Concilium Germanicum
Encyclopedia
The Concilium Germanicum was the first major Church synod
to be held in the eastern parts of the Frankish kingdoms
. It was called by Carloman on 21 April 742/743 at an unknown location, and presided over by Boniface
, who was solidified in his position as leader of the Austrasia
n church. German historian Gunther Wolf judges that the Concilium was the high point in Boniface's long career.
:
Boniface had begun his reform attempts of the Frankish church in the 730s, and by the 740s had found a kindred spirit in Carloman, the more religiously oriented of Charles Martel
's two sons who divided their father's domain. When Carloman promised Boniface a synod, he saw an opportunity to address two of his main interests in his reform efforts: to protect church property from a rapacious gentry, and to impose stricter guidelines on the clergy.
, Strasbourg
, and Büraburg
were present, as was a chorbishop
named Willibald and a bishop named Dadan (who was possibly from Erfurt
or an auxiliary bishop
from Utrecht
). Absent were the bishops from Utrecht, Metz, Verdun
, Speyer, and Liège
. Boniface's main opponents, Milo, bishop of Reims, and Gewilip, bishop of Mainz
, failed to appear.
Strengthened by the absence of his enemies, Boniface succeeded in having stricter guidelines adopted, but the effort to re-appropriate church property was thwarted by bishops and nobility alike.
The measures adopted at the Concilium included:
Many of the Concilium's measures were geared toward a stricter organization of the Frankish church, and to enforce such organization annual synods were called for, as well as real bishops and archbishops and the enforcement of canon law
.
Church historian Matthias Schuler, commenting on Boniface's failure to have church property returned to the church, proposes that the time was not yet ripe for Carloman to re-appropriate those properties, which had often been handed (by way of church offices) to various noblemen by his father, Charles Martel
, to appease them and strengthen their loyalty. Re-appropriation would have led to widespread anger and distaste for the reform movement. A (partial) redress of the situation was decided on in the next of Boniface's Frankish synods, that of Estinnes
, 1 March 743. Whereas Gunther Wolf judged that the Concilium was the high point in Boniface's long career, other scholars such as Matthias Schuler place that high point in 747, Boniface's Frankish synod.
maintained 743, pace Heinz Löwe, as do Kurt-Ulrich Jäschke and Alain Dierkens. The most notable proponent of 742 is Heinz Löwe, and this date was most recently given by Michael Glatthaar.
Synod
A synod historically is a council of a church, usually convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. In modern usage, the word often refers to the governing body of a particular church, whether its members are meeting or not...
to be held in the eastern parts of the Frankish kingdoms
Franks
The Franks were a confederation of Germanic tribes first attested in the third century AD as living north and east of the Lower Rhine River. From the third to fifth centuries some Franks raided Roman territory while other Franks joined the Roman troops in Gaul. Only the Salian Franks formed a...
. It was called by Carloman on 21 April 742/743 at an unknown location, and presided over by Boniface
Saint Boniface
Saint Boniface , the Apostle of the Germans, born Winfrid, Wynfrith, or Wynfryth in the kingdom of Wessex, probably at Crediton , was a missionary who propagated Christianity in the Frankish Empire during the 8th century. He is the patron saint of Germany and the first archbishop of Mainz...
, who was solidified in his position as leader of the Austrasia
Austrasia
Austrasia formed the northeastern portion of the Kingdom of the Merovingian Franks, comprising parts of the territory of present-day eastern France, western Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. Metz served as its capital, although some Austrasian kings ruled from Rheims, Trier, and...
n church. German historian Gunther Wolf judges that the Concilium was the high point in Boniface's long career.
Background
Much of the documentation pertaining to the Concilium relies on Boniface and documents associated with his life, and while the saint was prone to rhetorical embellishment and exaggeration in his correspondence, his assessment of the situation in the Frankish church appears to be reliable, although in some details he was off by a few years—the last synod in the Frankish church appears to have been held in 695 in Auxerre. He outlines three main problems in a letter written early in 742 to the newly elected Pope ZacharyPope Zachary
Pope Saint Zachary was Pope of the Catholic Church from 741 to 752. A Greek from Calabria, he was the last pope of the Byzantine Papacy...
