Presbyters Uniwersytet Warszawski
ID
ER 842
Canon 15 of the Council in Mérida (Iberian Peninsula) in AD 666 forbids bishops and presbyters to impose severe corporal punishments on slaves belonging to the Church.
Canon 15
 
Ut episcopi atque presbyteres pro gravibus causis, quod legum dampnant sententiae, sine iudicis examine familiam ecclesiae non debeant stirpare.
 
Si regalis pietas pro salute hominum suarum legum dignata est ponere decreta; cur religio sancta per sancti concilii ordinem non habeant instituta quae omnino debent esse cavenda? Ideoque placuit huic sancto concilio ut omnis potestas episcopalis modum suae ponat irae, nec pro quolibet excessu cuilibet ex familia ecclesiae aliquid corporis membrorum sua ordinatione praesumat stirpare aut aufferre. Quod si talis emerserit culpa, advocato iudice civitatis ad examen eius deducatur quod factum fuisse asseritur. Et quia omnino iustum est ut pontifex saevissimam non inpendat vindictam, quicquid coram iudice verius patuerit pro disciplinae severitate absque turpi decalvatione maneat emendatum, et ab episcopo suo aut donatus fidelibus suis maneat qui malum aliquod, quod leges graviter dampnant admisit, aut vendedi eum episcopus si voluerit licentiam habebit. Similiter et presbyteres, quia conperimus aliquos aegritudine eccedente familiae ecclesiae suae crimen inponere, dicentes ex ea homines aliquos maleficium sibi fecisse eosque sua potestate torquere et per multam impietatem detrimentare, et hoc emendari placuit per rectitudinem huius sententiae. Instituentes igitur decernimus, ut si presbyter talia pati se dixerit, ad aures hoc sui perducat episcopi: ipse autem datis bonis hominibus ex latere suo iudicem hoc iubeat quaerer, et si sceleris huius causa fuerit inventa, ad cognitionem episcopi hoc reducant et processa ex ore eius sententia ita malum extirpatum maneat, ne hoc quisquam alius facere praesummat. Si quis sentenciae huius ordinem non observaverit, excommunicationis sentencia feriendus erit [et clero abiciendus].
 
(ed. Vives 1963: 336)
Canon 15
 
That bishops and presbyters shall not kill [any member] of the familia of the Church without the examination of a judge, [even] for serious crimes that are condemned by the decrees of law.
 
If royal piety has deemed it worthy to issue decrees of his law for the salvation of the people, why shall the holy religion not institute by order of the holy council what shall be observed in every respect? Therefore, it pleased the holy council that every episcopal authority shall moderate its anger and never presume to mutilate the body of anyone from the familia of the Church, whatever offence he or she committed. If such a guilt comes to light, a judge shall be summoned, and [the suspect] shall be taken for examination to investigate what has happened. And, as it is by all means just that the pontiff does not infer the most severe punishment, whatever is verified before the judge shall not be corrected for the severity of the discipline without disgraceful decalvation, and the guilty person shall be transferred by his bishop or by the faithful to the person who will perform the injury prescribed severely by the law, or the bishop will be allowed to sell him or her, if he wants. We have also learnt that some presbyters, after having fallen ill, inferred punishments on the familia of the Church, saying that some of its members practised sorcery, and thus they tortured them by their authority and harmed them because of this great impiety. It pleased us to emend this by the rightfulness of this sentence. We decree then that if a presbyter says that he suffers such a thing, he shall inform his bishop about this. The bishop will order a judge, assisted by some good people from the entourage of the bishop, to investigate, and if they prove these crimes they will tell this to the bishop. Only after he declares the sentence can the damage of mutilation be performed, so that no one else presumes to do that. If someone fails to observe this decree, he shall be punished with excommunication [and removed from the clergy].
 
(trans. M. Szada)

Place of event:

Region
  • Iberian Peninsula
City
  • Merida

About the source:

Title: Council of Merida in 666, Concilium Emeritense a. 666, Council of Mérida in 666
Origin: Merida (Iberian Peninsula)
Denomination: Catholic/Nicene/Chalcedonian
The provincial council of the Lusitania was held in Mérida in the church of Jerusalem in November 666. It was presided by the Bishop Proficius of Mérida, and eleven other bishops were present.
Edition:
J. Vives ed., Concilios visigóticos e hispano-romanos, Barcelona-Madrid 1963.

Categories:

Described by a title - Presbyter/πρεσβύτερος
    Public law - Ecclesiastical
      Economic status and activity - Slave ownership
        Conflict
          Relation with - Bishop/Monastic superior
            Relation with - Slave/Servant
              Further ecclesiastical career - Lay status
                Administration of justice - Ecclesiastical
                  Administration of justice - Excommunication/Anathema
                    Administration of justice - Corporal punishment
                      Administration of justice - Demotion
                        Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL: M. Szada, Presbyters in the Late Antique West, ER842, http://www.presbytersproject.ihuw.pl/index.php?id=6&SourceID=842