Pope St. Eleutherius (Eleutheros)

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Pope (c. 174-189). TheLiber Pontificalis says that he was a native of Nicopolis,Greece. From his contemporary Hegesippus we learn that he was adeacon of theRoman Church underPope Anicetus (c. 154-164), and evidently remained so under St. Soter, the followingpope, whom he succeeded about 174. While the condition ofChristians underMarcus Aurelius was distressing in various parts of the empire, thepersecution inRome itself does not seem to have been violent.De Rossi, it istrue, dates the martyrdom ofSt. Cecilia towards the end of this emperor's reign; this date, however, is by no means certain. During the reign ofCommodus (180-192) theChristians enjoyed a practically unbroken peace, although themartyrdom of St. Appollonius atRome took place at the time (180-185). TheMontanist movement, that originated inAsia Minor, made its way toRome and Gaul in the second half of the second century, more particularly about the reign of Eleutherius; its peculiar nature made it difficult to take from the outset a decisive stand against it (seeM). During the violentpersecution atLyons, in 177, local confessors wrote from theirprison concerning the new movement to theAsiatic and Phrygian brethren, also to Pope Eleutherius. The bearer of their letter to thepope was thepresbyter Irenæus, soon afterwardsBishop ofLyons. It appears from statements ofEusebius concerning these letters that the faithful ofLyons, though opposed to theMontanist movement, advocated forbearance and pleaded for the preservation ofecclesiastical unity.

Just when theRoman Church took its definite stand againstMontanism is not certainly known. It would seem fromTertullian's account (Against Praxeas 1) that a Romanbishop did at one time address to theMontanists some conciliatory letters, but these letters, saysTertullian, were recalled. He probably refers to Pope Eleutherius, who long hesitated, but, after a conscientious and thorough study of the situation, is supposed to have declared against theMontanists. AtRomehereticalGnostics andMarcionites continued to propagate theirfalse teachings. The"Liber Pontificalis" ascribes to Pope Eleutherius adecree that no kind of food should be despised byChristians (Et hoc iterum firmavit ut nulla esca a Christianis repudiaretur, maxime fidelibus, quod Deus creavit, quæ tamen rationalis et humana est). Possibly he did issue such an edict against theGnostics andMontanists; it is also possible that on his own responsibility the writer of the"Liber Pontificalis" attributed to thispope a similardecree current about the year 500. The same writer is responsible for a curious and interesting assertion concerning the early missionary activity of theRoman Church; indeed, the"Liber Pontificalis" contains no other statement equally remarkable. Pope Eleutherius, says this writer, received from Lucius, a British king, a letter in which the latter declared that by his behest he wishes to become aChristian (Hic accepit epistula a Lucio Brittanio rege, ut Christianus efficerentur per ejus mandatum). Whence the author of the first part of the"Liber Pontificalis" drew this information, it is now impossible to say. Historically speaking, the fact is quite improbable, and is rejected by all recent critics.

As at the end of the second century the Roman administration was so securely established in Britain, there could no longer have been in the island any real native kings. That some tribal chief, known as king, should have applied to the Romanbishop for instruction in theChristian faith seems improbable enough at that period. The unsupported assertion of the"Liber Pontificalis", a compilation ofpapal biographies that in its earliest form cannot antedate the first quarter of the sixth century, is not a sufficient basis for the acceptance of this statement. By some it is considered a story intended to demonstrate the Roman origin of the British Church, and consequently the latter's natural subjection toRome. To make this clearer they locate the origin of the legend in the course of the seventh century, during the dissensions between the primitive British Church and the Anglo-Saxon Church recently established fromRome. But for this hypothesis allproof is lacking. It falls before the simple fact that the first part of the"Liber Pontificalis" was complied long before these dissensions, most probably (Duchesne) by a Roman cleric in the reign ofPope Boniface II (530-532), or (Waitz and Mommsen) early in the seventh century. Moreover, during the entire conflict that centered around the peculiar customs of the Early British Church no reference is ever made to this alleged King Lucius.Saint Bede is the first English writer (673-735) to mention the story repeatedly (Hist. Eccl., I, V; V, 24, De temporum ratione, ad an. 161), and he took it, not from native sources, but from the"Liber Pontificalis". Harnack suggests a more plausible theory (Sitzungsberichte der Berliner Akademie, 1904, I, 906-916). In the document, he holds, from which the compiler of the"Liber Pontificalis" drew his information the name found was notBritanio, butBritio. Now this is the name (Birtha- Britium) of the fortress ofEdessa. The king in question is, therefore, Lucius Ælius Septimus Megas Abgar IX, ofEdessa, aChristian king, as is well known. The original statement of the"Liber Pontificalis", in this hypothesis, had nothing to do with Britain. The reference was to Abgar IX ofEdessa. But the compiler of the"Liber Pontificalis" changed Britio to Brittanio, and in this way made a British king of the Syrian Lucius.

The ninth-century "Historia Brittonum" sees in Lucius a translation of the Celtic name Llever Maur (Great Light), says that the envoys of Lucius were Fagan and Wervan, and tells us that with this king all the other island kings (reguli Britanniæ) werebaptized (Hist. Brittonum, xviii). Thirteenth-century chronicles add other details. The "Liber Landavensis", for example (ed. Rees, 26, 65), makes known the names of Elfan and Medwy, the envoys sent by Lucius to thepope, and transfers the king's dominions toWales. An echo of this legend penetrated even toSwitzerland. In ahomily preached atChur and preserved in an eighth- or ninth-centurymanuscript, St. Timothy is represented as an apostle of Gaul, whence he came to Britain andbaptized there a king named Lucius, who became a missionary, went toGaul, and finally settled atChur, where he preached the gospel with great success. In this way Lucius, the early missionary of theSwiss district ofChur, became identified with the alleged British king of the"Liber Pontificalis". The latter work is authority for the statement that Eleutherius died 24 May, and was buried on the Vatican Hill (in Vaticano) near the body of St. Peter. Hisfeast is celebrated 26 May.

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