Councils of Toledo (
Concilia toletana). From the fifth to the seventh century, about thirty synods, variously counted, were held at
ToledoToledo is a municipality located in central Spain, 70 km south of Madrid. It is the capital of the province of Toledo and of the autonomous community of Castile-La Mancha...
in what would come to be part of
SpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.
[The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though España , Estado español and Nación española are used interchangeably...]
. The
earliestThe First Council of Toledo was held in Toledo, Spain, in 400. Its primary purpose was to condemn the Priscillian heresy and uphold the Nicene Creed. It would be another 127 years before a council met again in Toledo. Known attendees include Lampius, bishop of Barcelona.-Sources:*Thompson, E. A....
, directed against
PriscillianismPriscillianism is a Christian doctrine developed in the Iberian Peninsula in the 4th century by Priscillian, derived from the Gnostic-Manichaean doctrines taught by Marcus, an Egyptian from Memphis, and later considered a heresy by the Orthodox Church.-History:Priscillian was described as "a man...
, assembled in 400. The
"third" synod of 589The Third Council of Toledo marks the entry of Catholic Christianity into the rule of Visigothic Spain, and the introduction into Western Christianity of the filioque clause...
marked the epoch-making conversion of King
ReccaredReccared I was Visigothic King of Hispania, Septimania and Galicia. His reign marked a climactic shift in history, with the king's renunciation of traditional Arianism in favour of Catholic Christianity in 587....
from
ArianismArianism is the theological teaching of Arius , a Christian priest, who was first ruled a heretic at the First Council of Nicea of 325, later exonerated in 335 at the First Synod of Tyre, and then pronounced a heretic again after his death at the First Council of Constantinople of 381...
to
orthodoxThe term Orthodox Christianity may refer to:* Correct theology or belief, such as the ancient, majority, or Trinitarian theologies of Christianity...
CatholicismCatholicism is a broad term for the body of the Catholic faith, its theologies and doctrines, its liturgical, ethical, spiritual, and behavioral characteristics, as well as a religious people as a whole...
. The "
fourthThe Fourth Council of Toledo occurred in 633. It was held at the church of Saint Leocadia in Toledo.Probably under the presidency of the noted Isidore of Seville, the council regulated many matters of discipline, decreed uniformity of liturgy throughout the Visigothic kingdom and took stringent...
," in 633, probably under the presidency of the noted
Isidore of SevilleSaint Isidore of Seville was Archbishop of Seville for more than three decades and is considered, as Montalembert put it in an oft-quoted phrase, "le dernier savant du monde ancien"...
, regulated many matters of discipline, decreed uniformity of liturgy throughout the kingdom. The
British CeltsBritonia is the historical name of a settlement in Galicia which was settled in the late fifth and early sixth centuries by Romano-Britons escaping the advancing Anglo-Saxons who were conquering Britain at the time...
of Galicia accepted the Latin rite and stringent measures were adopted against baptized Jews who had relapsed into their former faith. The
"twelfth" council in 681The Twelfth Council of Toledo was initiated on 9 January 681 by the new King Erwig. One of its first actions was to release the population from the laws of Wamba and recognise Erwig, anathematising all who opposed him...
assured to the archbishop of Toledo the primacy of
HispaniaHispania was the name given by the Romans to the whole of the Iberian Peninsula . When Rome was a republic, Hispania was divided into two provinces: Hispania Citerior and Hispania Ulterior...
(present
Iberian PeninsulaThe Iberian Peninsula, or Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe and includes modern-day Spain, Portugal, Andorra and Gibraltar and a very small area of France. It is the westernmost of the three major southern European peninsulas—the Iberian, Italian, and Balkan peninsulas...
). As nearly one hundred early
canonsCanon law is the body of laws and regulations made by or adopted by ecclesiastical authority, for the government of the Christian organization and its members. It is the internal ecclesiastical law governing the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox churches, and the Anglican Communion of...
of Toledo found a place in the
Decretum Gratiani, they exerted an important influence on the development of ecclesiastical law.
The later synod of 1565 and 1566 concerned itself with the execution of the decrees of
Trent-Places:* Trento in Italy, famous for the Roman Catholic Council of Trent* Trent, Dorset, UK* Trent Park, a country park and house, WWII prison, now a Middlesex University campus in northern London* Trent, Germany, a municipality on the island of Rügen...
; and the last council of Toledo, that of 1582 and 1583, was so guided in detail by
Philip IIPhilip II was King of Spain and Portugal, Naples, Sicily, and, during his wife Mary Tudor's reign, King of England and Ireland...
that the
popeThe pope is the Bishop of Rome and, as such, is leader of the worldwide Catholic Church...
ordered the name of the royal commissioner to be expunged from the acts.
