Disciplinary Decrees of the General Councils

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Disciplinary Decrees of the General Councils (1937)
translated by Henry Joseph Schroeder

The First General Council

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2493606Disciplinary Decrees of the General Councils1937Henry Joseph Schroeder

DISCIPLINARY DECREES

OF THE

GENERAL COUNCILS

TEXT, TRANSLATION, AND COMMENTARY

BY
REV. H. J. SCHROEDER, O.P.

B. HERDER BOOK CO.

15 & 17 SOUTH BROADWAY, ST. LOUIS, MO.
AND
33 QUEEN SQUARE, LONDON, W. C.
1937

Printed in U. S. A.

NIHIL OBSTAT

Fr. Norbertus Georges, O.P.,

Fr. Humbertus Kane, O.P.

IMPRIMI POTEST

Fr. Terentius Stephanus McDermott, O.P.,

Prior Provincialis

NIHIL OBSTAT

Sti. Ludovici, die 6. Aprilis, 1937,

F. J. Holweck,

Censor Librorum

IMPRIMATUR

Sti. Ludovici, die 7. Aprilis, 1937,

✠ Joannes J. Glennon,

Archiepiscopus

Copyright 1937
B. HERDER BOOK CO.

Vail-Ballou Press, Inc., Binghamton and New York

PREFACE

This book was not written for specialists. Such an undertaking, covering the first eighteen general councils, is beyond the mental and physical resources of a single lifetime, nor could it be compressed within the covers of a single volume. Indeed, a study of any one of the great outstanding councils, based on documentary sources and built up with the aid of printed and unprinted material, giving at the same time the historical background of its decrees, would require the better part of a single working career. Its purpose is to make readily available to the clergy, students, and educated laity, in one volume and in an English dress, the disciplinary decrees enacted by the Church in her general councils up to and exclusive of the Council of Trent. So far as the writer is aware, it is the first time that a work of this kind has been undertaken in any language. Outside the large collections of Labbe and Cossart, Hardouin, Mansi, and others, which are available mostly in university and large public libraries only, we have, of course, the nine volume Conciliengeschichte of Bishop Hefele, recently translated into French and augmented by the Benedictine H. Leclercq (18 volumes). Hefele's history is still the standard work on the councils. For the ordinary private library, however, and for the classes of readers concerned, it is too large a work. It covers not only the general councils but also national and provincial councils and diocesan synods up to the sixteenth century, and embraces history of dogma, canon law, liturgy, ecclesiastical history and discipline, and political history. It has furthermore the disadvantage of being in a foreign language. The present work, therefore, is intended to supply a want, a want indeed so long felt that no apology is needed in the attempt to meet it.

Needless to say, the task was by no means an easy one, for in some respects it meant the breaking of new ground. Decrees were not always easy to translate and to interpret. That I have everywhere succeeded in doing so correctly, is a claim which I am not conceited enough to make. The commentaries on the decrees required an extraordinary amount of reading and study. They give the why and wherefore of the decrees, the historical background, without which many would be unintelligible to readers of today. For, after all, the full scope and import of a conciliar decision, whether of a dogmatic or disciplinary nature, can be grasped only when studied in the light of the conditions and forces that produced it. Unfortunately, from an historical viewpoint some of the general councils, important ones too, have been sadly neglected. Thus far the five councils of the Lateran and the two of Lyons have been treated in a stepmother fashion. Even the Fourth Council of the Lateran, presided over by the great Innocent III, one of the greatest and most influential ecclesiastical assemblies, has to date received only scant consideration from the historian. A conciliar decree may be brief, simple, and unassuming; yet, what a wealth of interesting historical material lies buried and forgotten in its background! To keep this book within a reasonable compass, I have added commentaries to those decrees only that required them for the purpose of elucidation.

The arrangement of the work is the same throughout. First is given a historical sketch of the council; this is followed by a digest of the decree, the decree itself, and the commentary where one is given. For purposes of convenience I have added the text of the decrees. The Greek text is that edited by Lauchert, Die Kanones der wichtigsten altkirchlichen Concilien, Freiburg i.Br., 1896. The Latin text of the Eighth General Council I have taken from Catalani, Sacrosancta concilia oecumenica. From the same work and from Hefele-Leclercq, Histoire des conciles, with reference to the Friedberg edition of the Corpus Juris Canonici, is taken the text of the following councils; while that of the Councils of Basle and the Fifth Lateran is taken from the Conciliorum collectio of Hardouin.

