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ER 1026

Signatures of the presbyters and "fathers" (abbates) present at the Fourteenth Council of Toledo (Iberian Peninsula, AD 684).

The signatures of the bishops present at the council. There follows:

Item abbates.

[18] Asfalius Dei nutu abba haec gesta synodica a nobis definita subscripsi.

[19] Felix arcipresbyter similiter subscripsi.

[20] Gerontius abba similiter subscripsi.

[21] Gabriel abba similiter subscripsi.

[22] Castorius abba similiter subscripsi.

[23] Sisebertus abba similiter subscripsi.

Item uicarii episcoporum.

[24] Vitalianus presbyter agens uicem domini mei Cipriani episcopi ecclesiae Tarraconensis haec gesta synodica a nobis definita subscripsi.

[25] Argebado abba agens uicem domini mei Cipriani episcopi ecclesiae Tarraconensis similiter subscripsi.

[26] Iohannes abba agens uicem domini mei Suniefredi episcopi Narbonensis ecclesiae similiter subscripsi.

[27] Valdemarus diaconus agens uicem domini mei Suniefredi episcopi Narbonensis ecclesiae similiter subscripsi.

[28] Maximus abba agens uicem domini mei Stephani episcopi Emeretensis ecclesiae similiter subscripsi.

[29] Boniba abba agens uicem domini mei Stephani episcopi Emeretensis ecclesiae similiter subscripsi.

[30] Reccisindus abba agens uicem domini mei Liubani episcopi bracarensis ecclesiae similiter subscripsi.

[31] Gaudentius abba agens uicem domini mei Floresindi episcopi Spalensis ecclesiae similiter subscripsi.

[32] Grauidius diaconus agens uicem domini mei Concordi episcopi Palentinae ecclesiae similiter subscripsi.

[33] Iohannes diaconus cognomento Inuolatus agens uicem domini mei Sarmatani episcopi Valentinae ecclesiae similiter subscripsi.

(eds. Martínez Díez, Rodríguez 2002: 288-290)

The signatures of the bishops present at the council. There follows:

Then the abbots:

[18] I, Asfalius, abbot by the will of God sign the conciliar proceedings that we have decreed.

[19] I, Felix, archpresbyter, sign as well.

[20] I, Gerontius, abbot sign as well.

[21] I, Gabriel, abbot sign as well.

[22] I, Castorius, abbot, sign as well.

[23] I, Sisebertus abbot, sign as well.

Then the deputies of the bishops.

[24] I, Vitalianus, presbyter acting on behalf of my Lord Cyprian, bishop of the Church in Tarragona sign the counciliar proceedings that we have decreed.

[25] I, Argebadus, abba acting on behalf of my Lord Cyprian, bishop of the Church in Tarragona, sign as well.

[26] I, John, abba acting on behalf of my Lord Suniefredus, bishop of the Church in Narbonne, sign as well.

[27] I, Valdemarus, deacon acting on behalf of my Lord Suniefredus, bishop of the Church in Narbonne, sign as well.

[28] I, Maximus, abba acting on behalf of my Lord Stephanus, bishop of the Church in Merida, sign as well.

[29] I, Boniba, abba acting on behalf of my Lord Stephanus, bishop of the Church in Merida, sign as well.

[30] I, Reccisindus, abba acting on behalf of my Lord Liuba, bishop of the Church in Braga, sign as well.

[31] I, Gaudentius, abba acting on behalf of my Lord Floresindus, bishop of the Church in Seville, sign as well.

[32] I, Gravidus, deacon acting on behalf of my Lord Concordus, bishop of Palentia, sign as well.

[33] I, John, deacon acting on behalf of my Lord Sarmatanus, bishop of Valencia, sign as well.

