Hosius of Corduba (c. 257 - 359), also known as
Osius or
Ossius, was a
bishopA bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
of
Córdoba||-||-||}Córdoba is a city in Andalusia, southern Spain, and the capital of the province of Córdoba. Located at 37.88° North, 4.77° West, on the Guadalquivir river, it was founded in ancient Roman times as Corduba by Claudius Marcellus...
and one of the prominent advocates of what became Catholic
ChristianityChristianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as presented by the revelations in the New Testament....
in the
Arian controversyThe Arian controversy describes several controversies related to Arianism which divided the Christian church from before the Council of Nicaea in 325 to after the Council of Constantinople in 381...
which divided the 4th century
early Christian ChurchEarly Christianity is commonly known as the Christianity of the roughly three centuries between the Crucifixion of Jesus and the First Council of Nicaea in 325....
.
He was probably born in
RomanThe Roman Empire was the post-Republican phase of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean. The term is used to describe the Roman state during and after the time of the first emperor,...
Corduba in
HispaniaHispania was the name given by the Romans to the whole of the Iberian Peninsula . When Rome was a republic, Hispania was divided into two provinces: Hispania Citerior and Hispania Ulterior...
, although a passage in
ZosimusZosimus was a Byzantine historian, who lived in Constantinople during the reign of the Byzantine Emperor Anastasius I . According to Photius, he was a comes, and held the office of "advocate" of the imperial treasury....
has sometimes been conjectured as the writer's belief that Hosius was a native of
EgyptEgypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Western Asia...
.
Elected the see of Córdoba before the end of the 3rd century, he narrowly escaped martyrdom in the persecution of
MaximianMarcus Aurelius Valerius Maximianus Herculius , commonly referred to as Maximian, was Caesar from July 285 and Augustus from April 1, 286 to May 1, 305. He shared the latter title with his co-emperor and superior, Diocletian, whose political brain complemented Maximian's military brawn...
(303-305).
Hosius of Corduba (c. 257 - 359), also known as
Osius or
Ossius, was a
bishopA bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
of
Córdoba||-||-||}Córdoba is a city in Andalusia, southern Spain, and the capital of the province of Córdoba. Located at 37.88° North, 4.77° West, on the Guadalquivir river, it was founded in ancient Roman times as Corduba by Claudius Marcellus...
and one of the prominent advocates of what became Catholic
ChristianityChristianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as presented by the revelations in the New Testament....
in the
Arian controversyThe Arian controversy describes several controversies related to Arianism which divided the Christian church from before the Council of Nicaea in 325 to after the Council of Constantinople in 381...
which divided the 4th century
early Christian ChurchEarly Christianity is commonly known as the Christianity of the roughly three centuries between the Crucifixion of Jesus and the First Council of Nicaea in 325....
.
He was probably born in
RomanThe Roman Empire was the post-Republican phase of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean. The term is used to describe the Roman state during and after the time of the first emperor,...
Corduba in
HispaniaHispania was the name given by the Romans to the whole of the Iberian Peninsula . When Rome was a republic, Hispania was divided into two provinces: Hispania Citerior and Hispania Ulterior...
, although a passage in
ZosimusZosimus was a Byzantine historian, who lived in Constantinople during the reign of the Byzantine Emperor Anastasius I . According to Photius, he was a comes, and held the office of "advocate" of the imperial treasury....
has sometimes been conjectured as the writer's belief that Hosius was a native of
EgyptEgypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Western Asia...
.
Elected the see of Córdoba before the end of the 3rd century, he narrowly escaped martyrdom in the persecution of
MaximianMarcus Aurelius Valerius Maximianus Herculius , commonly referred to as Maximian, was Caesar from July 285 and Augustus from April 1, 286 to May 1, 305. He shared the latter title with his co-emperor and superior, Diocletian, whose political brain complemented Maximian's military brawn...
(303-305). In 305 or 306 he attended the
council of Illiberis or ElviraThe Synod of Elvira was an ecclesiastical synod held in Elvira in what was then the Roman province of Hispania Baetica, which ranks among the more important provincial synods, for the breadth of its canons. Its date cannot be determined with exactness, but is believed to be in the first quarter of...
(his name appearing second in the list of those present), and upheld its severe canons concerning such points of discipline as the treatment of those who had abjured their faith during the recent persecutions and questions concerning
clerical marriageClerical marriage is the practice of allowing clergy to marry. Clerical marriage is found in Protestantism, Judaism, Anglicanism, Independent Catholic Churches, and some sects of Buddhism.-Present-day practice:Protestant churches practise clerical marriage....