The Author

CONTENTS
PAGE
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		1
The First General Council (First Council of Nicaea, 325) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		8
	Arius and Arianism. The christological problem. The "Logos" in Hellenic philosophy; in Scripture and tradition. Constantine the Great. Hosius of Cordova. A council of confessors. Homoousios. Antecedent associations of the term. Nicene Creed. Self-mutilation. Christian virgins. Episcopal elections. The Churches of Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem. Interpretation of canon six. Reconciliation of apostates. Penitential stations. Reordinations. Deaconesses. The ordo viduarum.
The Second General Council (First Council of Constantinople, 381) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		59
	The Church and the Arian factions. Attempts to annihilate the term homoousios. Ecclesiastical conditions in the East. St. Gregory of Nazianzus. Theodosius the Great. Episcopal jurisdictions. Constantinopolitan ambition. Maximus the Cynic.
The Third General Council (Council of Ephesus, 431) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		69
	Nestorius and Nestorianism. The school of Antioch and the humanity of Christ. St. Cyril and the hypostatic union. Pope Celestine I. The fundamental error in the christological system of Nestorius. John of Antioch and his pseudo-council. Revolters against the council.
The Fourth General Council (Council of Chalcedon, 451) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		78
	The anti-Nestorian offensive. Eutyches. Monophysitism. Pope Leo the Great. His Epistola Dogmatica. Robber Council. Violence of the Patriarch of Alexandria. Empress Pulcheria and Marcian. Convocation of a new council. The council's doctrinal formula. Chorepiscopi. Wandering clerics. Title of ordination. Mixed marriages. Deaconesses. Consecrated virgins. Women-stealers. Constantinopolitan ambition realized.
The Fifth General Council (Second Council of Constantinople, 553) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		128
	The Quinisext Council. Emperor Justinian I and the Monophysites. Controversy concerning the Three Chapters. Authority of Chalcedon. Pope Vigilius brought forcibly to Constantinople. He is abandoned by the Western bishops. His flight. The Emperor's tyranny. He repudiates the Pope, and the council becomes schismatic.
The Sixth General Council (Third Council of Constantinople, 680) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		135
	Emperor Heraclius and the Monophysites of Syria and Egypt. Sergius patriarch of Constantinople and Pope Honorius I. Monothelitism. The Ecthesis. Oriental patriarchates in the hands of Monothelites. The Typus. Pope Martin I brought forcibly to Constantinople. His exile and death. Pope Leo II and the condemnation of Honorius.
The Seventh General Council (Second Council of Nicaea, 787) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		141
	Iconoclasm. Empress Irene and Pope Adrian I. Council is transferred. The Iconoclast conciliabulum of 754 condemned. Charlemagne and the Frankish bishops. Ecclesiastical appointments. Secularized monasteries. Jews. Double monasteries.
The Eighth General Council (Fourth Council of Constantinople, ii 869–70) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		157
	Circumstances contributing to its convocation. The schism of Photius and Pope Adrian II. Photius is banished. His hatred of the Latins. Pseudosynodus Photiana. Interstices. Unity of rational soul in man. Implicit recognition of Constantinople's priority.
The Ninth General Council (First Lateran Council, 1123) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		177
	Pope Callistus II and the investiture quarrel. Concordat of Worms. It was a compromise solution of a vexed problem. Clerical incontinence. Truce of God. Counterfeiters of money. Monks and the cura animarum. Married clerics.
The Tenth General Council (Second Lateran Council, 1139) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		195
	Pope Innocent II and the antipope Anacletus II. Council is called to remove evil consequences of schism. Simony. Masses celebrated by married priests. Tournaments. Incendiarism. Right of asylum. Consanguinity and affinity.
The Eleventh General Council (Third Lateran Council, 1179) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		214
	Pope Alexander III and Frederick Barbarossa. Papal elections. Episcopal visitation of churches. Right of devolution. Exempt religious. Schools for clerics and poor students. Lepers. Notorious usurers. Jews and Saracens.
The Twelfth General Council (Fourth Lateran Council, 1215) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		236
	The council marks the zenith of papal power. Innocent III and reform. Exposition of the faith. Joachim of Flora and Peter Lombard. Bishops and preaching. Schools for clerics and poor students. Spiritual duties of physicians. Three forms of election. Judicial jurisdiction. Consanguinity and affinity. Clandestine marriages. Banns of matrimony. Monks and tithes. Simony. Jews and tithes. They may not hold public office.