:
- Church regulations (esp. in regard to property) had been disregarded for six decades or more;
- There had been no church synods for at least eighty years;
- There were no archbishops in the Frankish church, and bishops (many without a fixed see) and priests were only interested in the material benefits of the office, stealing church property and living worldly lifestyles, which included living with concubines, drinking, and hunting.
Boniface had begun his reform attempts of the Frankish church in the 730s, and by the 740s had found a kindred spirit in Carloman, the more religiously oriented of Charles Martel
Charles Martel
Charles Martel , also known as Charles the Hammer, was a Frankish military and political leader, who served as Mayor of the Palace under the Merovingian kings and ruled de facto during an interregnum at the end of his life, using the title Duke and Prince of the Franks. In 739 he was offered the...
's two sons who divided their father's domain. When Carloman promised Boniface a synod, he saw an opportunity to address two of his main interests in his reform efforts: to protect church property from a rapacious gentry, and to impose stricter guidelines on the clergy.
Decisions and outcome
Participation in the Concilium was restricted to Boniface's supporters, and among those invited were the bishops of Carloman's Austrasia. As well as Boniface (who, as archbishop, presided over the synod) the bishops of CologneRoman Catholic Archdiocese of Cologne
The Archdiocese of Cologne is an archdiocese of the Catholic Church in western North Rhine-Westphalia and northern Rhineland-Palatinate in Germany.-History:...
, Strasbourg
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Strasbourg
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Strasbourg is an archdiocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church in France.The archdiocese is unique in France as it has no suffragans and is immediately subject to the Holy See in Rome....
, and Büraburg
Büraburg
Büraburg is a prominent hill with historic significance, overlooking the Eder river near the town of Fritzlar in northern Hesse .In 723 AD the Anglo-Saxon missionary Winfrid – later called St...
were present, as was a chorbishop
Chorbishop
A chorbishop is a rank of Christian clergy below bishop. The name chorepiscope or chorepiscopus is taken from the Greek and means rural bishop.-History:Chorepiscopi are first mentioned by Eusebius in the second century...
named Willibald and a bishop named Dadan (who was possibly from Erfurt
Roman Catholic Diocese of Erfurt
The Diocese of Erfurt is a diocese of the Catholic church in Germany. The diocese was erected in 1973 as the apostolic administration of Erfurt-Meiningen, and was elevated in 1994 to the current diocese of Erfurt...
or an auxiliary bishop
Auxiliary bishop
An auxiliary bishop, in the Roman Catholic Church, is an additional bishop assigned to a diocese because the diocesan bishop is unable to perform his functions, the diocese is so extensive that it requires more than one bishop to administer, or the diocese is attached to a royal or imperial office...
from Utrecht
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Utrecht
The Archdiocese of Utrecht is an archdiocese of the Catholic Church in the Netherlands. The archdiocese is the metropolitan for 6 suffragans, the dioceses of Breda, Groningen-Leeuwarden, Haarlem-Amsterdam, Roermond, Rotterdam, and 's-Hertogenbosch....
). Absent were the bishops from Utrecht, Metz, Verdun
Roman Catholic Diocese of Verdun
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Verdun is a diocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic church, in France. Currently a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Besançon, the diocese corresponds to the department of Meuse in the Region of Lorraine. The diocese is subdivided into 577 parishes.-History:The...
, Speyer, and Liège
Roman Catholic Diocese of Liège
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Liège is a diocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic church in Belgium. The diocese was erected in the 4th century, and has a long and complicated history...
. Boniface's main opponents, Milo, bishop of Reims, and Gewilip, bishop of Mainz
Archbishopric of Mainz
The Archbishopric of Mainz or Electorate of Mainz was an influential ecclesiastic and secular prince-bishopric in the Holy Roman Empire between 780–82 and 1802. In the Roman Catholic Church hierarchy, the Archbishop of Mainz was the primas Germaniae, the substitute of the Pope north of the Alps...
, failed to appear.
