Pentarchy (, ) was a model of Church organization formulated in the laws of Emperor Justinian I () of the Roman Empire. In this model, the Christian Church is governed by the heads (patriarchs) of the five major episcopal sees of the Roman Empire: Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem.
The idea came about because of the political and ecclesiastical prominence of these five sees, but the concept of their universal and exclusive authority was attached to earlier Hellenistic-Christian ideas of administration. The pentarchy was first legally expressed in the legislation of Emperor Justinian I, particularly in Novella 131.https://droitromain.univ-grenoble-alpes.fr/Corpus/Nov131.htm ; "sancimus secundum earum [scil. a sanctis quattuor conciliis] definitiones sanctissimum senioris Romae papam primum esse omnium sacerdotum, beatissimum autem archiepiscopum Constantinopoleos Novae Romae secundum habere locum post sanctam apostolicam sedem senioris Romae, aliis autem omnibus sedibus praeponatur."; "we order that, according what decided by them [the Councils of Nicaea, Constantinople, Ephesus and Chalcedon] the pope of Rome shall be the first of all priests, then the very blessed archbishop of Constantinople New Rome shall have the second place after the holy, senior apostolic seat of Rome, by them all other seats shall be outranked." The Quinisext Council of 692 gave it formal recognition and ranked the sees in order of preeminence, but its organization remained dependent on the emperor, as when Leo the Isaurian altered the boundary of patriarchal jurisdiction between Rome and Constantinople.Chamber's Encyclopaedia (Lippincott 1877), p. 92The Cambridge Medieval History, vol. IV, p. 246 Especially following Quinisext, the pentarchy was at least philosophically accepted in Eastern Orthodoxy, but in the West, the Rome based patriarchy evolved into the Roman Catholic Church, which would reject the Council as well as the concept of the pentarchy, considering itself the supreme church with universal jurisdiction."Quinisext Council". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 14 February 2010. "The Western Church and the Pope were not represented at the council. Justinian, however, wanted the Pope as well as the Eastern bishops to sign the canons. Pope Sergius I (687–701) refused to sign, and the canons were never fully accepted by the Western Church".
The greater authority of these sees in relation to others was tied to their political and ecclesiastical prominence; all were located in important cities and regions of the Roman Empire and were important centers of the Christian Church. Rome, Alexandria and Antioch were prominent from the time of early Christianity, while Constantinople came to the fore upon becoming the imperial residence in the 4th century. Thereafter, it was consistently ranked just after Rome. Jerusalem received a ceremonial place due to the city's importance in the early days of Christianity. Justinian and the Quinisext Council excluded from their pentarchical arrangement churches outside the empire, such as the then-flourishing Church of the East in Sassanid Persia, which they saw as heretical. Within the empire they recognized only the Chalcedonian (or Melkite) incumbents, regarding as illegitimate the non-Chalcedonian claimants of Alexandria and Antioch.
Infighting among the sees, and particularly the rivalry between Rome (which considered itself preeminent over all the church) and Constantinople (which came to hold sway over the other Eastern sees and which saw itself as equal to Rome, with Rome "first among equals"), prevented the pentarchy from outlasting the Roman Empire. The Islamic conquests of Alexandria, Jerusalem and Antioch in the 7th century left Constantinople the only Christian governed authority in the East, and afterward the concept of a "pentarchy" retained little more than symbolic significance.
Tensions between East and West, which culminated in the East–West Schism, and the rise of powerful, largely independent metropolitan sees and patriarchates outside the Byzantine Empire in Bulgaria, and later in Serbia and Russia, eroded the importance of the old imperial sees. Today, only the see of Rome still holds hegemonic authority over its entire Church, being the head of the Catholic Church. The see of Constantinople has only symbolic hegemony over the Eastern Orthodox Church and the see of Alexandria is only in autocephalous communion with the Oriental Orthodox Churches.non-Chalcedonian
Development towards the Pentarchy Early Christianity In the Apostolic Age (largely the 1st century) the Christian Church comprised an indefinite number of local churches that in the initial years looked to the first church at Jerusalem as its main centre and point of reference. But, by the 4th century, it had developed a system whereby the bishop of the capital of each civil province (the metropolitan bishop) normally held certain rights over the bishops of the other cities of the province (later called suffragan bishops).Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (Oxford University Press 2005 ), s.v. metropolitan
Of the three sees that the First Council of Nicaea was to recognize as having such extraprovincial power, Rome is the one for which records are most available. The church in Rome intervened in other communities to help resolve conflicts.Fr. Nicholas Afanassieff: "The Primacy of Peter" Ch. 4, pgs. 126–127 (c. 1992) Pope Clement I did so in Corinth in the end of the 1st century.Cross, F. L., ed. The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. New York: Oxford University Press. 2005, article Clement of Rome, St In the beginning of the 2nd century, Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch, speaks of the Church of Rome as "presiding in the region of the Romans" (ἥτις προκάθηται ἐν τόπῳ χωρίου Ῥωμαίων). In the end of that century, Pope Victor I attempted to excommunicate the Eastern bishops who continued to celebrate Easter on 14 Nisan, not on the following Sunday. However, the attempted excommunication did not take effect, so it is unclear if Victor I reversed his decision or his excommunication was ignored.Eusebius Pamphilius: Church History, Life of Constantine, Oration in Praise of Constantine, Ch. XXIV
The first records of the exercise of authority by Antioch outside its own province of Syria date from the late 2nd century, when Serapion of Antioch intervened in Rhosus, a town in Cilicia, and also consecrated the third Bishop of Edessa, outside the Roman Empire. Bishops participating in councils held at Antioch in the middle of the 3rd century came not only from Syria, but also from Palestine, Arabia, and eastern Asia Minor. Dionysius of Alexandria spoke of these bishops as forming the "episcopate of the Orient", mentioning Demetrian, bishop of Antioch, in the first place.
