Maximus the Confessor

Lived

c. 580–662

Era

Medieval

Where

Constantinople and North Africa

Tradition

The apostolic communities

Two wills in Christ, argued at the cost of his hand and tongue

A Byzantine civil servant turned monk who became the leading opponent of monothelitism when emperor and patriarch alike were committed to it. Tried for treason, he had his tongue cut out and his right hand cut off — the instruments of speech and writing — and died in exile in Georgia.

Why it matters

His position was vindicated at Constantinople III nineteen years after his death, and is now the christology of every major tradition: a Christ with a human will that freely consents, because a nature without a will is not a nature and a humanity without freedom is not saved. He is also among the most demanding of Greek theologians, and the twentieth century rediscovered him as one of the most important.

In the record

1. 680–681 AD Council

   Third Council of Constantinople

   Vindicated by it, nineteen years after he died in exile for the position it adopted

All the figures, from the apostolic age to the present, or the timeline they stand in.