The Presbyters Project

Canon 23

Si episcopus humanitatis intuitu uineolas et terrulas clericis uel monachis praesteterit excolendas uel pro tempore tenendas, etiam si longa transisse annorum spatia conprobentur, nullum ecclesia praeiudicium patiatur nec saeculari lege praescriptio, quae ecclesiae aliquid inpediat, opponatur.

(ed. de Clercq 1963: 11)

Canon 23

If a bishop, out of human kindness, grants small vineyards or pieces of land to clerics or monks to cultivate, or to hold for a time, even if it is proved that a long period of years has passed, the Church should suffer no damage, nor should the prescription of the secular law be brought up, which would prevent the Church from it [i.e. recovering the property].

(trans. Hillgarth 1986: 102, changed by J. Szafranowski)

Discussion:

The time of positive prescription in Roman law was thirty years. See canon 13 of the Third Council of Orléans (AD 538) which recognises this rule [1313].

Place of event:

Region

Gaul

City

Orléans

About the source:

Title: First Council of Orléans 511, Concilium Aurelianense I anno 511
Origin: Orléans (Gaul)
Denomination: Catholic/Nicene/Chalcedonian

The First Council of Orléans gathered on the 10th of July 511 under the auspices of King Clovis I four years after his conquest of Aquitaine from the hands of the Visigoths. It seems that Clovis wanted the bishops he convened to issue ecclesiastical laws that could apply to both his new and old subjects, people of Roman and Germanic descent alike. The 31 canons of this council are preceded with the letter from the bishops to Clovis in which they ask for his confirmation of the decrees. The council was attended by 32 bishops, including five metropolitans: Cyprian of Bordeaux (probably presiding), Tetradius of Bourges, Licinius of Tours, Leontius of Eauze, and Gildared of Rouen.

Edition:

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

Translation:

J.N. Hillgarth, Christianity and paganism, 350-750: the conversion of Western Europe, Philadelphia 1986.

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

Categories:

Described by a title - Clericus

Private law - Secular

Economic status and activity - Farming

Economic status and activity - Ownership or possession of land

Relation with - Bishop/Monastic superior

Livelihood/income

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, ER1332, http://www.presbytersproject.ihuw.pl/index.php?id=6&SourceID=1332