The Synod of Rome (721) (also known as the Council of Rome of 721) was a
synod
A synod () is a council of a Christian denomination, usually convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. The word '' synod'' comes from the meaning "assembly" or "meeting" and is analogous with the Latin word mean ...
held in
St. Peter’s Basilica
The Papal Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican ( it, Basilica Papale di San Pietro in Vaticano), or simply Saint Peter's Basilica ( la, Basilica Sancti Petri), is a church built in the Renaissance style located in Vatican City, the papal en ...
under the authority of
Pope Gregory II
Pope Gregory II ( la, Gregorius II; 669 – 11 February 731) was the bishop of Rome from 19 May 715 to his death. to establish
canons to improve church discipline.
Background
On April 5, 721, Pope Gregory II opened a synod to deal with tightening up the rules of matrimony, and a number of minor offenses committed against the Church. Present along with the Pope were nineteen Italian bishops, and three non-Italian bishops:
Sindered of Toledo 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 i ...
, Sedulius from Britain, and
Fergustus Pictus from Scotland. Also present were a number of Roman priests and
deacon
A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Chur ...
s.
The seventeen canons of the synod
The synod drew up seventeen canons to improve church discipline.
[Hefele, pgs. 256-257] These included a prohibition on marrying:
* 1. The widow of a priest;
* 2. Or a Deaconess;
* 3. Or a nun;
* 4. Or his spiritual ''
Commater'';
* 5. The wife of his brother;
* 6. Or his niece;
* 7. His stepmother or daughter-in-law;
* 8. His first cousin;
* 9. Or a relation, or the wife of a relation.
It further placed anathemas on:
* 10. A man marrying a widow;
* 11. A man who ravishes a virgin to whom he was not betrothed, in order to take her as his wife, even if she were to consent;
* 12. If a man is guilty of superstitious usages;
* 13. Anyone who violates the earlier commands of the Apostolic Church in regard to the olive-yards belonging to it.
It mentioned specific anathemas against:
* 14. Hadrian, who married the deaconess Epiphania;
* 15. As well as Epiphania herself;
* 16. And whoever helped her to marry.
Finally, the synod also anathematized:
* 17. Any cleric who lets his hair grow.
The synod finished its deliberations on the same day it started.
References
* Hefele, Charles Joseph; Clark, William R. (trans.), ''A History of the Councils of the Church from the Original Documents'', Vol. V (1896)
* Mann, Horace K., ''The Lives of the Popes in the Early Middle Ages, Vol. I: The Popes Under the Lombard Rule, Part 2, 657-795'' (1903)
Notes
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Rome,721
History of the papacy
721
Medieval Rome