Anastasius pope

Profile

In Inferno XI Dante names Anastasius pope at the moment when, having reached the edge of the new circle, he points out a soul among the damned who linger there. The note to the verse clarifies that the pope placed among the heretics is Anastasius II, presented as having deviated from orthodoxy because of his contacts with the deacon Photinus of Thessalonica and with Acacius, and recalls that Dante follows in this regard the tradition of Gratian's Decretum, which describes him as struck by sudden death by divine will. According to the note, the choice of citing a pope among the heretics serves to show that heresy is not tied to a single political side, but can concern even the head of the Church, without this calling into question the dignity of the ecclesiastical office as such.