The Sixth Council of Toledo was the second council convoked by King Chintila

Chintila

Chintila was Visigothic King of Hispania, Septimania and Galicia from 636. He succeeded Sisenand in a time of weakness and reigned until his death....

 and opened on 9 January 638. It was attended by fifty three bishops, including those from Narbonensis who had not participated in the prior council for political reasons. The council was thus a reunion of the whole church of Spain (of both Hispania

Hispania

Another theory holds that the name derives from Ezpanna, the Basque word for "border" or "edge", thus meaning the farthest area or place. Isidore of Sevilla considered Hispania derived from Hispalis....

 and Gallia

Gallia

Gallia may refer to:*Gaul , the region of Western Europe occupied by present-day France, Belgium and other neighbouring countries...

). Its primary purpose was to reaffirm the decrees of the Fifth Council

Fifth Council of Toledo

The Fifth Council of Toledo was convoked by King Chintila and opened on 30 June 636 in the church of Saint Leocadia in Toledo. It was attended by twenty two bishops and two episcopal representatives. The bishops of Narbonensis were absent for political reasons...

 of 636

636

Year 636 was a leap year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 636 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.- Byzantine Empire :* August 20 – Battle of Yarmuk:...

 and to restore internal peace.

Four of the nineteen canons of the council were specifically political, the rest covered Jews, monk

Monk

A monk is a person who practices religious asceticism, living either alone or with any number of monks, while always maintaining some degree of physical separation from those not sharing the same purpose...

s, penitents, freedmen, holy orders

Holy Orders

The term Holy Orders is used by many Christian churches to refer to ordination or to those individuals ordained for a special role or ministry....

, benefice

Benefice

A benefice is a reward received in exchange for services rendered and as a retainer for future services. The term is now almost obsolete.-Church of England:...

s, and ecclesiastical property.

The council affirmed the Fifth Council's decrees about the security of the king and his family. It also excommunicated those who fled overseas and there plotted against the king or otherwise endangered him. Anathema

Anathema

Anathema originally meant something lifted up as an offering to the gods; it later evolved to mean:...

 was pronounced on all who attacked the king or conspired to overthrow him and usurp his throne. A successor to an assassinated king was dishonoured if he did not punish the regicides.

The council confirmed the permanent possession of property given to the church by anyone and laid down punishments for simony

Simony

Simony is the act of paying for sacraments and consequently for holy offices or for positions in the hierarchy of a church, named after Simon Magus , who appears in the Acts of the Apostles 8:9-24...

. Finally, certain measures were first taken against the Jews, it seems to please the pope

Pope

The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, a position that makes him the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church . In the Catholic Church, the Pope is regarded as the successor of Saint Peter, the Apostle...

, who had demanded them in a letter.

Sources

• Thompson, E. A. (1969) The Goths in Spain. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
• Concilium Toletanum sextum, minutes from the Collectio Hispana Gallica Augustodunensis (Vat. lat. 1341)