Synods of Westminster. Under this heading are included certain of the more important ecclesiastical councils held within the present bounds of
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
. Though the precise locality is occasionally uncertain, the majority of the medieval
synodA synod is a council of a church, usually a Christian church, convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application...
s assembled in the chapter-house of old St Pauls, or the former chapel of St Catherine within the precincts of
Westminster AbbeyThe Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, which is almost always referred to popularly and informally as Westminster Abbey, is a large, mainly Gothic church, in Westminster, London, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster...
or at
LambethLambeth Palace is the official London residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury. It is located in Lambeth, on the south bank of the River Thames a short distance upstream of the Palace of Westminster on the opposite shore. It was acquired by the archbishopric around 1200...
. The councils were of various types, each with a constitutional history of its own.
Synods of Westminster. Under this heading are included certain of the more important ecclesiastical councils held within the present bounds of
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
. Though the precise locality is occasionally uncertain, the majority of the medieval
synodA synod is a council of a church, usually a Christian church, convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application...
s assembled in the chapter-house of old St Pauls, or the former chapel of St Catherine within the precincts of
Westminster AbbeyThe Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, which is almost always referred to popularly and informally as Westminster Abbey, is a large, mainly Gothic church, in Westminster, London, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster...
or at
LambethLambeth Palace is the official London residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury. It is located in Lambeth, on the south bank of the River Thames a short distance upstream of the Palace of Westminster on the opposite shore. It was acquired by the archbishopric around 1200...
. The councils were of various types, each with a constitutional history of its own. Before the reign of
Edward IEdward I , also known as Edward Longshanks, was King of England from 1272 to 1307. The first son of Henry III, Edward was involved early in the political intrigues of his father's reign, which included an outright rebellion by the English Barons. In 1259 he briefly sided with a baronial...
, when
convocationA Convocation is a group of people formally assembled for a special purpose.In some Universities for example, the term "convocation" refers specifically to the entirety of the alumni of a college which function as one of the university's representative bodies...
assumed substantially its present form, there were convened in London various diocesan, provincial, national and legatine synods; during the past six centuries, however, the chief ecclesiastical assemblies held there have been convocations of the
province of CanterburyThe Province of Canterbury, also called the Southern Province, is one of two ecclesiastical provinces making up the Church of England. It consists of 30 dioceses, covering roughly the southern two-thirds of England, along with the Channel Islands, the Falkland Islands, a few parishes in Wales, and...
.
Eleventh century
The first really notable council at St Pauls was that of 1075 under the presidency of
LanfrancLanfranc was Archbishop of Canterbury, and a Lombard by extraction.-Early life:He was born in the early years of the eleventh century at Pavia, where later tradition held that his father, Hanbald, held a rank broadly equivalent to magistrate...
; it renewed ancient regulations, forbade
simonySimony is the ecclesiastical crime of paying for holy offices or positions in the hierarchy of a church, named after Simon Magus, who appears in the Acts of the Apostles 8:18-24. Simon Magus offers the disciples of Jesus, Peter and John payment so that anyone he would place his hands on would...
and permitted three bishops to remove from country places to
SalisburySalisbury is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England. It has also been called New Sarum to distinguish it from the original site of settlement to the north of the city at Old Sarum, but this alternative name is not in common use. Similarly, a native of Salisbury may be known as a "Sarumite", but...
,
ChichesterChichester is a cathedral city in West Sussex, South-East England. It has a long history as a settlement; its Roman past and its subsequent importance in Anglo-Saxon times are only its beginnings...
and
ChesterChester is a city in Cheshire, England. Lying on the River Dee, close to the border with Wales, it is home to 77,040 inhabitants, and is the largest and most populous settlement of the wider unitary authority area of Cheshire West and Chester, which had a population of 328,100 according to the...
respectively.
Twelfth century
In 1102 a national synod at Westminster under
AnselmAnselm of Canterbury was a Benedictine monk, an Italian medieval philosopher, theologian, and church official who held the office of Archbishop of Canterbury from 1093 to 1109. Called the founder of scholasticism, he is famous in the West as the originator of the ontological argument for the...
adopted canons against simony,
clerical marriagesClerical celibacy is the practice in various religious traditions, in which clergy, monastics and those in religious orders adopt a celibate life, refraining from marriage and sexual relationships, including masturbation and "impure thoughts"...
and
slaverySlavery is a form of forced labor in which people are considered to be the property of others. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to receive compensation...