In Egypt and the nearby African territories the bishop of Alexandria was at first the only metropolitan. When other metropolitan sees were established there, the bishop of Alexandria became known as the archbishop. In the mid-3rd century, Heraclas of Alexandria exercised his power as archbishop by deposing and replacing the Bishop of Thmuis. Thus Rome, Alexandria and Antioch had grown in ecclesiastical prominence such that by the early 4th century, they had long-recognised jurisdiction over more than one province of bishops each. Alexandria had attained primacy over Roman Egypt, Roman Libya, and Pentapolis. Rome had Primatial authority over provinces within 100 miles of the city.
Council of Nicaea
The First Council of Nicaea in 325, in whose sixth canon the title "metropolitan" appears for the first time, sanctioned the existing grouping of sees by provinces of the Roman empire, but also recognized that three sees, Alexandria, Antioch and Rome, already had authority over wider areas. In speaking of Antioch, it also spoke generically about "other provinces".
While the Council did not specify the extent of the authority of Rome or Antioch, it clearly indicated the area, even outside its own province of Egypt, over which Alexandria had authority, by referring to "the ancient customs of Egypt, Libya and Pentapolis, according to which the bishop of Alexandria has authority over all these places"."The ancient customs of Egypt, Libya and Pentapolis shall be maintained, according to which the bishop of Alexandria has authority over all these places since a similar custom exists with reference to the bishop of Rome. Similarly in Antioch and the other provinces the prerogatives of the churches are to be preserved. In general the following principle is evident: if anyone is made bishop without the consent of the metropolitan, this great synod determines that such a one shall not be a bishop. If however two or three by reason of personal rivalry dissent from the common vote of all, provided it is reasonable and in accordance with the church's canon, the vote of the majority shall prevail" (Canon 6).
Immediately after mentioning the special traditions of wider authority of Rome, Alexandria and Antioch, the same canon speaks of the organization under metropolitans, which was also the subject of two previous canons. In this system, the bishop of the capital of each Roman province (the metropolitan) possessed certain rights with regard to the bishops of other cities of the province (suffragans).
In the interpretation of John H. Erickson, the Council saw the special powers of Rome and Alexandria, whose bishops were in effect metropolitans over several provinces, as exceptions to the general rule of organization by provinces, each with its own metropolitan. After the mention of the special traditions of Rome, Alexandria, Antioch and other provinces, canon 6 goes on immediately to speak of the metropolitan form of organization, which was also the topic of the two preceding canons.
This Council's recognition of the special powers of Rome, Alexandria and Antioch served as the basis of the theory of the three Petrine sees (Rome and Antioch were said to be founded by Saint Peter and Alexandria by his disciple Mark the Evangelist) that was later upheld, especially in Rome and Alexandria, in opposition to the theory of the five Pentarchy sees.Milton V. Anastos, Aspects of the Mind of Byzantium (Political Theory, Theology, and Ecclesiastical Relations with the See of Rome), Ashgate Publications, Variorum Collected Studies Series, 2001.
In its seventh canon, the Council attributed special honour, but not metropolitan authority, to the Bishop of Jerusalem, which was then called Aelia,"Since there prevails a custom and ancient tradition to the effect that the bishop of Aelia is to be honoured, let him be granted everything consequent upon this honour, saving the dignity proper to the metropolitan" (Canon 7) and was in the province (Syria Palaestina) whose capital and Metropolitan was Caesarea.
Later councils With the imperial capital having moved to Byzantium in 330, the re-named city of Constantinople became increasingly important in church affairs of the Greek East. The First Council of Constantinople (381) decreed in a canon of disputed validity: "The Bishop of Constantinople, however, shall have the prerogative of honour after the Bishop of Rome; because Constantinople is New Rome." This "prerogative of honour", though recognising the new Metropolitan status of the Capital See, did not entail jurisdiction outside his own "diocese". The Emperor Theodosius I, who called the Council, divided the eastern Roman Empire into five "dioceses": Egypt (under Alexandria), the East (under Antioch), Asia (under Ephesus), Pontus (under Caesarea Cappadociae), and Thrace (originally under Heraclea, later under Constantinople).