Anchoring Pontifical Authority: A Reconsideration of the Papal Employment of the Title Pontifex Maximus

It is a common assumption that the title of supreme priesthood or pontifex maximus is included in the official papal titulature, and it has been supposed that the Roman bishop adopted it from the Roman emperor in late antiquity. In fact, however, it was probably not until the fifteenth century that...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of religious history
Authors: Dijkstra, Roald 1985- (Author) ; Espelo, Dorine Van (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Wiley-Blackwell [2017]
In: Journal of religious history
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B Pontifex maximus / Pope / Titulature / Church history studies 1400-2016
RelBib Classification:KCB Papacy
Online Access: Volltext (Verlag)
Volltext (doi)
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Summary:It is a common assumption that the title of supreme priesthood or pontifex maximus is included in the official papal titulature, and it has been supposed that the Roman bishop adopted it from the Roman emperor in late antiquity. In fact, however, it was probably not until the fifteenth century that the designation was first used by the papacy, and it has continued to be part of papal representation ever since. The title was deeply rooted in the Roman imperial past. At several stages in papal history the papal agency felt the need to draw back (again) on this ancient, traditional title and managed to successfully (re-)introduce the title by anchoring it in the cultural biography of the papacy.
ISSN:1467-9809
Contains:Enthalten in: Journal of religious history
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1111/1467-9809.12400