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ER 816

Canon 7 of the Tenth Council of Toledo (Iberian Peninsula, AD 656) forbids clerics to sell Christian slaves.

Signatures of the participants of the council. There follows:

Septima igitur aggresionis iura in obliuione redacta hic subter curauimus inserenda, quae omnibus patet esse custodienda.

Canon 7

Vt nullus ex sacerdotibus, Leuitis uel ex catholicorum coetu audeat mancipia Christiana Iudaeis uel gentibus uenundari.

Septimae collationis obiectu immane satis et infandum operationis studium nunc sanctum nostrum adiit concilium, quod plerique ex sacerdotibus et Leuitis, qui pro sacris mysteriis et pietatis studio gubernationisque augmento sanctae ecclesiae deputati sunt officio, malunt imitari turbam malorum potius quam sanctorum Patrum insistere mandatorum, ut ipsi etiam qui redimere debuerant, uenditiones facere intendant, quos Christi sanguine praesciunt esse redemptos, ita dumtaxat ut eorum dominio quo sunt empti, in ritu Iudaismo conuertantur oppressi.

Et fit exsecrabile commercium ubi, nitente Deo, iussum est sanctum adesse conuentum, quia Maiorum canones uetuerunt ut nullus Iudaeorum coniugia uel seruitia habere praesumat de Christianorum coetu, sed sacra fidei sibi cohaerentia tam coniugia quam seruitia, fauente Deo unici adhaereant, dicente Propheta: Qui habitare facit unanimes in domo [cf. Ps 67:7] [...]

There follows the further complaints on the practice of selling the Christian slaves by clerics along with quotations from the Bible.

(eds. Martínez Díez, Rodríguez 1992: 551)

Signatures of the participants of the council. There follows:

We take care to insert here the seventh decision deleted by oblivion that should be observed by all.

Canon 7

That no priest, Levite or anyone from the Catholic people dare to sell Christian slaves to Jews or pagans

In the seventh discussion our holy council examined serious and infamous activity because many priests and Levites [i.e. deacons], who are appointed to their offices for the sacred mysteries, the practice of devotion, and the rise of the rule of the Holy Church, prefer to imitate the throng of the wicked rather than follow the mandates of the Holy Fathers, so that instead of ransoming, they sell those whom they know have been redeemed by the blood of Christ so that they are oppressed under the rule of those who observe the rite of Judaism and to whom they have been sold. Thus the accursed trade replaces the holy unity ordered by God. For the canons of the Fathers forbade Jews to marry or to have as servant anyone of the Christian people, but marriages, as well as servanthood, joined by holy faith will remain in union with God's blessing according to the words of the Prophet: "God made unanimous men to dwell in a house" [cf. Ps 67:7].

There follow further complaints on the practice of clerics selling Christian slaves, along with quotations from the Bible.

(trans. M. Szada)

Discussion:

The canon alludes to canons 63 and 66 of the Fourth Council of Toledo (eds. Martínez Díez, Rodríguez 1992: 239-240; 241-242).

Place of event:

Region

Iberian Peninsula

City

Toledo

About the source:

Title: Tenth Council of Toledo, Concilium Toletanum decimum a. 656, Concilium X Toletanum, Concilium Toletanum X, Concilium X Toletanum, Concilium Toletanum X
Origin: Toledo (Iberian Peninsula)
Denomination: Catholic/Nicene/Chalcedonian

The Tenth Council of Toledo assembled in December AD 656 during the reign of King Reccesvinth (653-672). It was presided by Eugenius II of Toledo. It was attended by nineteen other bishops, and five representatives of absent bishops.

The acts and canons of the council are preserved in the 7th-century canonical collection, the so-called Hispana. Its authorship has been attributed to Isidore of Seville (which is still accepted by Martinez Diez 1966; other scholars reject this attribution: Munier 1966; Gaudemet 1967: 122-124; Schaferdiek 1967: 144-148; Landau 1968: 406-418). This collection has several recensions: a primitive one, so-called Isidoriana, which is today lost; the Juliana recension edited after 681 and attributed to Julian of Toledo, which adds to the previous recension the acts and canons of the councils from the Fifth Council of Toledo to the Twelfth (in 681); the Vulgata recension edited between 694-702 that adds the acts and canons of the councils from the the Thirteenth Council of Toledo up to the Seventeenth held in 694; this recension was the most widespread during the Middle Ages (for more bibliography see Kéry 1999: 61-67). Only the Vulgata recension gives the text of the 7th canon, the introductory text ("Septima igitur aggressionis iura...") comes most probably from the redactors of this recension.

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. Gaudemet, review of: "G. Martinez Diez, La coleccion canonica Hispana 1", Revue historique de droit français et étranger 4e ser. 45 (1967), 122-124.

L. Kéry, Canonical collections of the early Middle Ages (ca. 400-1140): a bibliographical guide to the manuscripts and literature, Washington, D.C 1999.

P. Landau, review of: "G. Martinez Diez, La coleccion canonica Hispana 1", Zeitschrift der Savigny-Stiftung für Rechtsgeschichte Kanonistische Abteilung 54 (1968), 406-414.

G. Martínez Díez, La Colección canónica Hispana, vol. 1 Estudio, Madrid 1966.

C. Munier, "Saint Isidore de Séville est-il l’auteur de I’Hispana chronologique?", Sacris Erudiri 17 (1966), 230-241.

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

K. Schaferdiek, review of: ''G. Martinez Diez, La coleccion canonica Hispana 1'', Zeitschrift für Kirchengeschichte 78 (1967), 144-148.

Categories:

Described by a title - Sacerdos/ἱερεύς

Economic status and activity - Buying & selling

Economic status and activity - Slave ownership

Relation with - Jew

Livelihood/income

Theoretical considerations - On priesthood

Pastoral activity - Ransoming and visiting prisoners and captives

Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL: M. Szada, Presbyters in the Late Antique West, ER816, http://www.presbytersproject.ihuw.pl/index.php?id=6&SourceID=816