The First Council of the Lateran was the 9th ecumenical council recognized by the Catholic Church. It was convoked by Pope Callixtus II in December 1122, immediately after the Concordat of Worms. The council sought to bring an end to the practice of the conferring of ecclesiastical benefices by people who were laymen, free the election of bishops and abbots from secular influence, clarify the separation of spiritual and temporal affairs, re-establish the principle that spiritual authority resides solely in the Church and abolish the claim of the Holy Roman Emperor to influence papal elections.
Pope Zosimus was the bishop of Rome from 18 March 417 to his death on 26 December 418. He was born in Mesoraca, Calabria. Zosimus took a decided part in the protracted dispute in Gaul as to the jurisdiction of the See of Arles over that of Vienne, giving energetic decisions in favour of the former, but without settling the controversy. His fractious temper coloured all the controversies in which he took part, in Gaul, Africa and Italy, including Rome, where at his death the clergy were very much divided.
Priscillian was a wealthy nobleman of Roman Hispania who promoted a strict form of Christian asceticism. He became bishop of Ávila in 380. Certain practices of his followers were denounced at the Council of Zaragoza in 380. Tensions between Priscillian and bishops opposed to his views continued, as well as political maneuvering by both sides. Around 385, Priscillian was charged with sorcery and executed by authority of the Emperor Maximus. The ascetic movement Priscillianism is named after him, and continued in Hispania and Gaul until the late 6th century. Tractates by Priscillian and close followers, which were thought lost, were discovered in 1885 and published in 1889.
Priscillianism was a Christian sect developed in the Iberian Peninsula under the Roman Empire in the 4th century by Priscillian. It is derived from the Gnostic doctrines taught by Marcus, an Egyptian from Memphis. Priscillianism was later considered a heresy by both the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church.
Clerical celibacy is the requirement in certain religions that some or all members of the clergy be unmarried. Clerical celibacy also requires abstention from deliberately indulging in sexual thoughts and behavior outside of marriage, because these impulses are regarded as sinful.
The Catholic Church historically observes the disciplines of fasting and abstinence at various times each year. For Catholics, fasting is the reduction of one's intake of food, while abstinence refers to refraining from something that is good, and not inherently sinful, such as meat. The Catholic Church teaches that all people are obliged by God to perform some penance for their sins, and that these acts of penance are both personal and corporeal. Bodily fasting is meaningless unless it is joined with a spiritual avoidance of sin. Basil of Caesarea gives the following exhortation regarding fasting:
Let us fast an acceptable and very pleasing fast to the Lord. True fast is the estrangement from evil, temperance of tongue, abstinence from anger, separation from desires, slander, falsehood and perjury. Privation of these is true fasting.
The Sixteenth Council of Toledo first met in Toledo, Spain on 25 April 693. It was the second of three councils convened by Visigothic king Egica.
The Tenth Council of Toledo was summoned to meet in Toledo on 1 December 656 by King Reccesuinth of Hispania.
Martin of Braga was an archbishop of Bracara Augusta in Gallaecia, a missionary, a monastic founder, and an ecclesiastical author. According to his contemporary, the historian Gregory of Tours, Martin was plenus virtutibus and in tantum se litteris imbuit ut nulli secundus sui temporis haberetur. He was later canonized in the Catholic Church as well as in the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox churches, for his work in converting the inhabitants of Gallaecia to Chalcedonian Christianity. His feast day is 20 March.
The Archdiocese of Braga is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in Portugal. It is known for its use of the Rite of Braga, a use of the liturgy distinct from the Roman Rite and other Latin liturgical rites.
The region around the city of Braga, in modern Portugal, was an important centre for the spreading of Christendom in the Iberian Peninsula. This is reflected in the number of religious personalities associated with the region and the fact that many ecumenical councils were held in the city.
Cathedraticum is a specified sum of money to be paid annually toward a bishop. It is a mark of honour and a sign of subjection to the cathedral church, from which its name is derived.
Arles in the south of Roman Gaul hosted several councils or synods referred to as Concilium Arelatense in the history of the early Christian church.
Collections of ancient canons contain collected bodies of canon law that originated in various documents, such as papal and synodal decisions, and that can be designated by the generic term of canons.
The First Council of Toledo was held at Toledo, Spain, in September of 400. The council was assembled under Archbishop Patronus with its primary purpose to condemn the Priscillian heresy, to receive back Priscillians, and uphold the Nicene Creed. Eighteen other Hispanic bishops participated, including Lampius, bishop of Barcelona. Many Priscillians were readmitted into the Catholic Church, notably Priscillian bishop Dictinnius. The council also reformed the clergy. Twenty canons were published by this council. It would be another 47 years before a council met again in Toledo.
The Fifth Council of Orléans assembled nine archbishops and forty-one bishops. Sacerdos of Lyon presided over this council. The presence of these bishops indicates both the wide spread of Christianity in Gaul by the sixth century, and the increased influence of the Merovingian kings.
The Second Council of Braga, held in 572, presided over by Martin of Braga, was held to increase the number of bishops in Galaecia. Twelve bishops assisted at this council, and ten decrees were promulgated: (1) that the bishops should in their visitations see in what manner the priests celebrated the Holy Sacrifice and administered baptism and the other sacraments, thanking God if they found everything as it should be, and instructing the priests if they were found wanting in knowledge, and obliging all catechumens to attend instructions for twenty days before baptism and to learn the creed; (2) that the bishop must not be tyrannical towards his priests; (3-4) that no fee must be accepted for Holy orders, and the holy chrism must be distributed free; (5-6) that the bishop must not ask a fee for consecrating a church, that no church should be consecrated without the bishop being sure of the endowment of the ministers, and that no church built on private property for the purpose of emolument should receive consecration; (8) that if a cleric should accuse any one of unchastity without the evidence of two or three witnesses he should be excommunicated; (9) that the metropolitan should announce the date of Easter, and have it made known to the people after Christmas, so that they might be prepared for the beginning of Lent, when litanies were to be recited for three days; on the third day the Lenten fast should be announced after the Mass; (10) that any one saying Mass without fasting, as many did, as a result of Priscillianist tendencies, should be deprived of his office. This council was attended by the bishops of the suffragan sees of Braga, and by those of the Diocese of Lugo, and Pope Innocent III removed all doubt as to its authenticity.
The Council of London in 1075 was a council of the Catholic Church in England held by the new Norman archbishop of Canterbury Lanfranc five years after his installation. Other attendees included Gisa, Bishop of Wells and William the Norman. The Council of London produced several decrees, these were known as the "Canons of the Council of London AD 1075".
The Third Council of Braga was held in 675, during the primacy of Leodegisius, and in the reign of King Wamba. It was attended by eight bishops.
The Catholic Church utilizes the oldest continuously functioning legal system in the West, much later than Roman law but predating the evolution of modern European civil law traditions. The history of Latin canon law can be divided into four periods: the jus antiquum, the jus novum, the jus novissimum and the Code of Canon Law. In relation to the Code, history can be divided into the jus vetus and the jus novum. Eastern canon law developed separately.
