The Thirteenth Council of Toledo opened on 4 November 683. It was called by Erwig

Erwig

Erwig was a king of the Visigoths in Hispania . He was the only Visigothic king to be a complete puppet of the bishops and palatine nobility....

 and consisted of 77 bishop

Bishop

A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...

s, 5 abbot

Abbot

The word abbot, meaning father, is a title given to the head of a monastery in various traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not actually the head of a monastery...

s, 3 church dignitaries, and 27 palatine functionaries.

The king asked for the pardon and rehabilitation of the rebels against King Wamba in 673

673

Year 673 was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 673 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.- Europe :* Hlothhere becomes king of Kent.* The city...

. The bishops consented to return to the rebels and their descendants their possessions and positions. The pardon extended to all those who had been disgraced for the same reason since the reign of 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....

 (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:...

-640

640

Year 640 was a leap year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 640 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.- Europe :* Tulga succeeds his father Suinthila as king...

). Erwig desired that no vendettas should hamper his reign.

The council also condemned forced confessions, necessitating justice without torture. They also imposed a maximum prison sentence.

Finally, the council repeated the oft-rendered prohibition on harming the royal family after the death of the monarch.

Sources

• Thompson, E. A. (1969) The Goths in Spain. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
• Synodus Toletana decimum tertium, minutes from the Collectio Hispana Gallica Augustodunensis (Vat. lat. 1341)