.
In 313 he appears at the court of Constantine, being expressly mentioned by name in a constitution directed by the emperor to
CaecilianusCaecilianus, or Caecilian, was archdeacon and then bishop of Carthage in 311 A.D. When archdeacon, he resolutely supported his bishop Mensurius in opposing the fanatical craving for martyrdom...
of
CarthageCarthage refers both to an ancient city in present-day Tunisia, and a modern-day suburb of Tunis. The civilization that developed within the city's sphere of influence is referred to as Punic or Carthaginian...
in that year. In 323 he was the bearer and possibly the writer of Constantine's letter to Bishop
Alexander of AlexandriaAlexander of Alexandria was the nineteenth Patriarch of Alexandria from 313 to his death. During his patriarchate, he dealt with a number of issues relevant to the church's positions on issues facing the church. These included the dating of Easter, the actions of Meletius of Lycopolis, and the...
and
AriusArius was a Berber Christian priest from Alexandria, Egypt in the early fourth century whose teachings, now called Arianism, were deemed heretical by the Church....
his deacon, bidding them cease disturbing the peace of the church; and, on the failure of the negotiations in Egypt, it was doubtless with the active concurrence of Hosius that the
Council of NicaeaThe First Council of Nicaea was a council of Christian bishops convened in Nicaea in Bithynia by the Roman Emperor Constantine I in 325 CE...
was convened in 325. He certainly took part in its proceedings, and was one of the large number of confessors present; that he presided is a very doubtful assertion, as also that he was the principal author of the
Nicene CreedThe Nicene Creed is the creed or profession of faith that is most widely used in Christian liturgy. It is called Nicene because, in its original form, it was adopted in the city of Nicaea by the first ecumenical council, which met there in 325...
. Still he powerfully influenced the judgment of the emperor against the party of Arius.
After a period of quiet life in his own diocese, Hosius presided in 343 at the fruitless synod of Sardica, which showed itself so hostile to
ArianismArianism is the theological teaching of Arius , a Christian priest, who was first ruled a heretic at the First Council of Nicea of 325, later exonerated in 335 at the First Synod of Tyre, and then pronounced a heretic again after his death at the First Council of Constantinople of 381...
; there and afterwards he spoke and wrote in favour of Athanasius
The prestige given to the orthodox cause by the support of the venerable Hosius led the Arians to bring pressure to bear upon
Constantius IIFlavius Iulius Constantius, known in English as Constantius II was a Roman Emperor of the Constantinian dynasty.-Early life:...
, who had him summoned to Milan where he declined to condemn Athanasius nor to extend communion to Arians. He so impressed the emperor that he was authorized to return home. More Arian pressure led to Constantius writing a letter demanding whether he alone was going to remain obstinate. In reply, Hosius sent his courageous letter of protest against imperial interference in Church affairs (353), preserved by Athanasius (
Historia Arianorum, 42-45) which led to Hosius' exile in 355 to Sirmium, in
PannoniaPannonia is an ancient province of the Roman Empire bounded north and east by the Danube, coterminous westward with Noricum and upper Italy, and southward with Dalmatia and upper Moesia....
(in modern Serbia). From his exile he wrote to
Constantius IIFlavius Iulius Constantius, known in English as Constantius II was a Roman Emperor of the Constantinian dynasty.-Early life:...
his only extant composition, a letter not unjustly characterized by the French historian Sebastian Tillemont as displaying gravity, dignity, gentleness, wisdom, generosity and in fact all the qualities of a great soul and a great bishop.
Subjected to continual pressure from the Arians the old man, who was near his hundredth year, was weak enough to sign the formula adopted by the third
Council of SirmiumThe Council of Sirmium is the name primarily given to the third Council of Sirmium which marked a temporary compromise between Arianism and the Western bishops of the Christian church. In all, there were four councils held at Sirmium between 347 AD and 359 AD of which at least three dealt...
in 357, which involved communion with the Arians but not the condemnation of Athanasius. He was then permitted to return to his diocese, where he died in 359.
There is a letter from
Pope LiberiusPope Saint Liberius, pope from May 17, 352 to September 24, 366, was consecrated according to the Catalogus Liberianus on May 22, as the successor of Pope Julius I. He is not mentioned as a saint in the Roman Martyrology...
to him (ca. 353).