The Acts of the Early Church Councils

Thomas Graumann is Reader in Ancient Christian History and Patristic Studies at the University of Cambridge and Professor for Patristics at the Humboldt University in Berlin.

The volume importantly addresses this major lacuna by honing in on and analysing previously ignored and variegated textual practices that were utterly instrumental for these councils to effectively take place.

• Abbreviations and Conventions Introduction Part I: The Quest for Documentation 1: The Earliest Church Councils: A Documentary History 2: 'Council Acts' and the Variations of Conciliar Documentation and Recording Patterns 3: The Conference of Carthage (AD 411): An Imperial Model Case Part II: 'Reading' and 'Using' Acts 4: Examining the Records: Two Inquiries into Eutyches' Trial (AD 449) 5: Original Acts and Documents at Chalcedon (451) 6: 'Authentic' Documents: Visual Features, Annotation, and Administrative Handling 7: Assessing and Performing Authenticity: A View from Later Councils Part III: 'Writing' Acts: The Council's Secretariat in Action 8: All the President's Men: Administrative Aides and the 'Official' Secretariat 9: The Stenographic Protocol: Professionalism, Conventions, and Challenges 10: 'Transferring' Shorthand Notes to Long-hand Transcript Part IV: The Written Record 11: The Hypomnemata: Production and Qualities 12: Documents Incorporated: Incorporating Documents 13: Abstracting and Summary Records 14: Collecting and Appending Signatures 15: The Structure and Elements of the 'Ideal' Session-record and the Role of 'Editing' Part V: Files, Collections, Editions: Dossierization and Dissemination 16: Council Acts Gathered and Organised: Minutes, Case Files and Collected Records 17: Ancillary Documentation and the Beginnings of Dossierization 18: The Preparation of 'Editions' and the Dissemination of Documentation Conclusion Bibliography