(trans. M. Szada)

Discussion:

After the signatures of the bishops follow the signatures of the abbates, here most probably the monastic superiors (for comparison see the signatures of the Eleventh Council of Toledo in 675 in which abbots are identified by their monastery). On the other hand, abbates named among the deputies of the absent bishops were probably members of the diocesan clergy (see canon 11 of the council of Merida in 666 [817] which puts abbates between presbyters and deacons in the clerical hierarchy). We do not know whether clerics with the title of abbas always had a presbyterial ordination, but it is very probable in the light of canon 3 of the Eleventh Council of Toledo in 675 AD [857] which mentions abbates who celebrate the Divine Office and the mass. It is possible that abbas was a title of a cleric in charge of a basilica (cf. the study of the "abbots of the basilicas" in sixth-century Gaul by Pietri 1983). Bishko 1941 acknowledge the difference between abbots present at the council at their own and those who were representatives of the bishops. He assumes, however, that both these groups belonged to the monastic milieu; he proposes that bishops from distant dioceses were asking the abbots of the monasteries from Toledo and its close proximity to represent them at the council, but there is no decisive argument backing his claim. It is, however, accepted by Orlandis 1986. For other cases of abbates representing the absent bishops see [541], [810], [1027].

At the Fourteenth Council of Toledo for the first time some of the absent bishops (three out of seven) are represented by two persons - either an abbas and a presbyter, an abbas and a deacon, or two abbates.

Place of event:

Region

Iberian Peninsula
Gaul

City

Toledo
Tarragona
Merida
Braga
Seville
Narbonne

About the source:

Title: Concilium Toletanum XIV a. 684, Concilium Toletanum XIIII a. 684, Concilium XIV Toletanum a. 684, Concilium XIIII Toletanum, 14th Council of Toledo in 684 AD
Origin: Toledo (Iberian Peninsula)
Denomination: Catholic/Nicene/Chalcedonian

Shortly after the Thirteenth Council of Toledo in AD 683 the Spanish Church received letters from Pope Leo II urging it to accept the decisions of the Third Council in Constantinople in AD 680–81 that condemned Monothelitism. As a consequence, the Fourteenth Council of Toledo gathered in AD 684 during the reign of King Ervig (680–87), but it was attended by only sixteen bishops (presided over by Julian of Toledo), all of the province of Carthaginensis. Therefore the Christological issues were raised again at the next council, the Fifteenth Council of Toledo in AD 688 (see Collins 2004: 105; Murphy 1951).

Edition:

G. Martínez Díez, F. Rodríguez eds., La colección canónica Hispana, Monumenta Hispaniae sacra. Serie canónica 6, Madrid 2002.

Bibliography:

C.J. Bishko, "Spanish abbots and the Visigothic Councils of Toledo”, [in:] Humanistic Studies in honor of John Calvin Metcalf, Charlottesville 1941, 139–50 (reprinted in: C.J. Bishko, Spanish and Portugese Monastic History 600-1300, Aldershot 1984).

R. Collins, Visigothic Spain, 409–711, Oxford 2004.

F.X. Murphy, "Julian of Toledo and the condemnation of Monothelitism in Spain / Francis X. Murphy”, [in :] Mélanges Joseph de Ghellinck, Gembloux 1951, 361–73.

J. Orlandis, "Abades y concilios en la Hispania visigotica", in Los Visigodos, historia y civilizacion. Actas de la Semana Internacional de Estudios Visigóticos (Madrid – Toledo – Alcala de Henares, 21–25 octubre de 1985), Antiguedad y Cristianismo. Monografias historicas sobre la antiguedad tardia III, Murcia 1986, 221–33

L. Pietri, "Les abbés de basilique dans la Gaule du VIe siècle”, Revue d’histoire de l’Église de France 69 (1983), 5-28.

Categories:

Travel and change of residence

Functions within the Church - Archpresbyter

PR556.

Described by a title - Presbyter/πρεσβύτερος

Described by a title - Abba

Ecclesiastical administration - Participation in councils and ecclesiastical courts

Ecclesiastical administration - Ecclesiastical envoy

Relation with - Another presbyter

Relation with - Bishop/Monastic superior

Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL: M. Szada, Presbyters in the Late Antique West, ER1026, http://www.presbytersproject.ihuw.pl/index.php?id=6&SourceID=1026