Strengthened by the absence of his enemies, Boniface succeeded in having stricter guidelines adopted, but the effort to re-appropriate church property was thwarted by bishops and nobility alike.
The measures adopted at the Concilium included:
- Archbishops and bishops with a fixed seeEpiscopal SeeAn episcopal see is, in the original sense, the official seat of a bishop. This seat, which is also referred to as the bishop's cathedra, is placed in the bishop's principal church, which is therefore called the bishop's cathedral...
were to be appointed to replace the noble laypersons who had received dioceses under Charles Martel; - Bishops were required to visit their parishes, with the aid of auxiliary bishopAuxiliary bishopAn auxiliary bishop, in the Roman Catholic Church, is an additional bishop assigned to a diocese because the diocesan bishop is unable to perform his functions, the diocese is so extensive that it requires more than one bishop to administer, or the diocese is attached to a royal or imperial office...
s; - Clergy were required to appear annually before the bishop to give a reckoning of their personal and official activities;
- On Maundy ThursdayMaundy ThursdayMaundy Thursday, also known as Holy Thursday, Covenant Thursday, Great & Holy Thursday, and Thursday of Mysteries, is the Christian feast or holy day falling on the Thursday before Easter that commemorates the Last Supper of Jesus Christ with the Apostles as described in the Canonical gospels...
, bishops were to consecrate oil (chrismChrismChrism , also called "Myrrh" , Holy anointing oil, or "Consecrated Oil", is a consecrated oil used in the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Eastern Rite Catholic, Oriental Orthodox, in the Assyrian Church of the East, and in Old-Catholic churches, as well as Anglican churches in the administration...
) during a special massMass (liturgy)"Mass" is one of the names by which the sacrament of the Eucharist is called in the Roman Catholic Church: others are "Eucharist", the "Lord's Supper", the "Breaking of Bread", the "Eucharistic assembly ", the "memorial of the Lord's Passion and Resurrection", the "Holy Sacrifice", the "Holy and...
, with which all the parishes in their diocese were to be supplied; - Clergy were not allowed to carry weapons, and were forbidden to hunt;
- The Rule of Saint Benedict became mandatory for all monasteries.
Many of the Concilium's measures were geared toward a stricter organization of the Frankish church, and to enforce such organization annual synods were called for, as well as real bishops and archbishops and the enforcement of canon law
Canon law
Canon law is the body of laws & regulations made or adopted by ecclesiastical authority, for the government of the Christian organization and its members. It is the internal ecclesiastical law governing the Catholic Church , the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox churches, and the Anglican Communion of...
.
Church historian Matthias Schuler, commenting on Boniface's failure to have church property returned to the church, proposes that the time was not yet ripe for Carloman to re-appropriate those properties, which had often been handed (by way of church offices) to various noblemen by his father, Charles Martel
Charles Martel
Charles Martel , also known as Charles the Hammer, was a Frankish military and political leader, who served as Mayor of the Palace under the Merovingian kings and ruled de facto during an interregnum at the end of his life, using the title Duke and Prince of the Franks. In 739 he was offered the...
, to appease them and strengthen their loyalty. Re-appropriation would have led to widespread anger and distaste for the reform movement. A (partial) redress of the situation was decided on in the next of Boniface's Frankish synods, that of Estinnes
Estinnes
Estinnes is a Walloon municipality located in the Belgian province of Hainaut. On January 1, 2006 Estinnes had a total population of 7,413. The total area is 72.73 km² which gives a population density of 102 inhabitants per km²....
, 1 March 743. Whereas Gunther Wolf judged that the Concilium was the high point in Boniface's long career, other scholars such as Matthias Schuler place that high point in 747, Boniface's Frankish synod.
Date
There is no clear consensus among scholars about the date. Theodor SchiefferTheodor Schieffer
Theodor Schieffer was a German historian. He was professor of medieval history at the University of Mainz, then at the University of Cologne, and since 1952 he was president of the Association for Middle Rhine Church History...
maintained 743, pace Heinz Löwe, as do Kurt-Ulrich Jäschke and Alain Dierkens. The most notable proponent of 742 is Heinz Löwe, and this date was most recently given by Michael Glatthaar.