A series of anti-Pelagian legal and ecclesiastical texts from the Quesnelliana collection: Relation to other canonical collections and edition

Abstract

This article proposes a new critical edition of a series of late antique Roman laws issued
during the so-called Pelagian controversy. In that controversy the North African church,
headed by bishops Aurelius of Carthage and Augustine of Hippo, opposed the teachings
of Pelagius and Caelestius. In 418, Roman Emperor Honorius chose the side of the
African church and condemned Pelagius and Caelestius in a series of legislative
writings. The dossier of anti-Pelagian laws has been transmitted in several canonical
collections. Canonical collections are collections of texts, preserved in one or multiple
manuscripts, of which the contents primarily concern church regulations or reports from
ecclesiastical councils. This article will first discuss how the collections which contain
these anti-Pelagian writings relate to each other. Additionally, the manuscript relations
within each collection will be examined. Afterwards, the article gives a brief overview
of earlier editions of the anti-Pelagian laws. The article concludes with a new critical
edition of the anti-Pelagian dossier, and supplements this edition with an English
translation.