In order to confirm that no one should add to the Creed, Pope Leo III [795-816] had two silver tablets, or shields, engraved with the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed placed in St. Peter's Basilica, as well as another, smaller single shield, hung in St. Paul's. But what happened to them?
The thesis by Andrea Sterk provides an explanation. Here is an excerpt:
"The Silver Shields of Pope Leo III: A Reassessment of the Evidence", Sterk, 1988"...An assortment of Latin and Byzantine texts attest to the action of Pope Leo and the presence of the silver shields in Rome in subsequent centuries. Yet a careful examination of these accounts reveals some surprising facts...
The earliest and most reliable account of Pope Leo is recorded in his vita in the Liber Pontificalis... 'Leo III, "for love and protection of the orthodox faith" had two shields engraved with the text of the Creed one in Latin and one in Greek. These shields, weighing ninety-four pounds, six ounces each, were placed on either side "over the entrance to the body" in the Basilica of St. Peter.' In the next paragraph of the Liber Pontificalis, however, we find that this same Pope Leo had a single silver shield, weighing thirty-two pounds, engraved with the words of the Creed and likewise place "over the entrance to the body" in the Basilica of St. Paul. While most modern accounts mention only two shields, there are clearly three in question - two shields inscribed with the Creed in Greek and Latin in St. Peters, and one smaller shield in St. Paul's.
Sterk goes on to explain that
in 1061, (apostate) Peter Damian gives an eyewitness account of the shield in the Basilica of St. Paul, without "filioque". Then, in 1123 (apostate) Peter Abelard described the same non-filioque shield in his infamous work Sic et Non. Sterk points out that Abelard attests that Pope Leo's own name is engraved on the shield with "for love and protection of the orthodox faith". Sterk goes on to provide another eyewitness to the St. Paul shield: 1235, Nicolo Netario, Greco-Italian Abbot of Casole, specifies that "the unworthy bishop Leo III" was inscribed.
She continues with evidence from the east, by providing a quote from Photios the Patriarch of Constantinople:
To the Archbishop of Aquilea, 883 ...in order to preserve the pure Creed from corruption in any way by barbarous language, [Leo III] declared that the Divine and Holy Trinity should be praised and preached in Greek to those in the West, as it had been decreed and read from the beginning... He also inscribed it on certain shields, like inscriptions on columns, and placed it before the eyes of all and affixed it to the doors of the Church.
Sterk goes on, saying:
Photios adds more details in later writings. He explains that because of the poverty of the Latin language which has led to imprecise formulations and subsequent heretical divergences from the faith, Pope Leo "commanded that the Romans also recite the Creed of Faith in Greek." Moreover, Photius expressly states that the shields were inscribed with the Creed "in Greek letters and words," and that Leo had them read in the presence of the Roman people and exposed for all to see. To further substantiate this account, he adds that many of those who at that time saw and read them are still among the living." It also becomes clear that Photius was not referring to Leo III at all, but rather Leo IV [847-855], for he names Benedict III [855-858] as his successor... This was not confusion, rather, Photios was referring to an entirely different historical moment: when Pope Leo IV had the already existing shields removed from their hidden location in the treasuries of the apostles Peter and Paul, and publicly read and displayed before the people of Rome... Patriarch John Bekkos (1275-1282) ...writes that the shields had once lain in the treasuries of Peter and Paul and, as in one of the earlier accounts of the schism, they are made of bronze...inscribed in Greek and Latin...he claims that the Romans till recite the Creed in Greek as well as Latin on certain occasions.
...the journey of John V Paleologus to Rome in 1369...seeking the support of Western Christians in the struggle against the Turks. Not only was he unsuccessful in this endeavor, but he even received abuse from the Latins on account of doctrinal differences. During this same journey, some of the emperor's retinue, looking for the right direction in a passageway, stumbled across one of the shields on which had been inscribed the Orthodox Creed in both Greek and Latin letters. The Latins were reportedly embarrassed by this find.
Sterk concludes:
A comparison of the sources reviewed above exposés a number of discrepancies... While the existence and the basic description of these shields can be affirmed with some confidence...their destiny is by no means as clear...
In conclusion, then, the history of the famous Roman shields might be reconstructed as follows. In 810 Pope Leo III, in order to preserve and affirm the canonical creed against those who sought to alter it, had three silver shields engraved with the un-interpolated form of the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed, that is, without the filioque addition. He had two of these shields, one inscribed in Latin and the other in Greek, placed over the entrance to the tomb in the Basilica of St. Peter; the other smaller shield was placed in an analogous position in the Basilica of St. Paul. In 846 the valuable silver shields in St. Peter's fell prey to Muslim plunder, and hence forth, are no longer mentioned in western accounts. Yet these shields had, indeed, hung in the Vatican Basilica for more than thirty-five years, and the action of Pope Leo, of great polemical value, had become much acclaimed by Christians in the East. Thus, Byzantine writers from Photios onward continue to attest to the alleged presence of these shields in St. Peter's. In their accounts, however, the shields are in a new and more prominent location, supported by a new tradition, though unfortunately never substantiated by the direct experience of the writers. The single shield in St. Paul's, which somehow endured the Muslim onslaught, remained in its original location, as attested by eyewitnesses up to 1232. At a later date, perhaps during the sixteenth-century sack of Rome, it too disappeared without a trace.
Therefore, we have evidence of three Popes of the 9th century forbidding any addition to the Creed: Pope Leo III, Pope Leo IV and Pope John VIII through the 879 Photian Synod (the true 8th Ecumenical Council). Pope Leo III's silver and bronze shields were cast and set in place as an instruction and a warning. Even though the marauders of truth have stolen these physical shields, let us, having now discerned the truth, hold in front of our hearts the same shield of Faith as these holy Popes of old.
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