What religious edict did Justinian I issue near the end of his reign?

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Mosaic detail of Emperor Justinian I with a jeweled crown and halo, wearing ornate robes, from the Church of San Vitale in Ravenna, Italy. — Justinian I Justinian I, detail of a mosaic in the Church of San Vitale, Ravenna, Italy.

Near the end of his reign, in late 564, Justinian I issued an edict that promoted the doctrine known as Aphthartodocetism. This theological position asserted that the human body of Christ was incorruptible and only appeared to suffer.

The issuance of this edict was widely considered a lapse into heresy by many contemporaries, leading to immediate protests from numerous ecclesiastics who refused to subscribe to it. The controversy surrounding the edict effectively ended upon the emperor's death in 565.1