.
The councils of 1126, 1127 and 1138 were legatine, that of 1175 provincial; their canons, chiefly re-enactments, throw light on the condition of the clergy at that time. The canons of 1200 are based in large measure on recommendations of the
Lateran CouncilThe Third Council of the Lateran met in March 1179 as the eleventh ecumenical council. Pope Alexander III presided and 302 bishops attended.By agreement reached at the Peace of Venice in 1177 the bitter conflict between Alexander III and Emperor Frederick I was brought to an end...
of 1179.
Thirteenth century
At St Pauls the legatine constitutions of Otto were published in a synod of 1237, those of Ottobori in 1268: these were the most important national councils held after the independence of
YorkYork is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence....
had been established. A synod at Lambeth in 1281 put forth canons none too welcome to Edward I; they included a detailed scheme for the religious instruction of the faithful. During the next two centuries the councils devoted much attention to
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...
:
- eight propositions concerning the body of Christ after his death were rejected at St Mary-le-Bowin 1286;
- the expulsion of the Jews from England was sanctioned by a legatine synod of Westminster in 1291;
- ten theses of John Wyclif were condemned at the Dominican friary in 1382, and eighteen articles drawn from his Trialogus met the same fate at St Pauls in 1396;
- and the doom of Sir John Oldcastle
Sir John Oldcastle , English Lollard leader, was son of Sir Richard Oldcastle of Almeley in northwest Herefordshire and grandson of another Sir John Oldcastle....
was sealed at the latter place in 1413.
Later synods
The 14th-century synods at St Pauls concerned themselves largely with the financial and moral status of the clergy, and made many regulations regarding their dress and behaviour (1328, 1342, 1343; cf. 1463).
From the time of
Edward VIEdward VI became King of England and Ireland on 28 January 1547 and was crowned on 20 February at the age of nine. The son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour, Edward was the third monarch of the Tudor dynasty and England's first Protestant ruler. During Edward’s reign, the realm was governed by a...
on, many of the most vital changes in ecclesiastical discipline were adopted in convocations at St Pauls and in the Abbey. To enumerate them would be to give a running commentary on the development of the Church of England; among the most important were those of 1547, 1552, 1554, 1562, 1571, 1604, 1605, 1640 and 1661.
In 1852 there was held the first of a series of synods of the newly organized
Roman Catholic archdiocese of WestminsterThe Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Westminster is an archdiocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church in England. The archdiocese consists of all the London boroughs north of the River Thames and west of the River Lea, together with the towns southwest of Staines and Sunbury-on-Thames and...
. For the Pan-Anglican Synods see
Lambeth ConferencesThe Lambeth Conferences are decennial assemblies of bishops of the Anglican Communion convened by the Archbishop of Canterbury. The first such conference took place in 1867.As the Anglican Communion is an international association of national churches...
.
Acts of synods prior to the Reformation
- Henry Spelman
Sir Henry Spelman was an English antiquary, noted for his detailed collections of medieval records, in particular of church councils. He was the eldest son of Henry Spelman Sir Henry Spelman (born Congham c.1562 and died 1641) was an English antiquary, noted for his detailed collections of...
- Hardouin
Hardouin may refer to:* Hardouin de Graetz, or Ortwin , German scholar and theologian* Hardouin Mansart, or Jules Hardouin Mansart , French architect* Jean Hardouin , French classical scholar...
- William Lynwood, Provinciale (Oxford, 1679)
- Wilkins
Canons and proceedings of convocations from 1547 to 1717
- Edward Cardwell
Edward Cardwell was an English theologian also noted for his contributions to the study of English church history. In addition to his scholarly work, he filled various administrative positions in Oxford University....
, Synodalia (2 vols., Oxford, 1842)
Translations and summaries
- Gurin
- Edward Landon, (1909) A Manual of Councils of the Holy Catholic Church
- Hefele, Conciliengeschichte, vol. iv. ff.
General
- Thomas Lathbury, A History of the Convocation of the Church of England (2nd enlarged edition, London, 1853)
- A. P. Stanley, Historical Memorials of Westminster Abbey (4th and revised ed., London, 1876), 411-413, 495-504
- H. H. Milman, Annals of S. Pauls Cathedral (2nd ed., London, 1869).