The Presbyters Project

Canon 10 (8)

Conperimus idemque cupiditatis instincto, deficientes abbatis, presbiteros uel hos, qui pro titulis deseruiunt, presidium, quodcumque mortis tempore dereliquerint, ab episcopo uel ab archidiacono deripi et quasi sub augmentum ecclesiae uel episcopi in iure episcopi reuocari et ecclesiam Dei per prauas cupiditates expoliata relinqui. Id statuemus obseruandum, ut nullus episcopus aut archidiaconus ausu temerario exinde aliquid auferre presumat, sed in loco, ubi moriens hoc dereliquerit, perpetualiter debeat permanere. Si quis super hanc difinitionem exinde aliquid abstulerit, anathematis stimmate feriatur.

(ed. de Clercq 1963: 277–278)

Canon 10 (8)

We have discovered that the same [happens, see [1588]], due to [people] driven by greed, when abbots, presbyters, or those who serve in in urban churches [tituli], die: whatever property they have left in their final moments (mortis tempore) are seized by the bishop or archdeacon and reclaimed under episcopal law using the pretext of the Church or bishop's sustenance, and the Church is left plundered by corrupted greed. We therefore decree that no bishop or archdeacon should dare grab something of this [property] by reckless exploit, but that [those things] should remain forever in the place where the deceased left them. If someone seizes something of this [property] after this decree [has been passed], he should be struck with the mark of anathema.

(trans. J. Szafranowski)

Place of event:

Region

Gaul

City

Paris

About the source:

Title: Fifth Council of Paris, Concilium Parisiense V anno 614
Origin: Paris (Gaul)
Denomination: Catholic/Nicene/Chalcedonian

The Fifth Council of Paris was called by King Chlothar II one year after he became the sole ruler of the Frankish lands. On 10 October 614, it gathered twelve metropolitan bishops, sixty-three bishops (including the bishop of Rochester), and the abbot of Canterbury. Although it was one of the biggest of the Merovingian councils, its acts were preserved in only two canonical collections, and was surprisingly little cited by the later medieval compilators. Five days after the council, King Chlothar II issued an edict in which he repeated the synodal decrees, albeit using slightly different wording.

Edition:

C. de Clercq ed., Concilia Galliae a. 511-a. 695, Corpus Christianorum. Series Latina 148 A, Turnhout 1963.

Translation:

J. Gaudemet, B. Basdevant, Les canons des conciles mérovingiens VIe-VIIe siècles, Sources chrétiennes 353, Paris 1989.

Categories:

Described by a title - Presbyter/πρεσβύτερος

Public law - Ecclesiastical

Economic status and activity - Ownership or possession of land

Economic status and activity - Indication of wealth

Economic status and activity - Inheritance

Relation with - Bishop/Monastic superior

Relation with - Deacon

Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL: J. Szafranowski, Presbyters in the Late Antique West, ER1593, http://presbytersproject.ihuw.pl/index.php?id=6&SourceID=1593