Seventeenth Council of Toledo
Encyclopedia
The Seventeenth Council of Toledo first met on 9 November 694 under King Egica. It was the king's third council and primarily directed, as was the Sixteenth
, against the Jews
, of whom Egica seems to have had a profound distrust and dislike.
The king opened the synod by claiming that he had heard news of Jews overthrowing their Christian
rulers overseas and that Iberian Jews were conspring with these cousins to end the Christian religion once and for all. The council therefore decreed in its eight canon that all Jews, except those in Narbonensis, were to be deprived of their property, which was to be given to their Christian slaves, and enslaved themselves. Their slavekeepers were chosen by the king and were to be contractually obligated to never allow the practice of the Jewish religion again. It is, however, almost certain that, in at least some parts of Spain, these regulations were not strictly enforced; though in others, they certainly were.
The council tried to protect the life of Egica's queen and children after his death, knowing the harm which could befall the royal family during a succession, and the bishops ordered prayers said for their souls.
The council's minutes remain the best source of information for its period in Spanish history.
Sixteenth Council of Toledo
The Sixteenth Council of Toledo first met on 25 April 693, the second of Egica's three councils.In 692, the archbishop of Toledo, Sisebert, led a rebellion with many nobles to install one Suniefred as king...
, against the Jews
Jews
The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
, of whom Egica seems to have had a profound distrust and dislike.
The king opened the synod by claiming that he had heard news of Jews overthrowing their Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
rulers overseas and that Iberian Jews were conspring with these cousins to end the Christian religion once and for all. The council therefore decreed in its eight canon that all Jews, except those in Narbonensis, were to be deprived of their property, which was to be given to their Christian slaves, and enslaved themselves. Their slavekeepers were chosen by the king and were to be contractually obligated to never allow the practice of the Jewish religion again. It is, however, almost certain that, in at least some parts of Spain, these regulations were not strictly enforced; though in others, they certainly were.
The council tried to protect the life of Egica's queen and children after his death, knowing the harm which could befall the royal family during a succession, and the bishops ordered prayers said for their souls.
The council's minutes remain the best source of information for its period in Spanish history.
Source
- Thompson, E. A. The Goths in Spain. Clarendon Press: OxfordOxfordThe city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
, 1969.