Marius Mercator was a Catholic ecclesiastical writer.

In 417 or 418 he was in Rome where he wrote two anti-Pelagian treatises, which he submitted to Augustine of Hippo

Augustine of Hippo

Augustine of Hippo , also known as Augustine, St. Augustine, St. Austin, St. Augoustinos, Blessed Augustine, or St. Augustine the Blessed, was Bishop of Hippo Regius . He was a Latin-speaking philosopher and theologian who lived in the Roman Africa Province...

. From 429 until about 448 he was in Constantinople

Constantinople

Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...

.

His works, mostly translations and compilations of excerpts from heretical as well as orthodox Greek theological writers, were edited

Editio princeps

In classical scholarship, editio princeps is a term of art. It means, roughly, the first printed edition of a work that previously had existed only in manuscripts, which could be circulated only after being copied by hand....

 by Jean Garnier

Jean Garnier

Jean Garnier was a French Jesuit church historian, patristic scholar, and moral theologian.-Life:He was born at Paris, entered the Society of Jesus at the age of sixteen, and, after a distinguished course of study, taught at first the humanities, then philosophy, at Clermont-Ferrand , and theology...

 (Paris, 1673), reprinted in Migne

Migné

Migné is a commune in the Indre department in central France.-References:*...

 (Patrologia Latina

Patrologia Latina

The Patrologia Latina is an enormous collection of the writings of the Church Fathers and other ecclesiastical writers published by Jacques-Paul Migne between 1844 and 1855, with indices published between 1862 and 1865....

, XLVIII, Paris, 1846). They were also edited by Baluze (Paris, 1684), reprinted with corrections in Andrea Gallandi

Andrea Gallandi

Andrea Gallandi was an Italian Oratorian and patristic scholar. He was descended from an ancient French family.-Life:...

, "Bibliotheca veterum Patrum", VIII (Venice, 1772), 613-738. His treatises "Commonitorium super nomine Cælestii", and "Commonitorium adversus hæresim Pelagii et Cælestii vel etiam scripta Juliani" are against the Pelagians. The former effected the expulsion of Julian of Eclanum

Julian of Eclanum

Julian of Eclanum was bishop of Eclanum, near today's Benevento . He was a distinguished leader of the Pelagians of 5th century.-Life:...

 and Cælestius from Constantinople and their condemnation at Ephesus

Ephesus

Ephesus was an ancient Greek city, and later a major Roman city, on the west coast of Asia Minor, near present-day Selçuk, Izmir Province, Turkey. It was one of the twelve cities of the Ionian League during the Classical Greek era...

 in 431.

Against the Nestorians

Nestorianism

Nestorianism is a Christological doctrine advanced by Nestorius, Patriarch of Constantinople from 428–431. The doctrine, which was informed by Nestorius's studies under Theodore of Mopsuestia at the School of Antioch, emphasizes the disunion between the human and divine natures of Jesus...

 he wrote Epistola de discrimine inter hæresim Nestorii et dogmata Pauli Samosateni, Ebionis, Photini atque Marcelli and Nestorii blasphemiarum capitula XII.

Among his translations are extracts from Cyril of Alexandria

Cyril of Alexandria

Cyril of Alexandria was the Patriarch of Alexandria from 412 to 444. He came to power when the city was at its height of influence and power within the Roman Empire. Cyril wrote extensively and was a leading protagonist in the Christological controversies of the later 4th and 5th centuries...

, Nestorius

Nestorius

Nestorius was Archbishop of Constantinople from 10 April 428 to 22 June 431.Drawing on his studies at the School of Antioch, his teachings, which included a rejection of the long-used title of Theotokos for the Virgin Mary, brought him into conflict with other prominent churchmen of the time,...

, Theodore of Mopsuestia

Theodore of Mopsuestia

Theodore the Interpreter was bishop of Mopsuestia from 392 to 428 AD. He is also known as Theodore of Antioch, from the place of his birth and presbyterate...

, Theodoret

Theodoret

Theodoret of Cyrus or Cyrrhus was an influential author, theologian, and Christian bishop of Cyrrhus, Syria . He played a pivotal role in many early Byzantine church controversies that led to various ecumenical acts and schisms...

, Pelagius

Pelagius

Pelagius was an ascetic who denied the need for divine aid in performing good works. For him, the only grace necessary was the declaration of the law; humans were not wounded by Adam's sin and were perfectly able to fulfill the law apart from any divine aid...

, and others.

External links

• Marius Mercator featured on the 1000 Belgian Franc banknote from 1965.[The banknote does not show the 5th-century Marius Mercator but the 16th-cent. cartographer Gerard Mercator (--> Mercator Projection).]
• Source

• Opera Omnia by Migne Patrologia Latina with Analytical Indexes