Monoenergist / Monothelite controversy (Constantinople 680–681)
c. 616–681 (Maronite question after)
attested. Attested. The Maronite question is disputed.
Seeking to reunite Chalcedonians and Miaphysites amid the Persian and Arab wars, Patriarch Sergius and Emperor Heraclius proposed one 'energy' and then one will in Christ (the Ekthesis, 638). Sophronius of Jerusalem and Maximus the Confessor insisted that two natures imply two wills.
Sides
Monothelite / Monoenergist
Leaders: Sergius I of Constantinople, Heraclius, Honorius I (ambiguous), Cyrus of Alexandria, Pyrrhus, Constans II (Typos, 648), Macarius of Antioch
One divine-human operation and will in Christ.
Dyothelite
Leaders: Sophronius of Jerusalem, Maximus the Confessor, Martin I, Agatho
Two natural wills, human and divine, in harmony.
Councils and places
Outcome
Constantinople III (680–681) defined two wills and energies and condemned the Monothelites, including Honorius.
What happened to the losers
Maximus was mutilated and exiled, and Martin died in exile, though both were later venerated. A brief revival under Philippikos (711–713) was reversed. The Maronite church was accused by its opponents (e.g. William of Tyre) of Monothelite origins, which Maronites deny.