The seventh century is sometimes called, by Spanish historians, the
Siglo de Concilios, or "Century of Councils".
Councils
- First Council of Toledo
The First Council of Toledo was held in Toledo, Spain, in 400. Its primary purpose was to condemn the Priscillian heresy and uphold the Nicene Creed. It would be another 127 years before a council met again in Toledo. Known attendees include Lampius, bishop of Barcelona.-Sources:*Thompson, E. A....
(400)
- Second Council of Toledo
The Second Council of Toledo was held by the bishops of the Visigothic Kingdom of Toledo in the city of Toledo in 527, under the presidency of the local bishop Montanus . The chief issue with which the synod dealt was Arianism.-Sources:...
(527)
- Third Council of Toledo
The Third Council of Toledo marks the entry of Catholic Christianity into the rule of Visigothic Spain, and the introduction into Western Christianity of the filioque clause...
(589)
- Fourth Council of Toledo
The Fourth Council of Toledo occurred in 633. It was held at the church of Saint Leocadia in Toledo.Probably under the presidency of the noted Isidore of Seville, the council regulated many matters of discipline, decreed uniformity of liturgy throughout the Visigothic kingdom and took stringent...
(633)
- Fifth Council of Toledo
The Fifth Council of Toledo was convoked by King Chintila and opened on 30 June 636 in the church of Saint Leocadia in Toledo. It was attended by twenty two bishops and two episcopal representatives. The bishops of Narbonensis were absent for political reasons...
(636)
- Sixth Council of Toledo
The Sixth Council of Toledo was the second council convoked by King Chintila and opened on 9 January 638. It was attended by fifty three bishops, including those from Narbonensis who had not participated in the prior council for political reasons. The council was thus a reunion of the whole church...
(638)
- Seventh Council of Toledo
The Seventh Council of Toledo commenced on 18 November 646 and was attended by forty one bishops either personally or by delegation. It was the first of Chindasuinth's two councils....
(646)
- Eighth Council of Toledo
The Eighth Council of Toledo commenced on 16 December 653 in the church of the Holy Apostles in Toledo. It was attended by fifty two bishops personally — including the aged Gavinio of Calahorra, who had assisted at the Fourth Council — and another ten by delegation, ten abbots, and the archpriest...
(653)
- Ninth Council of Toledo
The Ninth Council of Toledo was a provincial synod of bishops of Carthaginiensis. It began on 2 November 655 under the auspices of King Reccesuinth. It ended on November 24 in the Church of Santa María....
(655)
- Tenth Council of Toledo
The Tenth Council of Toledo was summoned to meet on 1 December 656 by King Reccesuinth. In November 655, the bishops of Carthaginiensis had held a provincial synod in Toledo, the Ninth Council of Toledo...
(656)
- Eleventh Council of Toledo
The Eleventh Council of Toledo convened first on 7 November 675 attended by seventeen bishops and two deacons representing the sees of Segovia and Ergávica as well as five abbots....
(675)
- Twelfth Council of Toledo
The Twelfth Council of Toledo was initiated on 9 January 681 by the new King Erwig. One of its first actions was to release the population from the laws of Wamba and recognise Erwig, anathematising all who opposed him...
(681)
- Thirteenth Council of Toledo
The Thirteenth Council of Toledo opened on 4 November 683. It was called by Erwig and consisted of 77 bishops, 5 abbots, 3 church dignitaries, and 27 palatine functionaries....
(683)
- Fourteenth Council of Toledo
The Fourteenth Council of Toledo first met on 14 November 684 under King Erwig. It was called in response to a letter from Pope Leo II directing the king, a Count Simplicius, and the recently-deceased Quiricus, metropolitan of Toledo, to call a general council to confirm the decisions of the...
(684)
- Fifteenth Council of Toledo
The Fifteenth Council of Toledo first met on 11 May 688 under King Egica. It was the king's first of three councils.In 680-681, the sixth ecumenical council, the Third Council of Constantinople, had repudiated monothelitism and affirmed the doctrine of dythelitism, that Christ had two wills...
(688)
- Sixteenth Council of Toledo
The Sixteenth Council of Toledo first met on 25 April 693, the second of Egica's three councils.In 692, the archbishop of Toledo, Sisebert, led a rebellion with many nobles to install one Suniefred as king...
(693)
- Seventeenth Council of Toledo
The Seventeenth Council of Toledo first met on 9 November 694 under King Egica. It was the king's third council and primarily directed, as was the Sixteenth, against the Jews, of whom Egica seems to have had a profound distrust and dislike....
(694)
- Eighteenth Council of Toledo
The Eighteenth Council of Toledo was the last of the councils of Toledo held in Visigothic Spain before the Moorish conquest and perhaps the last of the Siglo de Concilios, that is, the seventh century...
(ca. 702)