The Lateran Synod of 649 was a major event in the 'monothelete' controversy of the seventh century over 'wills' and 'operations' in Christ. It represented a determined attempt by the papacy to frustrate and reverse the ecclesiastical policy of the emperor and patriarch at Constantinople. It represented the boldest challenge to imperial authority by churchmen that late antiquity had seen.
The theology adopted by the synod and its expression in a series of speeches was the work of a team of Greek monks under the leadership of St Maximus the Confessor. This translation will add to the still...