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ER 720

Canon 4 of the Ninth Council of Toledo (Iberian Peninsula, AD 655) sets rules for sharing the inheritance of a cleric between his heirs and the Church.

Canon 4

De conquisitis rebus inter ecclesiam et sacerdotis heredes quae diuisio fiat.

Sacerdotes uel quique illi sunt quibus ecclesiasticarum rerum cura conmissa est, quaecumque a ministrationis suae tempore emerint, si de rebus propriis uel uile uel parum habuerint, ad ecclesiae nomen cui praesunt, chartarum conficere instrumenta procurent. Non enim conuenit ut ecclesia, quae suscepit externum, efficiat in alieno diuitem et in suo retineat fraudatorem. Ii uero qui suarum rerum noscuntur habere conpendium, ex omni re quam post ordinationis suae diem uisi sunt conquisisse, siue nulla siue aliqua sint instrumenta confecta, compensata tam iuris sui quam ecclesiasticarum rerum ambitione, si se utriusque rei quantitas exaequauerit, inter ecclesiam et decedentis heredes aequo iure conquisitio pertinebit. Si autem quaelibet pars maiori cumulo sui iuris excreuerit, maiorem etiam portionem in diuisione percipiet. Quicumque uero de praedictis sacerdotibus uel ministris pro sui utilitate atque amicitia uel praestatione aut quocumque modo aut per scripturae seriem aliquid meruerint a quolibet collata percipere, in rebus ecclesiasticis non poterunt numerari, sed quod exinde uoluerint facere, ipsorum uoluntatis arbitrio subiacebit. Quod si hoc post eorum mortem inordinatum fortasse remanserit, ecclesia hoc sibi cui prefuit uel minister exstitit, in perpetuo uindicabit.

(eds. Martínez Díez, Rodríguez 1992: 496-497)

Canon 4

On the division of the property acquired [by a deceased priest] between the Church and his heirs.

If priests or others charged with administration of ecclesiastical property have but little and cheap private property, they shall convey it by a charter to the Church over which they preside. For it is inappropriate for the Church who received a person from outside to make this person personally rich by letting Her to be defrauded of Her own property. If, however, [priests] are known to have gains (compendium) from their private property, and the proportions between their own property and the ecclesiastical property seem equal, then, whether any charters were issued or not, all the items [the priests] acquired after the day of their ordination shall be divided equally between the Church and the heirs. But if any part exceeds the other, this surplus shall also be divided. But if any of above-mentioned priests or ministers gained something for his own use either as a gift of friendship or of gratitude, they do not have to include this to the ecclesiastical property, but these things are at their free disposal. If per chance these things remain not arranged after their death, the Church over which they preside or in which they serve has a perpetual claim to this property.

(trans. M. Szada)

Discussion:

The canon attests that the ecclesiastical career might be a way to financial prosperity for an individual - clerics were using ecclesiastical property for purchases and investments that might increase their personal wealth. The Church was, however, concerned that the gains acquired by the clerics during their time in the office could be alienated from the Church by relatives of the cleric after his death, as the private property of clerics was to be inherited by their families. Hence, the canon orders clerics to bestow all their belongings acquired in the office to the Church, and thus exclude them from inheriting. But in the case of a cleric who already had personal wealth at the moment of ordination, the situation was more complicated, as it was not clear whether new acquisitions were made thanks to the Church property or the private property of the cleric. In such case, the canon orders the division of new purchases between the secular heirs and the Church proportionately (according to the ratio between the two kinds of property? the wording of the canon is unclear at this point).

Place of event:

Region

Iberian Peninsula

City

Toledo

About the source:

Title: Ninth Council of Toledo, Concilium Toletanum nonum a. 655, Concilium VIIII Toletanum, Concilium Toletanum VIIII, Concilium IX Toletanum, Conciliu Toletanum IX
Origin: Toledo (Iberian Peninsula)
Denomination: Catholic/Nicene/Chalcedonian

The Ninth Council of Toledo assembled in November 655 during the reign of King Reccesvinth (653-672). It was presided over by Eugenius II of Toledo. It was attended by fifteen other bishops, abbots, representatives of absent bishops, and lay palatine office-holders (comites), similarly to the previous council in AD 653, but then the representation of ecclesiastics and laymen were significantly more numerous (see discussion in [650]).

Edition:

G. Martínez Díez, F. Rodríguez eds., La colección canónica Hispana, Monumenta Hispaniae sacra. Serie canónica 5, Madrid 1992.

Bibliography:

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

J. Orlandis, D. Ramos-Lissón, Die Synoden auf der Iberischen Halbinsel bis zum Einbruch des Islam (711), Paderborn 1981.

Categories:

Functions within the Church - Parish presbyter

Described by a title - Sacerdos/ἱερεύς

Ecclesiastical administration - Administering Church property

Economic status and activity - Gift

Economic status and activity - Inheritance

Described by a title - Minister/λειτουργός/ὑπηρέτης

Writing activity

Livelihood/income

Private law - Ecclesiastical

Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL: M. Szada, Presbyters in the Late Antique West, ER720, http://www.presbytersproject.ihuw.pl/index.php?id=6&SourceID=720