L'élection d'archevêques diphysites au trône alexandrin (451-482): une désignation artificielle et contrainte

International audienceArchbishop Dioscorus of Alexandria's deposition, during the Chacedonian synod (451), provoked an huge trauma for all the Egyptian church. It was well foretold by some of his suffragants who , when constrained to assent to pope Leo's Tomos during the same council's fourth session, cried : " We'll die, by your feet. Lets us die here and not there. Give us an archbishop and we'll sign and agree. Have mercy upon our white hair. Give us an archbishop" (ACO II-1-2, p. 113). The claim does not only concern the very specificity of the Egyptian ecclesiastical church : it reveals how huge the lack of credibility and legitimacy of any Dioscorus' substitute would be. Does it mean that Proterius, Timothy Salophaciolus and John Talaïa, were then pure creatures of the imperial power and their elections a mere masquerade ? The study of different confessional sources does not confirm such an simple view. Rather, they reveal how actors felt the need for respecting tradition in election matters. They also disclose an important shift of community choice, strongly manifested by Emperor Zeno's rage when informed of Talaïa's elevation as orthodox archbishop in 48