The Presbyters Project

Canon 12

Si qui clerici ministeria suscepta quacumque occasione agere, sicut et reliqui, detractant et excusationem de patrociniis quorumcumque, ne officium inpleant, praetendunt ac sacerdotes suos sub huiusmodi causa aestimant per inoboedientia contemnendos, inter reliquos canonicos clericos, ne hac licentia alii uitientur, nullatinus habeantur neque ex rebus ecclesiasticis cum canonicis stipendia aut munera ulla percipiant.

(ed. de Clercq 1963: 119)

Canon 12

If clerics refuse to carry out the ministries bestowed on them for whatever reason just as other clerics [carry out] and, in order not to fulfil their duties, excuse themselves because they have the patronage of someone (patrocinium), and for whatever reasons they think little of their priests in disobedience, then by no means should they be included among other canons-clerics (canonici clerici), so that this disorderliness would not vitiate the other [clerics], nor should they obtain stipends or benefits from the ecclesiastical property along with the canons.

(trans. J. Szafranowski)

Discussion:

It is not evident what the authors of this canon meant by the term patrocinium. It seems that some defiant clerics had powerful patrons, possibly members of their own family. It is plausible to imagine some noble-born clerics being reluctant to carry out daily clerical duties. Another interpretation suggests that the clerics mentioned in this canon were unable to perform their work in the church they were assigned to because they served in the private lay foundations. In this case, it would be quite natural to strip them of their canonical salary. This explanation also clarifies why only this kind of punishment was introduced (with no mention of the usual disciplining methods: excommunication, demotion, or suspension).

Place of event:

Region

Gaul

City

Orléans

About the source:

Title: Third Council of Orléans, Concilium Aurelianense III 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 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:

Described by a title - Clericus

Public law - Ecclesiastical

Patronage/Investiture

Conflict

Relation with - Bishop/Monastic superior

Administration of justice - Ecclesiastical

Livelihood/income

Administration of justice - Financial punishment

Functions within the Church - Presbyter in a lay foundation

Described by a title - Canonicus

Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL: J. Szafranowski, Presbyters in the Late Antique West, ER1312, http://www.presbytersproject.ihuw.pl/index.php?id=6&SourceID=1312