FE'LIX (Porn) I.-IV.—FEntx I., reckoned the 26th in the succession of popes, suc ceeded Dionysius in the see of Rome probably in the year 269. His pontificate is chiefly interesting as an early example of the relations of the Christian church to the Roman empire, and of the recognition by the state of the civil rights of Christians. In the pontificate of F.'s predecessor, Dionysius, Paul of Samosata, bishop of Antioch, had been deposed by a council held in that city. Paul having resisted the sentence, the matter was laid before F., Dionysius being now dead; and, as Paul held possession of the church and church buildings, the bishops were obliged to claim the interference of the emperor Aurelian, who was passing through Antioch on his return from Palmyra. Aurelian returned a decision which is often appealed to in modern controversy, to the effect that the buildings should belong to the person " to whom they should be adjudged by the bishops of Italy and Rome." F. afterwards suffered martyrdom in the perse cution of the same emperor,,Aurelian, probably in 274.—Fnmx II.. occupied the Roman see during the banishment of Liberius, in 355. It is agreed on all hands that his first appointment was intrusive, but much diversity of opinion exists as to his subsequent career. In reply to a petition for the recall of Liberius, it was proposed by the emperor Constantius that Liberius and F. should exercise jurisdiction jointly; but this proposi tion was rejected by the Romans, and F. appears to have been compelled to retire from the city. According to the Liber Pontificalie, he suffered martyrdom in the end, at the hands of his former patron, Constantius; but this is not confirmed by any contemporary authority.—FELIX III. occupied the* see of Rome from 483 till 492. He was a native of
Rome, and of the family from which afterwards sprung pope Gregory the great. His pontificate is historically memorable, as presenting the first commencement of the dis ruption of the Greek and Roman churches. The contemporary occupant of the see of Constantinople, Acacius, as well as the imperial court, was a favorer of the Monophysite party, who refused to accept the decision of the council of Chalcedon. See Moxo mYsrrEs. By their influence, the patriarch of Alexandria was deposed, and replaced by the Monophysite, Peter Mongus. The deposed patriarch having appealed to Rome, F. sent two legates to Constantinople, to require his restoration; and the legates having failed in their trust, and Acacius still adhering to the heterodox party, F. assembled a council at Rome, and excommunicated not only the offending legates, but also Acacius himself, the sentence being pinned by a monk upon the back of the patriarch's robes while he was actually officiating in the church. F. had previously rejected the Henoticon, or decree of union, published by the emperor Zeno. The schism thus inaugurated was not healed till the year 519. The only literary remains of this pontiff are the letters and other acts of this controversy. He died Feb. 24, 492.—FELIx IV., a native of Benevento, succeeded John I. in 526. His pontificate presents no noteworthy event. He died in 530.—FELtx V. (anti-pope). See AMADEUS.