ArlesArles is a city in the south of France, in the Bouches-du-Rhône department, of which it is a subprefecture, in the former province of Provence.-Geography:...
in the south of
Roman GaulRoman Gaul consisted of an area of provincial rule in the Roman Empire, in modern day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and western Germany. Roman control of the area lasted for 600 years. The Roman Empire began its takeover of what was Celtic Gaul in 121 BC, when it conquered and annexed the southern...
, modern
FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
hosted several councils (Concilium Arelatense) or
synodA synod is a council of a church, usually a Christian church, convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application...
s in the early Christian church. These councils did not universally represent the church and are not counted among the official
Ecumenical CouncilAn ecumenical council is a conference of the bishops of the whole Christian Church convened to discuss and settle matters of Church doctrine and practice...
s.
The first council of Arles formally condemned the
heresyHeresy is proposing some unorthodox change to an established system of belief, especially a religion, that conflicts with the previously established opinion of scholars of that belief such as canon. It is sometimes confused with apostasy which is disaffiliation from orthodoxy and blasphemy which is...
of Donatism. It began as an appeal by the Donatists to Constantine the Great against the decision of the
Council of RomeThe Council of Rome was a meeting of Catholic Church officials and theologians which took place in 382 under the authority of Pope Damasus I. The previous year, the Emperor Theodosius I had appointed the "dark horse" candidate Nectarius Archbishop of Constantinople...
in 313 at the
LateranLateran and Laterano are the shared names of several architectural projects throughout Rome. The properties were once owned by the Lateranus family of the former Roman Empire...
under
Pope MiltiadesPope Saint Miltiades, also called Melchiades , was pope from 2 July 311 to 10 January 314.He appears to have been a Berber African by birth, but of his personal history nothing is known....
.
ArlesArles is a city in the south of France, in the Bouches-du-Rhône department, of which it is a subprefecture, in the former province of Provence.-Geography:...
in the south of
Roman GaulRoman Gaul consisted of an area of provincial rule in the Roman Empire, in modern day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and western Germany. Roman control of the area lasted for 600 years. The Roman Empire began its takeover of what was Celtic Gaul in 121 BC, when it conquered and annexed the southern...
, modern
FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
hosted several councils (Concilium Arelatense) or
synodA synod is a council of a church, usually a Christian church, convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application...
s in the early Christian church. These councils did not universally represent the church and are not counted among the official
Ecumenical CouncilAn ecumenical council is a conference of the bishops of the whole Christian Church convened to discuss and settle matters of Church doctrine and practice...
s.
Council of Arles - 314
The first council of Arles formally condemned the
heresyHeresy is proposing some unorthodox change to an established system of belief, especially a religion, that conflicts with the previously established opinion of scholars of that belief such as canon. It is sometimes confused with apostasy which is disaffiliation from orthodoxy and blasphemy which is...
of Donatism. It began as an appeal by the Donatists to Constantine the Great against the decision of the
Council of RomeThe Council of Rome was a meeting of Catholic Church officials and theologians which took place in 382 under the authority of Pope Damasus I. The previous year, the Emperor Theodosius I had appointed the "dark horse" candidate Nectarius Archbishop of Constantinople...
in 313 at the
LateranLateran and Laterano are the shared names of several architectural projects throughout Rome. The properties were once owned by the Lateranus family of the former Roman Empire...
under
Pope MiltiadesPope Saint Miltiades, also called Melchiades , was pope from 2 July 311 to 10 January 314.He appears to have been a Berber African by birth, but of his personal history nothing is known....
. This is the first instance of an appeal of a Christian party to the secular power, and it turned out unfavorably to the Donatists who afterwards became enemies of the Roman authorities. The Council of Arles was the first called by Constantine and is the forerunner of the
First Council of NicaeaThe First Council of Nicaea was a council of Christian bishops convened in Nicaea in Bithynia by the Roman Emperor Constantine I in 325 CE...
.
Augustine of HippoAugustine of Hippo , Bishop of Hippo Regius, also known as St. Augustine or St. Austin, was an Algerian Berber philosopher and theologian....
called it an Ecumenical Council.
It
excommunicatedExcommunication is a religious censure used to deprive or suspend membership in a religious community. The word literally means putting [someone] out of communion. In some religions, excommunication includes spiritual condemnation of the member or group...
DonatusDonatus Magnus, also known as Donatus of Casae Nigra, became leader of a schismatic Christian sect in North Africa. He is believed to have died in exile around 355.-Life:...
and passed twenty-two
canonCanon 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...
s concerning
EasterEaster is the most important annual religious feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to Christian scripture, Jesus was resurrected from the dead on the third day from his crucifixion...
(which should be held on one and the same day), against the non-residence of clergy, against participation in races and gladiatorial fights (to be punished by excommunication), against the rebaptism of heretics, and on other matters of discipline. Clergymen who could be proven to have delivered
sacred booksThe Bible contains the central religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. Modern Judaism generally recognizes a single set of canonical books known as the Tanakh, or Hebrew Bible, as it is written almost entirely in the Hebrew language, with some small portions in Aramaic...
in persecution (the
traditorTraditor, pl.traditores , is a term meaning the one who had handed over. This refers to bishops and other Christians who turned over sacred scriptures or betrayed their fellow Christians to the Roman authorities under threat of persecution...
es) should be deposed, but their official acts were to be held valid. The assistance of at least three bishops was required at ordination.
Council of Arles - 1263
Condemned the doctrines of
Joachim of FioreJoachim of Fiore, also known as Joachim of Flora and in Italian Gioacchino da Fiore , was the founder of the monastic order of San Giovanni in Fiore . He was a mystic, a theologian and an esoterist...
, a 12th century monk and mystic.
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