COUNCILS OF TOLEDO

TOLEDO, COUNCILS OF (Concilia toletana). From the 4th to the 6th century about thirty synods, variously counted, were held at Toledo in Spain. The earliest, directed against Priscillianism, assembled in 400. The " third " synod of 589 marked the epoch-making conversion of King Reccared from Arianism to Roman Catholicism.

Some were more Biblical than others, and most bear the characteristic of coming more and more under the heavy hand of the Roman Catholic Hierarchy the more time passes between the time of Christ and the various councils. Although originally a vibrant Christian city (thanks to the early Christians), Toledo became merely Roman Catholic as the Catholic Church began exerting a much more conscious influence within the city and the Regional Church councils convened there.

The Second Council of Toledo met in 527 A.D - more than 250 years before the so-called 7^th Church Council of the Eastern Orthodox Church. The Second Council of Toledo (527) even had a strong impact on western civilization and liberties, since its documents formed the basis for the English Charter of Liberties - known as the Magna Charta (1215).

The " fourth," in 633, probably under the presidency of the noted Isidore of Seville, regulated many matters of discipline, decreed uniformity of liturgy throughout the kingdom and took stringent measures against baptized Jews who had relapsed into their former faith.

The " twelfth " council in 681 assured to the archbishop of Toledo the primacy of Spain. As nearly one hundred early canons of Toledo found a place in the Decretum Gratiani, they exerted an important influence on the development of ecclesiastical law.

The synod of 1565 and 1566 concerned itself with the execution of the decrees of Trent; and the last council of Toledo, that of 1582 and 1583, was so guided in detail by Philip II. that the pope ordered the name of the royal commissioner to be expunged from the acts. (which is one more example of the Roman Catholic Hierarchy attempting to purge history from the history books).

See Canones aposlolorum et conciliorum saeculorum, iv., v., vi., vii., rec. H. T. Bruns, pars prior (Berlin, 1839), critical text of seventeen councils of Toledo (A.D. 400-694); P. B. Gams, Die Kirchengeschichte van Spanien (Regensburg, 1862-1879); E. H. Landon, A Manual of the Councils of the Holy Catholic Church, revised ed. (London, 1893), 151-169. These two summarize the chief canons. Neher, in Wetzer and Welte's Kirchenlexicon (1855-1857), vol. xi. (2nd ed. Freiburg, 1899), gives a list of 29 synods. (W. W. R.)