The Presbyters Project

Canon 48

De babtizatis, ut nihil accipiat clerus.

Emendari placuit, ut ii qui babtizantur, ut fieri solebat, nummos in conca non mittant, ne sacerdos quod gratis accepit pretio distrahere uideatur; neque pedes eorum lauandi sunt a sacerdotibus uel clericis.

(eds. Martínez Díez, Rodríguez 1984: 257)

Canon 48

On the baptized that the clergy shall not accept any money from them

The custom that those who are baptized put the money into a baptismal shell shall be corrected, so that the priest does not seem to sell what he received for free. And the priests and clerics shall not wash their feet.

(trans. M. Szada)

Discussion:

Foot washing as a controversial part of liturgical ceremony of baptism is attested also in Italy (Ambrose of Milan, De sacramentis 3.1.4, 4th c.) and in Africa (Augustine, Epistula 55.33, beginning of 5th c.).

Place of event:

Region

Iberian Peninsula

City

Elvira

About the source:

Title: Council of Elvira, Concilium Eliberritanum
Origin: Elvira (Iberian Peninsula)
Denomination: Catholic/Nicene/Chalcedonian

The exact date of the council and the nature of the Elvira canons continues to be debated. Vilella and Barred 2006, Villela 2014 argue that it is a late, heterogenous compilation created in many phases between the late 4th century and the second half of the 6th. The unitary view is defended by Sotomayor and Berdugo Villena, in Sotomayor, Fernandez Ubina eds. 2008: 89-114. The council is usually dated to the first quarter of the 4th century, see Sotomayor in Sotomayor, Fernandez Ubina eds. 2008: 137-168). For a more complete account of the recent research on the Council of Elvira see Sánchez 2008.

Edition:

Editions:

Concilium Eliberritanum, in: J. Vives ed., Concilios visigóticos e hispano-romanos, Barcelona-Madrid 1963.

G. Martínez Díez, F. Rodríguez, eds., La colección canónica Hispana, v. 4 Concilios Galos. Concilios Hispanos: primera parte, Madrid 1984.

Bibliography:

B. Kötting, "Fusswaschung", in: Reallexikon für Antike und Christentum, v. 8, Stuttgart 1972, 743-777.

M.J.L. Sánchez, "L’état actuel de la recherche sur le concile d’Elvire", Revue des sciences religieuses 82 (2008), 517-546.

M. Sotomayor and T. Berdugo Villena, "Valoración de las actas" in: M. Sotomayor, J. Fernández Ubiña, El Concilio de Elvira y su tiempo, Granada 2005, 89-114.

M. Sotomayor, "Sobre la fecha del concilio" in: M. Sotomayor, J. Fernández Ubiña, El Concilio de Elvira y su tiempo, Granada 2005, 137-168.

J. Vilella, P.-E. Barreda, Istituto Patristico Augustinianum, "¿Cánones del Concilio de Elvira o Cánones Pseudoiliberritanos?", Augustinianum 46 (2006), 285-373.

J. Vilella, "The Pseudo-Iliberritan Canon Texts", Zeitschrift für Antikes Christentum / Journal of Ancient Christianity 18 (2014), 210-259.

Categories:

Described by a title - Sacerdos/ἱερεύς

Described by a title - Clericus

Ritual activity - Baptism and instructing catechumens

Economic status and activity - Gift

Livelihood/income

Private law - Ecclesiastical

Devotion - Donations and offerings

Devotion - Foot washing

Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL: M. Szada, Presbyters in the Late Antique West, ER74, http://www.presbytersproject.ihuw.pl/index.php?id=6&SourceID=74