Toletum IV / Toledo IV
National Council of the Visigothic Kingdom of Hispania; 633
This fourth council stands out from among the eighteen Toledo councils as one of the most consequential of the entire Visigothic era. The council met on 5 December 633 in the second year of the reign of King Sisenand, in the Church of Saint Leocadia situated outside the walls of Toledo, in what is known as the Vega Baja. It was the burial place of Eugenius and Julian, bishops of Toledo, and site where the councils of Toledo V, VI, and XVII gathered. Some think the unusual long lapse in time from when Sisenand became king, and the council occurred was due to the preparation needed to address the many issues that the bishops engaged. Political intrigue against the new monarch may have also contributed to the delay. The number of ecclesiastics that attended represented all of Hispania and the Visigothic territories in Galia Narbonensis. The total number of bishops present were 62, their numbers by region are: 8 (Baetica), 18 (Carthaginensis), 10 (Gallaecia), 9 (Lusitania), 5 (Narbonne), and 12 (Tarraconensis). It has also been noted by Orlandis and Ramos-Lissón that this Toledo council is the only one in which all six Metropolitan bishops were in attendance: they were: Isidorus of Seville, Ysclua of Narbonne, Stephanus of Mérida, Iustus of Toledo, Iulianus of Braga, and Audax of Tarragona. An additional 7 bishops were represented by Vicars: Centaurus of Tucci for Bishop Fidentius, Renatus of Coimbra for Bishop Ermulfus, Marcus of Ourense for Bishop David, Ioannes of Barcelona for Bishop Severus, Domarius of Arcávica for Bishop Carterius, and Domnellus of Carcassonne for Bishop Solemnius, thus bringing the total to 69 bishops. This notable number of bishops and canons that were promulgated testifies to the importance of this council. What added to its high status was the attendance of the renowned bishops Isidore of Seville and Braulio of Zaragoza, the influence of Isidore is noteworthy at this council. An impressive 75 canons were promulgated on a wide array of topics affecting clergy, laity, civic authorities, the Liturgy, and Jews. No lengthy speeches preceding the canons were included in the official Acts. It is only possible in this concise essay to highlight a few of the Canons.
Canon 1 is titled “On the evident proof of the Catholic faith” – De evidenti catholicae fidei veritate – is a slightly expanded version of the Creed that was read out loud, with extra focus on the Trinity and the Incarnation. In it the double procession of the Holy Spirit (Filioque) was affirmed – Spiritum vero Sanctum nec creatum nec genitum sed procedentem ex Patre et Filio profitemur. By the early seventh century the double procession or Filioque was a standard feature of the Creed in Hispania, its first introduction was at the Third Council of Toledo (589).
This council had an immense impact on the ongoing development of the Liturgy, later referred to as the Visigothic rite, Visigothic-Mozarabic rite, Isidorean rite, and the Hispanic rite. Isidore’s major influence on this front is widely acknowledged and even modestly by his brother Leander of Seville. The canons that legislated on the Liturgy made important changes intended to make it uniform in Hispania. Canon 2 is a case point in the quest for standardization, it orders that the order of prayer and the psalmody would be same in all the Visigothic kingdom. Secondarily, the bishops also requested that Mass would be celebrated the same everywhere. Canon 5 recommended that all Metropolitans meet before Epiphany to establish a common time to celebrate Easter, this was to be communicated to all clergy. Canon 6 had as its topic Baptism and the proper manner of its administration; it was a concern that a had long trajectory of discussion. It was complicated by the Arians in Hispania until the heresy was officially rejected in 589 at the Third Council of Toledo, apparently questions still lingered in 633 requiring interventions by the bishops. In Hispania Baptism was administered in two forms, one single immersion or triple immersion. There were accusations from both parties maintaining that each respectively was not valid. To resolve the impasse the bishops appealed to the prior intervention of Pope Gregory the Great who recommended a solution through his friend Leander of Seville. The bishops reproduced what Pope Gregory told Leander; in short, both forms are valid, the triple immersion expressed the Trinity while the one immersion the singularity of the divinity – in tribus mersionibus personarum Trinitas et in una potest divinitatis singularitas designari. Since the heretics practiced triple immersion [Arians], to avoid appearing to validate them, the pontiff ruled that single immersion should be the norm in Hispania. The bishops in Toledo adopted this practice and the remainder of the Canon expounded how it also upheld the Trinity, since child was still baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Canon 7 encouraged clergy to preach the Passion on Good Friday and that congregants in audible voice ask forgiveness for all sins followed by taking communion. Canon 8 stated that anyone who broke the fast on Good Friday before sunset should be denied the Eucharist; exception was made for the elderly, the sick, and children. Canon 9 continued regulating Easter by addressing the blessing of candles on the eve of the great Feast. Canon 10 sought to correct the abuse of the Lord’s Prayer that was said only on Sunday. Clergy were ordered to pray it daily in the Office, whether public and private. The order of the Mass was also of concern and the lack of consistency by individual churches. Henceforth it was forbidden to sing the Hallelujah during Lent (Canon 11) and the Gospel was to be read after the Epistle, followed by Lauds (Canon 12). An issue that surfaced now and again concerned what songs were appropriate to sing at Mass. Some insisted that all songs must be