The Presbyters Project

Canon 4

De familiaritatem extranearum mulierum licit iam multa, quae obseruari debeant, multis canonecis sententiis fuerint statuta, tamen, quod agnoscitur saepe transcendi, conuenit replicari. Ideoque statuimus, ut ne quis antestitum clericorumque omnium licentiam habeat intra domum suam ullam absque his propinquis mulieribus, quas priores canones elocuntur, habere personam. Quibus etiam id specialiter inhibeatur, ut, si quis clericorum suspicionem aduersam aut oblucutione populi de muliere quacumque fortassis incurrerit, eam statim, si intra domum suam habit, abiciat; si certe extranea et sui iuris est, ita omnibus condicionibus studeat euitare, ut infamia, quae excitata est, abrogitur. Quod si quilibet ille antestitum uel clericorum, quod supra scriptum est, uetare noluerit, pro inobidentia triennii excumunicatione multetur. Quod si adulterii permixtio fuerit adprobata, in regradatione honorum priorum canonum statuta seruentur. In quibus communitionibus metropolitanus a conprouincialibus, conprouincialis a metropolitano cum reliquis conprouincialibus distringatur.

(ed. de Clercq 1963: 115-116)

Canon 4

Although many canonal sentences were passed concerning what should be done about familiarity with non-related women, it is appropriate to repeat what we are aware is often infringed. Therefore, we decree that all priests (antestites) and clerics are forbidden to live in their houses with women, unless they are related to them as previous canons have stated. Also this should be especially obeyed by them, that if by chance one of the clerics arouses suspicion or causes rumours among the people concerning a woman, then he should dismiss her, if she dwells in his house. If she is by all means non-related and in her own right (sui iuris), then he should avoid [her] under any circumstances, so that the infamy, which she has caused, will be erased. If by chance one of those priests or clerics is unwilling to prohibit what was prescribed above, he will be punished for his disobedience with excommunication lasting three years. If someone is found guilty of adultery, the decrees of the previous canons should be observed which demand stripping him of all honours. In such cases, the metropolitan bishop should be judged by bishops from his province, and the provincial bishop by the metropolitan and other bishops from this province.

(trans. J. Szafranowski)

Discussion:

Most probably, "the woman in her own right" (mulier sui iuris) should be understood in this context as a woman who is not legally dependant on the particular cleric. We might suspect that it was a quite sensitive situation when a cleric, as a closest relative, was a legal protector of some woman.

Place of event:

Region

Gaul

City

Orléans

About the source:

Title: The third council of Orléans, Concilium Aurelianense anno 538
Origin: Orléans (Gaul)
Denomination: Catholic/Nicene/Chalcedonian

This council, convened on 7 May 538 in Orléans, gathered five metropolitans, fourteen other bishops, and seven presbyters representing their bishops. They all came from the kingdoms of Childebert I or Theuderic I. No bishop from the kingdom of Clothar I participated. Apart from the council of Agde (AD 506), this is the only one from this period that gathered a metropolitan bishop from every region represented in the synod by a bishop or a presbyter. The council was presided by metropolitan bishop of Lyon, all of whose suffragans were present. Similarly, all the bishops from the metropolitan province of Rouen attended the synod.

Edition:

C. de Clercq ed., Concilia Galliae a. 511-a. 695, Corpus Christianorum. Series Latina 148 A, Turnhout 1963.

Translation:

J. Gaudemet, B. Basdevant, Les canons des conciles mérovingiens VIe-VIIe siècles, Sources chrétiennes 353, Paris 1989.

Categories:

Sexual life - Extramarital

Food/Clothes/Housing - Type of housing

Described by a title - Clericus

Relation with - Other relative

Relation with - Woman

Described by a title - Antistes

Administration of justice - Ecclesiastical

Administration of justice - Excommunication/Anathema

Administration of justice - Demotion

Private law - Ecclesiastical

Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL: J. Szafranowski, Presbyters in the Late Antique West, ER1306, http://www.presbytersproject.ihuw.pl/index.php?id=6&SourceID=1306