Toletanum / Toledo
Regional Council of the Visigothic Kingdom of Hispania; 597
The acts as we have them of the Council of Toledo of 597 have only two canons. Yet it preserved the names and bishoprics of the fifteen bishops who were signatories. At the head of the list is the renowned Massona, Bishop of Mérida, who although Metropolitan was not identified as such in this text. We can assume that it was he who was given the honor to preside over this unnumbered Toledan council in place of Adelfius of Toledo. The remaining thirteen were bishops: Migetius of Narbonne, Motto of Setabitana, Petrus of Arcávica, Asterius of Oca, Eleuterius of Córdoba, Iohannes of Osma, Iohannes of Girona, Baddo of Elvira, Licerius of Idanha, Laufus of Pacense, Ginesius of Magalona, Stefanus of Oreto and Iosimus of Evora. This list represents a wide geographical representation of bishops of Hispania, including one from Visigothic Narbonne in Gallia. They assembled on 16 of June in the twelfth year of Reccared’s reign.
The two canons respectively dealt with the discipline of all clergy and on deciding who among them was responsible for maintaining church buildings. This document, too, has also been preserved singularly in the Codex Emilianensis. Canon 1 established that the bishops’ proposals were based upon the recommendations of previous bishops, presumably referring to the Third Council of Toledo. The issue of celibacy of clergy once again that had been discussed at the First Council of Seville (590) was again taken up, it would not be the last time in Visigothic Hispania. Bishops, presbyters, and deacons it was insisted upon to live exemplary lives of chastity keeping in mind that marriage was permitted of clergy under specific circumstances. The celibacy of clergy remained a hot button issue for centuries to come. Here at Toledo, the bishops adopted a tough posture that required removal of violators from ministry instead of demotion to a lowest rank. In addition, their penance was seclusion, presumably at a monastery, to rekindle their spirit and desire for a chaste life. This discipline echoes what was promulgated in Canon 5 at Third Council of Toledo, it was directed at Arian clergy who converted to the Catholic faith and did not want to give up their women. Moreover, the Arian converts were only reduced in rank to lector, allowed to keep their women, and serve the Church. At this council of 597 in Toledo there is a hardening of posture applied to all clergy regardless of rank. In Canon 2 the bishops called upon local clergy to inquire in their dioceses to find out if the persons responsible for the construction of a church designated a presbyter as caretaker as established in previous canons. If the answer was negative and not enough finances were in hand to pay for a presbyter to do so, then a deacon was given the task with compensation if permitted. Apparently, deacons cost less than a presbyter. We are not given specific monetary amounts of how much each cost. If however, the rents were not enough to retain a deacon, the last resort was to assign an ostiarius. Their duty was to care for the interior of the building and light the lamps where the relics were kept at nightfall.
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QQ: Vives/Marín Martínez/Martínez Díez, Concilios Visigóticos e Hispano-Romanos, 156-157; Weckwerth, Clavis Conciliorum Occidentalium, 205.
Lit.: Orlandis/Ramos-Lissón, Concilios de la España Romana y Visigoda, 241-242.
Alberto Ferreiro
Dezember 2024
Empfohlene Zitierweise:
Ferreiro, Alberto, "Toletum / Toledo, Regional Council of the Visigothic Kingdom of Hispania; 597", in: Lexikon der Konzilien [Online-Version], Dezember 2024;
URL: http://www.konziliengeschichte.org/site/de/publikationen/lexikon/database/623.html
