Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 6.djvu/131

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99

FLAVIAS


99


FLAVIOPOLIS


against Flavian. Even before the revision of the Acts of Flavian's council, Chrysaphius had persuaded the emperor of the necessity for an cecumenical council to adjust matters, and the decree went forth that one should convene at Ephesus under the presidency of Dioscurus, who also controlled the attendance of bishops. Flavian and six bi.shops who had assisted at the previous synod were allowed no voice, being, as it were, on trial. (For a full account of the proceedings see Ephesus, Robber Council of.) Eutyches was absolved of heresy, and despite the protest of the papal legate Hilary (later pope), who by his Contradicitur annulled the decisions of the council, Flavian was con- demned and deposed. In the violent scenes which ensued he was so ill-used that three days later he died in his place of exile. Anatolius, a partisan of Dioscu- rus, was appointed to succeed him.

St. Flavian was repeatedly vindicated by Pope Leo, whose epistle of commendation failed to reach him be- fore his death. The pope also wrote in his favour to Theodosius, Pulcheria, and the clergy of Constanti- nople, besides convening a council at Rome, wherein he designated the Council of Ephesus Ephesinum non judicium sed latrocinium. At the Council of Chalce- don (451) the Acts of the Robber Council were an- nulled and Flavian eulogized as a martyr for the Faith. Pope Hilary had Flavian's death represented pictorially in a Roman church erected by him. On Pulcheria's accession to power, after the death of Theodosius, she brought the remains of her friend to Constantinople, when they were received in triumph and interred with those of his predecessors in the see. In the Greek Menology and the Roman llartyrologj' his feast is entered 18 February, the anniversary of the translation of his body. Relics of St. Flavian are honoured in Italy.

St. Flavian's appeal to Pope Leo against the Robber Council has been published by Amelli in his work " S. Leone Magno e I'Oriente" (Monte Cassino, 1890), also by Lacey (Cambridge, 1903). Two other (Greek and Latin) letters to Leo are preserved in Migne, P. L. (LIV, 723-32, 743-51), and one to Emperor Theodo- sius also in Migne, P. G. (LXV, 889-92).

Bardenhewer, Patrolopy, tr. Shahan (Freiburg im Br.. 1908); Hergenrother-Kirsch, Kirchengesch. (Freiburg. 1904); Hauswirth in Kirchenlex.; Ada SS.. Feb., Ill, 71-9; TiLLEMONT, Mem. pour servir a I'hist, eccL (Paris, 1704); Baro- Nius, Annates eccL ad an. 449, nn. 4, 3, 14.

F. M. RuDGE.

Flavias, a titular see of Cilicia Secunda. Nothing is known of its ancient name and history, except that it is said to be identical with Sis. Lequien (II, 899) gives the names of several of its bishops: Alexander, later Bishop of Jerusalem and founder of the famous library of the Holy Sepulchre in the third century; Nicetas, present at the Council of Nic£ea (325) ; John, who lived in 451 ; Andrew in the sixth century; George (681) ; and Eustratus, Patriarch of Antioch about 868. If the identification of Flavias with Sis, which is prob- able, be admitted, it will be found that it is first men- tioned in Theodoret's life of St. Simeon Stylites.

In 704 the Arabs laid siege to the stronghold of Sis. From 1186 till 1375 the city was the capital of the Kings of Les.ser Armenia. In 1266 it was captured and burned by the Egyptians. Definitely conquered by the latter in 1375, it passed later into the power of the Ottomans. In the Middle Ages it was the reli- gious centre of Christian Armenians, at least until the catholicos established him.self at Etschmiadzin. Sis is still the residence of an Armenian catholicos, who has under his jurisdiction several bishops, numer- ous villages and convents. It is the chief town of the caza of the same name in the vilayet of Adana and numbers 4000 inhabitants, most of whom are Armen- ians. The great heats compel the inhabitants to desert it during the summer months. It is sur- rounded by vineyards and groves of cypress and syca-


more trees. Ruins of churches, convents, castles, and palaces may be seen on all sides.

.\U8Ha.n. Siasouan ou rArmeno-Cilide (Venice. 1899). 241- 272; CuiNET. La Turquie d' Asie, II, 90-92.

