The Eighteenth Council of Toledo was the last of the

councils of Toledo From the 5th century to the 7th century AD, about thirty synods, variously counted, were held at Toledo (''Concilia toletana'') in what would come to be part of Spain. The earliest, directed against Priscillianism, assembled in 400. The "thi ...

held in

Visigothic The Visigoths (; la, Visigothi, Wisigothi, Vesi, Visi, Wesi, Wisi) were an early Germanic people who, along with the Ostrogoths, constituted the two major political entities of the Goths within the Roman Empire in late antiquity, or what is kno ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

before the

Moorish The term Moor, derived from the ancient Mauri, is an exonym first used by Christian Europeans to designate the Muslim inhabitants of the Maghreb, the Iberian Peninsula, Sicily and Malta during the Middle Ages. Moors are not a distinct or se ...

conquest of 711. It was held after the Seventeenth Council in 694, probably in 703 during the reign of King

Wittiza Wittiza (''Witiza'', ''Witica'', ''Witicha'', ''Vitiza'', or ''Witiges''; 687 – probably 710) was the Visigothic King of Hispania from 694 until his death, co-ruling with his father, Egica, until 702 or 703. Joint rule Early in his reign, Ergi ...

(701–710) or his co-reign with his father,

Ergica Egica, Ergica, or Egicca (''c''. 610 – 701/703), was the Visigoth King of Hispania and Septimania from 687 until his death. He was the son of Ariberga and the brother-in-law of Wamba. Accession He was married (''c''. 670) to Cixilo (also k ...

, from 693. It was presided over by

Gunderic, Archbishop of Toledo Gunderic ( la, Gundericus; died before 711) was the Archbishop of Toledo briefly between Felix and Sindered from about 701. He was a Visigoth and is highly praised in the ''Chronicle of 754'', according to which he was a holy man who performed many ...

. An account of the acts of the council existed in the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

, but has since been

lost Lost may refer to getting lost, or to: Geography *Lost, Aberdeenshire, a hamlet in Scotland * Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail, or LOST, a hiking and cycling trail in Florida, US History *Abbreviation of lost work, any work which is known to have bee ...

; it may have been highly controversial, leading to its suppression.Collins, ''Visigothic Spain'', 110. There is a reference in the ''Chronicle of 754'' to Wittiza commanding

Sindered Sindered became Archbishop of Toledo in Visigothic Hispania around the year 710 or 711, succeeding Gunderic. But at least one later chronicler makes him archbishop during the reign of Wittiza (694–710), during which he supposedly took part in ...

to exert pressure on the established clergy, but what exactly this means is unknown.Collins, ''Visigothic Spain'', 111. It may mean that he pressured the Eighteenth Council to ratify the decision of the

Quinisext Council The Quinisext Council (Latin: ''Concilium Quinisextum''; Koine Greek: , ''Penthékti Sýnodos''), i.e. the Fifth-Sixth Council, often called the Council ''in Trullo'', Trullan Council, or the Penthekte Synod, was a church council held in 692 at ...

that clerical marriage was permissible: according to the ''

Chronicle of Alfonso III The ''Chronicle of Alfonso III'' ( la, Chronica Adefonsi tertii regis) is a chronicle composed in the early tenth century on the order of King Alfonso III of León with the goal of showing the continuity between Visigothic Spain and the later Chris ...

'',

Fruela I of Asturias Fruela I (or Froila I), (c. 722 – 14 January 768) called the Cruel, was the King of Asturias from 757 until his death, when he was assassinated. He was the eldest son of Alfonso I and continued the work of his father. Pelayo was his materna ...

(757–68) reversed this ruling.Collins, ''Arab'', 15–19. The collective sense is that Wittiza made an effort to reform corruptions in the Visigothic Catholic Church.Bradley, ''The Goths'', 356.

Sources

*Collins, Roger, ''Visigothic Spain, 409–711'', Blackwell Publishing, 2004. *Thompson, E. A., ''The Goths in Spain'',

Clarendon Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, 1969. *Martínez Diez, Gonzalo, ''La colección canónica Hispana'',

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

, 1966.

References

703 8th century in the Visigothic Kingdom 8th-century church councils Eighteen Christian clerical marriage {{Spain-hist-stub