Last Roman Emperor
The legend of the Last Roman Emperor or Last World Emperor developed in medieval Europe, as an aspect of Christian eschatology. It predicts that in the last times, a last emperor would appear on earth to reestablish the Holy Roman Empire and assume his function as biblical katechon who stalls the coming of the antichrist.
It therefore does not refer to Romulus Augustus, recognized as the last of the emperors of the Western Roman Empire, or to Constantine XI Palaiologos, the last emperor of the East Roman (Byzantine) Empire.
The notion of Great Monarch is related to it, as is the notion of the Angelic Pope.
Foundations
Biblical
The biblical foundations for the concept of the Great Monarch can be found in the Old Testament and in the New Testament. References in the Old Testament can be found in Isaias, Jeremias, Daniel and Zacharias. It is also found in the New Testament. Catholic teaching refers to the 25th chapter of Matthew's Gospel in which Christ says that no one knows the hour or the day, except the Father in Heaven. The Church furthermore teaches that Christ indicated the approximation of these events in the New Testament, when he spoke of signs which would indicate that the end of days was near. Some of these signs include natural disasters, civil problems, and other catastrophes. Of the precise time, however, it will come like a thief in the night.
Prophetic
The legend is based on the Apocalypse of Pseudo-Methodius. It was developed in the writings of Adso of Montier-en-Der, and was particularly current around the end of the fifteenth century[1]. Christopher Columbus refers to it in his Book of Prophecies.
Context
This is a part of theology and philosophy concerned with the final events in the history of the world, or the ultimate destiny of humanity, commonly referred to as the end of the world.
While in mysticism the phrase metaphorically refers to the end of ordinary reality and reunion with the Divine, in the Roman Catholic Church it is taught as an actual future event prophesied in sacred texts or prophecies or apocalyptic literature.
More broadly, it encompasses related concepts such as the Antichrist, the return of Jesus, the end times, end of days and the end of the world, the resurrection of the dead, the Last Judgment, the renewal of creation, heaven and hell, the establishment of the kingdom of God, and the consummation of all of God's purposes, the fulfillment of Messianic prophecy and the beginning of the Messianic Age.
The term eschatology is often used in a more popular and narrower sense when comparing various interpretations of the Book of Revelation and other prophetic parts of the Bible, such as the Book of Daniel and various sayings of Jesus in the Gospels, such as the Olivet discourse and the Judgment of the Nations, concerning the timing of what many Christians believe to be the imminent second coming of Christ.
In Roman Catholic dogmatic, mystical or folk traditions there are, in addition to doctrines and prophecies of the Bible, also traditional teachings, or writings of people granted gifts of prophecy or a special visitation by messengers from heaven, such as angels, saints, or Christ. The concept of the Great King features here prominently.
Equivalent notions
The last Roman emperor is conceptually similarly to the Mahdi of Islam in that:
- Both are conquerors/rulers that unite various peoples.
- Both live during the rise of antichrist but do not themselves defeat antichrist.
- Both convert many people to their respective religions.
- Both prepare the way for the second coming of Jesus Christ.
- Some of their source belief is exta-scriptural, although the last Roman emperor is scriptural (Daniel's "He-Goat" and "king of the greeks").
Differences are the last Roman emperor defeats the Moslems who have invaded and occupy Europe in the future. {{citation}}: Empty citation (help)
Bibliography
- S.N., Mirabilis Liber, 1522
- Baethgen, Friedrich, Der Engelpapst: Vortrag gehalten am 15. Januar 1933 in öffentlicher Sitzung der Königsberger Gelehrten Gesellschaft, M. Niemeyer, Halle (Saale), 1933 OCLC 9819016
- Alexander, Paul J., Byzantium and the Mirgration of Literary Works and Motifs: The Legend of the Last Roman Emperor, in Medievalia et Humanistica, NS 2 (1971), p. 47 ISSN ...
- Muraise, Eric, Histoire et légende du grand monarque, Albin Michel, Paris, 1975 ISBN 2253020524
- Alexander, Paul J., The Medieval Legend of the Last Roman Emperor and Its Messianic Origin, Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes, 41 (1978), pp. 1-15 ISSN ...
- Marquis de la Franquerie de la Tour, André Lesage, Le Saint Pape et le grand monarque d'après les prophéties, Editions de Chiré, Chiré-en-Montreuil, 1980 ISBN ...
- Bertin, Francis, La révolution et la parousie du grand monarque, in Politica Hermetica, 3 (1989), pp. ... ISSN ...
- Birch, Desmond A., Trial, Tribulation & Triumph: Before, During, and After Antichrist, Queenship Publishing Company, ..., 1997 ISBN 9781882972739
- Möhring, Hannes, Der Weltkaiser der Endzeit, Jan Thorbecke Verlag, Stuttgart, 1999 ISBN 9783799542548
- Otto, Helen Tzima, The Great Monarch and WWIII in Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and Scriptural Prophecies, The Verenikia Press, Rock Hill, 2000 ISBN 1891663011