S. Vailhe.

Flavigny, Abbet op, a Benedictine abbey in the Diocese of Dijon, the department of Cote-d'Or, and the arrondissement of Semur. This monastery was founded in 721, the first year of the reign of Thierry IV, by Widerad, who richly endowed it. According to the authors of the "Gallia Christiana", the new abbey, placed under the patronage of St. Prix, Bishop of Clermont, and martyr, was erected on the site of an ancient monastic foundation, dating, it is said, from the time of Clovis, and formerly under the patronage of St. Peter. This titular eventually overshadowed and superseded St. Prix. Pope John VIII dedicated the new church about the year 877, from which time the first patronage, that of St. Peter, appears to have prevailed definitively. The fame of Flavigny was due partly to the relics which it preserved, and partly to the piety of its religious. The monastery was at the height of its reputation in the eighth century, in the time of the Abbot Manasses, whom Charlemagne au- thorized to found the monastery of Corbigny. The same Manasses transferred from Volvic to Flavigny the relics of St. Prix. There were also preserved here the relics of St. Regina, whom her acts represent as having been beheaded for the faith in the borough of Alise (since called Alise-Sainte-Reine). The history of the translation of St. Regina (21-22 March, 864) was the subject of a contemporary account. Unfor- tunately the "Chronicle", the " Marty rology", and the "Necrology"of the Abbot Hugues, and the "LivTe contenant les choses notables" have either perished or contain few facts of real interest. The liturgical books, notably the " Lectionary", have disappeared. The abbatial list contains few names worthy to be preserved, with the exception of that of Hugues of Flavigny. The monastery was rebuilt in the seven- teenth century and occupied by Benedictines of the Congregation of St. Maur, who were actively employed in research concerning the historical documents of the abbey, but it disappeared during the French Revolu- tion. Hitherto it had formed a part of the Diocese of Autun ; but after the concordat of 1802 the new parti- tion of the diocese placed Flavigny in the Diocese of Dijon. Lacordaire rebuilt and restored all that re- mained of the monastery surrounded by a portion of its ancient estate, and established there a convent of the order of St. Dominic.

Grignard, XoHtia chronotogica de exordiis cum veleris ah' hatuE 6ancti Petri Flaviniacensis, O.S.B. duEcesis Eduensis, turn ejus prioratum et de anno collaiionis unius cujusqiie ecciesiee iUi subjects in Die wissenschaftliche Studien aus dem Benedictiner- Orden (1881), II, 252-272; L'abbaye benedicline de Flavigny en Bourgogne, ses historiens et seshistoires in Memoires de la Societe Eduenne (1S85), second series, XIV, 25-95; Annates Flavinia- censes (382-853) in Pertz, Mon. Germ. Hist.: Scriptores (1839), III, 150-152; Cartulaire du monastere de Flavigny (analyse de Rossignol), published by Collenot in Bulletin de la Societe scienlifique de Semur (1886-1887), second series, III, 33-109; Catalogue des principales reliques que sont gardees dans Veglise et le tresor de l'abbaye de Saint-Pierre de Flavigny-Sainte-Reine (.\uxerre, 1702); Catalogus abbalum Flaviniacensium in Pertz, yton. Germ. Hist.: Scriptores (1S4S), VIII, 502-503; Delisle, Deux manuscrits de l'abbaye de Flavigny au X' sihcle in Mem- oires comm. des Antiq. de la C6te d'Or, XI: Gallia Christiana (1656). IV, 383-387; (1728). IV. 454-165; Labbe. Analecta Monumentorum Ccenobii Flaviniacen.->is in I^ova bibl. MSS. (1657), I, 269-272; MoLINIEE, Obituaires franfais (1890), 224-

H. Leclercq.

Flaviopolis, a titular see in the province of Hon- orias. The city, formerly called Cratia, originally be- longed to BithjTiia (Ptolemy, V, i, 14), but was later attached to Honorias by Justinian (Novella xxix). Lender Constantino the Great it received the name of Flaviopolis. No less than ten of its bishops are known from 343 to 869 (Lequien, I, 575-78). One of them, Paul, was the friend and defender of St. John