Preceded by: Agapetus I	Bishop of Rome 536–537	Succeeded by: Vigilius

• Incorporating text from the ninth edition (1887) of an unnamed encyclopedia.
• This article incorporates text from the public-domain Catholic Encyclopedia of 1913.

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