based on Scripture – mainly the Psalms – others showed some flexibility as in Canon 13. Hymns written to honor the apostles and martyrs were given approval, the bishops cited the example of Jesus, Paul, Ambrose, and Hilary who sang or composed extra-scriptural songs that were inspired by the Holy Spirit. The bishops required in Canon 14 that in all Sunday Masses and Feasts of the Martyrs the hymn of the Three Children (Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego) should be sung from the pulpit. This was to be observed in all Hispania and Visigothic Galia Narbonensis; any cleric who was remiss was excommunicated. Canon 15 commanded under the pain of excommunication, that at the end of each Psalm not just ‘Glory to the Father,’ rather ‘Glory and Honor to the Father’ was to be sung as David did and John in the Apocalypse. Any clergy who did not observe this norm was deprived of the Eucharist. It was also recommended in Canon 16 when it was appropriate to pray the ‘Gloria’ at the end of the Responsorial. Those who were happy could continue to do so, while those who are sad should repeat it at the beginning. In Canon 17 the bishops declared excommunicated any clergy that refused to use the Apocalypse in the liturgy from Easter to Pentecost. This was a liturgical practice from the Byzantine church that was not accepted in Hispania. It appeared to call into question the Johannine authorship and canonicity of the Apocalypse. Canon 18 ordered a correction as to when the priest gave the benediction to the people. The previous order was as follows: after the Sunday prayer the priest took communion then blessed the people. The new recommendation was for the priest to bless the people after the Sunday prayer and the mixing [Instinction] of the wine with the bread – coniunctionem panis et calicis benediction. At the end the priest took communion. They added that the bishop and priest should communion at the altar, the rest of the clergy in the choir, and the people outside the choir. The overall purpose of these liturgical adjustments to the Mass, that applied to entire Church in Hispania and Galia Narbonensis, it was to create a consistent liturgy. It underwent more development beyond the Visigothic era. It was suppressed to near extinction by the reforms of Pope Gregory VII in the eleventh century to impose the Roman Rite in all Catholic territories, it survived only in a few parishes in Toledo. It was revived by Pope John Paul II in 1982 at the request of the Cardinal Primate Marcelo González Martín of Toledo; it is celebrated there and occasionally in Salamanca to this day.
Canon 3 is significant, the bishops decreed that a national council be convened annually. If that were not feasible, at least frequently a regional council in every province. Notwithstanding many mitigating circumstances that stood in the way of regular meetings, many councils were held, some whose acts we do not have. Those that survive form a remarkable collection that is a distinguished feature of Visigothic Hispania. Canon 4 gave precise details on the correct manner of holding a synod. It dictated the time of day, the correct form of processing into the meeting and the seating arrangement by rank, how prayers were to be said, and the order on how issues were dealt with. The privileged place of the Metropolitan was noted; no bishop was allowed to leave until all was settled and the Metropolitan dissolved it. Many other canons focused on issues relating to bishops, presbyters, deacons, female religious, widows, monasteries, freedmen, and lesser clergy. Two canons, however, merit some commentary. The first, Canon 25 legislated on a most important aspect of the clergy, their catechetical formation to make them more effective in ministry – Ut sacerdotes scribturarum sanctarum et canonum cognitionem habeant – with the focus on the formation of bishops. The bishops taught that ignorance was the mother of all errors, above all among bishops whose main task was to teach. They must be grounded in the knowledge of Sacred Scripture and the Canons as the foundation of their preaching and doctrine to edify everyone and guide them in their conduct through the canonical collections. The hand of Isidore of Seville is evident here who by example made Seville a center of formation. It has been noted that there were intellectual centers of formation in Astorga, Braga, Mérida, and Seville like those in Monte Cassino, Lindisfarne, and Lérins. At the First Council of Braga (561), Canon 20 and the Council of Narbonne (589), Canon 11, the catechetical formation of the clergy was promoted. It suffices to say that here in Toledo and elsewhere the objective was to clarify rank and roles in ministry and to create a well-educated clergy to catechize the faithful throughout the Church. The second, Canon 41 had as its subject the proper cut of the tonsure for clergy and lectors – De qualitate tonsurae a cunctis clericis vel lectoribus habenda. What may seem to be a minor detail was of importance at several levels: it highlighted the special status of clergy as opposed to laity, it symbolized the crown of thorns as a sign of sacrificing the mind and will to God, and it set them apart from the tonsure used by lectors who were labeled ‘heretics’ from Gallaecia. Some have argued this was a reference to Priscillianists; this view is undermined by the fact that they were never singled for having a distinct tonsure. It is most likely Celtic influences in Gallaecia that have been well documented, such a semi-circular tonsure was worn by Irish monks, it was censured at the Synod of Whitby (664) which ordered it abandoned for a full crown tonsure. There were two forms of tonsure: hair was left long in the back, the full crown making a circle aptly symbolized the crown of thorns, a sign of sacrificing all for Christ. The aim here in Toledo was to have one common tonsure for all clergy and lectors in all of Hispania, it was successfully achieved.
