2016/10/02 by Roald Dijkstra, Dorine van Espelo · 1 citation
Arts and Humanities · #Historical and Religious Studies of Rome #Theology and Canon Law Studies #Reformation and Early Modern Christianity #Emperor #Fifteenth #Biography #Agency (philosophy) #Representation (politics) #History #Ancient history #Classics #Law #Philosophy #Political science #Politics
paper · pdf · doi:10.1111/1467-9809.12400
openalex publication_date 2016/10/02 · openalex created_date 2016/10/14 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01
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.