Parisiense / Paris
Interprovincial Council in Paris; 614
The Council of Paris (614) was a large interprovincial council convoked by King Chlothar II following his defeat of Brunhild of Austrasia the preceding year (613) and the consequent unification of the Merovingian sub-kingdoms. In attendance at the Basilica of St. Peter in Paris were seventy-nine bishops (including twelve metropolitan prelates) and one abbot. Two of the attendees, Bishop Justus of Rochester and the Abbot Peter of Dover, were from England. The presiding metropolitan bishop was not Lupus of Sens as might be expected, but rather the comparatively junior Aridius of Lyon, a former supporter of Brunhild, whose selection may have served a symbolic purpose for a convoking monarch eager to assert his magnanimous authority over regions and peoples previously loyal to his political rival. The council concluded its business on October 10th.
The acts contain a praefatio that draws some of its text from that of the Council of Lyon (567/570), and they consist of seventeen canons in all. The canons deal with a variety of issues, including the enforcement of existing canons (c. 1), episcopal ordinations (cc. 2-3), monasteries and monastic discipline (cc. 4, 14-15), episcopal oversight of the clergy (cc. 5-6), episcopal responsibility for ecclesiastical dependents (c. 7), the administration and protection of church and clerical property (cc. 8-12), disputes between bishops (c. 13), incestuous unions (c. 16), and the necessity of preventing Jews from holding positions of authority over Christians (c. 17). In general, the Paris acts are concerned with preserving episcopal prerogatives, while taking a conciliatory approach towards the monarchy’s own jurisdictional claims.
About a week after the council concluded its business (October 18) Chlothar issued an edictum of twenty-four chapters, which in a number of cases paralleled the legislation issued at the preceding council. Chlothar, however, made a number of critical changes that did not necessarily undermine the canons’ original intent, but did reframe them – sometimes significantly – from a royal perspective. So, for example, while Chlothar endorsed the episcopal election criteria promulgated in the council, his edict (ch. 1) added the expectation that ordinations be carried out on royal command (per ordinationem principis), and also established a standard for the ordination of individuals affiliated with the royal palace. Following their promulgation, the council’s full acts subsequently were preserved in the Collectiones Remensis and Diessensis. Canons 6, 11, 14, 15 were included among in the False Capitularies, while c. 15 was incorporated into the Decreta of Burchard of Worms and Ivo of Chartres respectively. Gratian included canons 6 and 15 in his Decretum.
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QQ: Boretius, Capitularia regum Francorum, 20-23: Maassen, Concilia aevi Merovingici, 185-192; De Clercq, Concilia Galliae, 274-82; Basdevant / Gaudemet, Les canons des conciles mérovingiens, vol. 2, 506-525; Scholz, Ausgewählte Synoden Galliens und des merowingischen Frankenreichs, 398-417.
Lit: Hefele/Leclerq III/1, 250-254; Maassen, Geschichte der Quellen, vol. 1, 212-223; Pontal, Synoden im Merowingerreich, 182-188; Halfond, The Archaeology of Frankish Church Councils, AD 511-768, 236.
Gregory Halfond
August 2025
Empfohlene Zitierweise:
Halfond, Gregory, "Parisiense / Paris: Interprovincial Council in Paris; 614", in: Lexikon der Konzilien [Online-Version], August 2025; URL: http://www.konziliengeschichte.org/site/de/publikationen/lexikon/database/727.html