The Thirteenth General Council (First Council of Lyons, 1245) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		297
	Innocent IV and Frederick II. Their contest for world sovereignty. Innocent as determined as Gregory IX to defend the rights of the Church. His flight from Rome. Summons council. His five sorrows. The Latin Empire of Constantinople. The Holy Land. Tatar invasion of Europe. Murder by hired assassins. Judicial injustice. Directions for imposing excommunication.
The Fourteenth General Council (Second Council of Lyons, 1274) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		324
	Gregory X and the liberation of the Holy Land. The Greeks desire reunion with Rome. Are at the council. Death of St. Bonaventure and of St. Thomas Aquinas. Reunion and its failure. Reform. Discussion regarding time of the publication of some decrees. Procession of the Holy Ghost. Law of the conclave. Plurality of benefices. Religious orders not to be multiplied. Intention of Gregory in regard to them. Confraternity of the Holy Name. Reprisals.
The Fifteenth General Council (Council of Vienne, 1311–12) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		365
	Foremost reason for the convocation of the council. Clement V and Philip IV. Latter seeks to have Boniface VIII declared a heretic. He demands the suppression of the Order of Knights Templars. The Pope's subserviency to French interests. His predicament. The Templars are suppressed. Discussion regarding the Clementine decrees. Petrus Joh. Olivi. Franciscan controversy regarding the usus pauper. Schools for the study of the Oriental languages. The constitution Exivi de paradiso. Clerici conjugati. Benedictine reform. Absolution a poena et culpa.
The Sixteenth General Council (Council of Constance, 1414-18) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		443
	The Council of Pisa (1409) and the Western Schism. Convocation of the Council of Constance. Flight and deposition of John XXIII. Articles of Constance. Conciliary Theory. Gregory XII resigns. St. Vincent Ferrer. Benedict XIII deposed. Reform decrees. The decree Frequens. Decree for the reform of the Church in capite et curia Romana. Ecclesiastical reform. Concordats. Tyrannicide.
The Seventeenth General Council (Council of Basle, 1431–49) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		456
	The decree Frequens. Councils of Pavia and Siena. Martin V convokes the Council of Basle. His death. Eugene IV misinformed dissolves council. The position of Emperor Sigismund. The council defies the Pope and declares its superiority over him. Adopts new order to transact its business. Prolonged conflict between Pope and council. He recognizes council. His flight. Transfers council to Ferrara. To Florence. Greeks accept reunion. Abuse of interdict. Concubinarii.
The Eighteenth General Council (Fifth Lateran Council, 1512–17) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		480
	The pseudo-council of Pisa. Julius II opens V Lateran Council. Emperor Maximilian. Julius is succeeded by Leo X. Method of procedure. Louis XII of France repudiates Pisan assembly. He is succeeded by Francis I. His victory at Marignano. Pope and King meet at Bologna. Abolition of the Pragmatic Sanction. Reform decrees. Montes pietatis. Printing of books. Preaching. Privileges of religious restricted.
Text of the Canons
	Concilium Nicaenum I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	513
	Concilium Constantinopolitanum I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	517
	Concilium Ephesinum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	518
	Concilium Chalcedonense . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	519
	Concilium Nicaenum II . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	524
	Concilium Constantinopolitanum IV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	531
	Concilium Lateranense I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	542
	Concilium Lateranense II . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	545
	Concilium Lateranense III . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	550
	Concilium Lateranense IV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	560
	Concilium Lugdunense I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	585
	Concilium Lugdunense II . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	595
	Concilium Yiennense . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	607
	Concilium Constantiense . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	622
	Concilium Basileense . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	625
	Concilium Lateranense V . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	630
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		651

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