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E03084: The Sixth Council of Toledo (central Spain) in 638 is held in the church of *Leocadia (martyr of Toledo, S01367) according to the Latin acts of the council.

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posted on 2017-06-24, 00:00 authored by mszada
Acts of the Sixth Council of Toledo

Concilium Toletanum sextum uniuersale in nomne Domini Iesu Christi feliciter.

[...]

Conuenientibus nobis Spaniarum Galliaeque pontificibus summis orthodoxi et gloriosi Chintilani regis salutaribus hortamentis atque in praetorio Toletano in ecclesia sanctae Leocadiae martyris debitis sedibus collocatis sub die quinto idus ianuarias anno praefati principis et triumphatoris in Christo secundo aera DCLXXVI, cum primum omnipotenti Domino pro corona fratrum tam numerosa gratiae a nobis fuissent peractae, nihil melius nihilque salubrius omnium insedit animis quam more synodi uniuersalis post sollemnia perfunctae orationis, quod mente ruminabamus lingua maneremus, et quod corde credebamus ore ructaremus, supernae fauentes sententiae: "Eructuauit cor meum uerbum bonum", quod iuxta prophetam fecit Dominus abbreuiatum super terram. [...]


'The Sixth General Council of Toledo happily in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

[...]

When we, the high pontiffs of Spain and Gaul, had gathered at the salutary behest of the orthodox and glorious King Chintila, and had taken our places in the Toletan praetorium in the church of saint Leocadia, the martyr, on the fifth day before the Ides of January in the second year of the reign of the said ruler and victor in Christ, which is the year 676 of the era, when we had first given thanks to Almighty God for so numerous a circle of brothers, there was nothing better nor more health-giving to our souls, than that, following the custom of a universal council, we should express with our tongues what we had been contemplating in our minds and say with our mouths what we believed in our hearts, favouring the divine saying:"My heart has uttered a good word" [Ps 44:2] which, according to the prophet, the Lord makes short upon the earth [cf. Rom 9:28].'

Text: Martínez Díez and Rodríguez 1992: 293, 296-297. Translation: M. Szada.

History

Evidence ID

E03084

Saint Name

Leocadia, martyr in Toledo, ob. 304/311 : S01367

Saint Name in Source

Leocadia

Related Saint Records

Language

  • Latin

Evidence not before

638

Evidence not after

638

Activity not before

638

Activity not after

638

Place of Evidence - Region

Iberian Peninsula

Place of Evidence - City, village, etc

Toledo

Place of evidence - City name in other Language(s)

Toledo Osset Osset Osen (castrum) Osser castrum

Cult activities - Places

Cult building - independent (church)

Cult activities - Activities Accompanying Cult

  • Meetings and gatherings of the clergy

Cult Activities - Protagonists in Cult and Narratives

Ecclesiastics - bishops Monarchs and their family

Source

The Sixth Council of Toledo was summoned by King Chintila in 638 (r. 636-639), only 18 months after the first general gathering of his reign – the Fifth Council of Toledo in 636. Although the Fifth Council of Toledo decreed special protection for the king and his family, Chintila was apparently dissatisfied, probably because the Fifth Council was attended by only twenty-two bishops and two proxies, none of them from Gallia Narbonensis (Thompson 1969, 182-183 supposed it was in rebellion). He therefore convened the Sixth Council – this time 53 bishops arrived, the most senior of them being Sclua of Narbonne. The bishop who hosted the council in Toledo was Eugenius I.

Discussion

The date of foundation of this church of Leocadia is unknown. The acts of the Fourth Council of Toledo provide the earliest mention of it; however, it is usually dated back to the reign of King Sisebut (612-621). This assumption is based solely on the account in the so-called Prophetic Chronicle written in 883 that says that during the reign of Sisebut the basilica of Leocadia 'was enlarged with a high roof of wonderful workmanship' (trans. Wolf 2008). The church was located outside the walls of Toledo, to the north-west. In the 1990s Pedro de Palol excavated the remains of the basilica. The excavations have shown that the church was built on a site where late Roman or Visigothic buildings were founded in the area of the circus. Although there is a tradition that the basilica was built over the tomb of Leocadia (see E###), there is no material evidence of a tomb or cemetery below it. The basilica of Leocadia is sometimes called 'in praetorio toletano'. It is possible that the Roman building excavated by de Palol was a praetorium, in which the church was later founded (see de Palol 1991; Martin 2003, 231-232).

Bibliography

Edition: Martínez Díez, G., and Rodríguez, F. (eds.), La colección canónica Hispana (Monumenta Hispaniae sacra. Serie canónica 5; Madrid, 1992). Further reading: Collins, R., Visigothic Spain, 409-711 (Oxford, 2004). Gurt i Esparraguera, J.M., and Diarte Blasco, P., "La basílica de santa Leocadia y el final de uso del circo romano de Toledo: una nueva interpretación," Zephyrus 69 (2012), 149–63. Martin, C., La géographie du pouvoir dans l'espace visigothique (Lille, 2003). Palol, P. de, "Resultados de las excavaciones junto al Cristo de la Vega, supuesta basílica conciliar de Sta. Leocadia de Toledo: algunas notas de topografía religiosa de la ciudad," Concilio III de Toledo: XIV Centenario 589-1989 (Toledo, 1991), 787-832. Thompson, E.A., The Goths in Spain (Oxford, 1969). Wolf, K.B. (trans.), "Chronica Prophetica," Medieval Texts in Translation, 2008. Web 22 May 2009. https://sites.google.com/site/canilup/chronica_prophetica

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    Evidence - The Cult of Saints in Late Antiquity

    Categories

    Keywords

    S01367History

    Licence

    CC0

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