The canons directed at Jews are greater in number than those at the Third Council of Toledo, there the focus was primarily on the Arian heresy. This fourth council has a total of ten canons dedicated to Jews, although they are restrictive and discriminatory they do not rise to the level of the excessively harsh ones decreed by later Visigothic kings. These latter ones were opposed by a good number of bishops, among them Isidore and Braulio, while some supported the monarchy in repressive persecution. In view of space restrictions this article highlights briefly the subject matter of each. Canon 57 forbade compelling Jews to profess Christianity as encouraged by King Sisebut. The bishops here allowed they should continue to be considered Christian because they had received baptism, chrism, and the Holy Eucharist. This issue and that in Canon 59 was the subject of letters exchanged by Pope Honorius I and Braulio of Zaragoza. Canon 58 forbade receiving gifts from Jews. Canon 59 engaged the difficult situation when Jewish converts to Christianity reverted to Judaism. Canon 60 is among one of the harshest, it was ordered that children of Jews to be given to male and female monasteries to raised Christian. Canon 61 legislated that baptized Jews convicted of any offenses, their punishment ought not be imputed on their Christian children because they should not suffer for the sins of their parents. Canon 62 forbade Jews who converted to Christianity from associating with Jews still practicing the Jewish faith. Canon 63 ruled on mixed marriages: male Jews married to Christian women must convert to the faith of their wife, their children must follow the faith of the mother. Inversely, infidel [Judaism] women married to Christian men who bear children must follow the faith of the father and not the superstition of Judaism. Canon 64 directed that lapsed Jews from the Christian faith were not permitted to testify in any legal process. The reason given is they could not be trusted; therefore, their testimony was declared invalid. Canon 65 by order of King Sisenand banned any Jews from holding any public office. Lastly, Canon 66 again by decree of King Sisenand outlawed Jews from retaining servants who were Christians, nor buy slaves that were Christians, or receive any as a donation. The reasoning given was that it would be criminal for any servant of Christ to serve ministers of the Antichrist. Any Christian servant or slave found in that situation would be set free by the king. The sad reality is that legislation on Jews, whether lenient or harsh, applied constant pressure on them to convert, it deliberately isolated them socially, and it encouraged suspicion and fear against them. At this historic council of Toledo many more issues were attended to by the bishops. Overall, the impact of this canonical legislation at the Fourth Council of Toledo had far-reaching influences in Hispania and in the Middle Ages in the Liturgy, Canon Law, and Jews.
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QQ.: Vives/Marín Martínez/Martínez Díez, Concilios Visigóticos e Hispano-Romanos, 186-225. Hispana edition is in: Martínez Diez/Rodríguez, La Colección Canónica V, 161-274; Weckwerth, Clavis Conciliorum Occidentalium, 209-210.
Lit.: Orlandis/Ramos-Lissón, Concilios de la España Romana y Visigoda, 261-298; Rachel L. Stocking, Bishops, Councils, and Consensus in the Visigothic Kingdom, 589-633, Ann Arbor (MI) 2000; A. Ferreiro, Babel and Pentecost in the Novus Ordo Ritus Hispano-Mozarabici: An influence from Leander of Seville’s Homelia in laude ecclesiae?, in: Codoñer/Andrés Sanz/Martín-Iglesias/Paniagua (eds.), Nuevos Estudios de Latín Medieval Hispánico, 251-261. On Canon 41 on tonsures, A. Ferreiro, A Reconsideration of Celtic Tonsures and the Ecclesia Britoniensis in the Hispano-Roman Visigothic Councils, in: AHC 23 (1991) 1-10; On Canon 57 and compulsory conversion see, Id., St. Braulio of Zaragoza’s Letter 21 to Pope Honorius I regarding lapsed baptized Jews, in: SE 49 (2009) 75-95. On the Jews consult, R. Gonzalez Salinero, Las Conversiones Forzosas de los judíos en el reino visigodo. Serie Histórica, 2. Roma, 2000. L. A. García Moreno, Los judíos de la España Antigua. Del primer encuentro al primer repudio, Madrid 1993; A. Ferreiro, Canon 17 of the Fourth Council of Toledo (633), the Apocalypse, and the Visigothic Liturgy, in: XIX International Conference on, 5-9 August 2024, in: StPatr (forthcoming).
Alberto Ferreiro
März 2025
Empfohlene Zitierweise:
Ferreiro, Alberto, "Toletum IV/ Toledo IV: National Council of the Visigothic Kingdom of Hispania, 633", in: Lexikon der Konzilien [Online-Version], Januar 2025;
URL: http://www.konziliengeschichte.org/site/de/publikationen/lexikon/database/630.html
