Presbyters Uniwersytet Warszawski
ID
ER 839
Canon 12 of the First Council of Tours (Gaul, AD 461) forbids clerics from travelling without the letters of recommendation from their priests.
[Capitulum secundum codd. A, Q, et S] XII. Vt commendaticiis clericus ambulet.
 
Et ut clerici non absque sacerdotum suorum commendatione ad alias prouincias siue ciuitates ambulare disponant.
 
(ed. Munier 1963: 147, 149)
[Title according to codd. A, Q, and S] XII. That a cleric should travel with [letters] of recommendation.
 
And that clerics should not set out to travel to other provinces and cities without their priests' recommendation.
 
(trans. J. Szafranowski)

Discussion:

Compare the term commendaticium used in the title of this canon with the term apostholium/apostolium used i.a. in Canons 1 and 6 of the council of Nîmes AD 394/396 [367], [371]. See also the former canon from the same council: [ 838].
Comparing those two canons, 11 and 12 from Tours, one may notice that Canon 11 talked about the permanent leaving of a particular church and Canon 12 about a temporary absence. In the first case, the cleric required a permission from his bishop (episcopus), but in the second case, a letter of recommendation from the priest (sacerdos) was needed. In the previous canons from the same council, [813] and [815], the term sacerdos was used to describe both bishops and presbyters, and, therefore, it seems that also presbyters could write letters of recommendation for the lower clergy. Indirect proof of this phenomenon can be also found in canon 94 of the Breviary of Ferrandus of Carthage (North Africa, AD 523/546, repeating the earlier norms) [755] and canon 13 of the Second Council of Orléans [1265], forbidding presbyters to issue letters of recommendation.

Place of event:

Region
  • Gaul
City
  • Tours

About the source:

Title: First Council of Tours, Concilium Turonense I anno 461
Origin: Tours (Gaul)
Denomination: Catholic/Nicene/Chalcedonian
The council of Tours of AD 461 took place on the 18th of November of 461, when some bishops had gathered in Tours to celebrate the feast of St. Martin the week earlier. The canons were signed by eight bishops, including one described as "of the Britons", and one presbyter acting in his bishop`s stead. Characteristic of the acts of this synod is the frequent quoting of the Holy Scriptures.
Edition:
Ch. Munier ed., Concilia Galliae a. 314-a. 506, Corpus Christianorum. Series Latina 148, Turnhoult 1963.

Categories:

Travel and change of residence
    Functions within the Church - Wandering presbyter/Without office
      Described by a title - Sacerdos/ἱερεύς
        Described by a title - Clericus
          Public law - Ecclesiastical
            Relation with - Bishop/Monastic superior
              Equal prerogatives of presbyters and bishops
                Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL: J. Szafranowski, Presbyters in the Late Antique West, ER839, http://www.presbytersproject.ihuw.pl/index.php?id=6&SourceID=839