The Council of Clermont (''Concilium Arvernense'') of 535 was one of the early Frankish synods. Held at '' Arvernum'', (the later Clermont, conquered by

Clovis I Clovis ( la, Chlodovechus; reconstructed Frankish: ; – 27 November 511) was the first king of the Franks to unite all of the Frankish tribes under one ruler, changing the form of leadership from a group of petty kings to rule by a single kin ...

in 507), it was attended by fifteen

prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Christian clergy who is an ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which means 'carry before', 'be set above or over' or 'pref ...

s of the kingdom of

Austrasia Austrasia was a territory which formed the north-eastern section of the Merovingian Kingdom of the Franks during the 6th to 8th centuries. It was centred on the Meuse, Middle Rhine and the Moselle rivers, and was the original territory of the F ...

under the presidency of Honoratus,

bishop of Bourges The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bourges (Latin: ''Archidioecesis Bituricensis''; French: ''Archidiocèse de Bourges'') is an archdiocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church in France. The Archdiocese comprises the departements of ...

. Among those bishops attending was Saint Gal, the

bishop of Clermont The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Clermont (Latin: ''Archidioecesis Claromontana''; French: ''Archidiocèse de Clermont'') is an archdiocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman ...

. Seventeen canons were drawn up at the council, of which the first sixteen are contained in the ''

Decretum Gratiani The ''Decretum Gratiani'', also known as the ''Concordia discordantium canonum'' or ''Concordantia discordantium canonum'' or simply as the ''Decretum'', is a collection of canon law compiled and written in the 12th century as a legal textbook b ...

'' (compiled in the 12th century by

Gratian Gratian (; la, Gratianus; 18 April 359 – 25 August 383) was emperor of the Western Roman Empire from 367 to 383. The eldest son of Valentinian I, Gratian accompanied his father on several campaigns along the Rhine and Danube frontiers and wa ...

); they have become part of the corpus of

canon law Canon law (from grc, κανών, , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its members. It is th ...

of the Catholic Church, the ''

Corpus Iuris Canonici The ''Corpus Juris Canonici'' ( lit. 'Body of Canon Law') is a collection of significant sources of the canon law of the Catholic Church that was applicable to the Latin Church. It was replaced by the 1917 Code of Canon Law which went into effe ...

''. In summary, the canons prohibit bishops from submitting to the deliberations of councils any private or temporal affairs, before having dealt with matters regarding discipline; clerics are forbidden to appeal to seculars in their disputes with bishops; excommunication is pronounced against bishops who solicit the protection of princes in order to obtain the episcopacy, or who cause forged decrees of election to be signed. The council also declared itself forcefully against the marriages of Christians with Jews, marriages between relatives, and the misconduct of the clergy. Two further Frankish synods were held in Clermont (''Arvernum''), one in 549, and the other at an uncertain date towards the end of the 6th century (584/591). Halfond, Gregory I. (2009). ''Archaeology of Frankish Church Councils, AD 511-768'' (Appendix A, pp. 223–246).

References

''Catholic Encyclopedia'': "St. Gal"
*Brian Brennan, 1985. "'Episcopae': Bishops' Wives Viewed in Sixth-Century Gaul" ''Church History'' 54.3 (September 1985), pp 311–323. {{Authority control Clermont 1 Clermont 1 535 6th century in Francia Clermont-Ferrand Christianity in Francia