There have been several synods of Mâcon, provincial
church councils held in the city of
Mâcon
Mâcon (), historically Anglicization, anglicised as Mascon, is a city in east-central France. It is the Prefectures of France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Saône-et-Loire in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. Mâcon is home t ...
, then the seat of
a diocese.
The second and third councils were both convoked by the
Burgundian king
Guntram
Saint Gontrand ( 532 in Soissons – 28 March 592 in Chalon-sur-Saône), also called Gontran, Gontram, Guntram, Gunthram, Gunthchramn, and Guntramnus, was the king of the Kingdom of Orléans from AD 561 to AD 592. He was the third-eldest and seco ...
. The third is associated with a legendary debate on women's souls.
First council
The first synod was held in 579.
Second council
The second council was held in 581 or 582. Unusually, one of the 19
canons it produced addressed a specific individual – a
nun named ''Agnes''. The 14th canon imposed a curfew against
Jew
Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...
s, banning them from the streets at all times between
Maundy Thursday
Maundy Thursday, also referred to as Holy Thursday, or Thursday of the Lord's Supper, among other names,The day is also known as Great and Holy Thursday, Holy and Great Thursday, Covenant Thursday, Sheer Thursday, and Thursday of Mysteries. is ...
and
Easter Sunday
Easter, also called Pascha (Aramaic: פַּסְחָא , ''paskha''; Greek language, Greek: πάσχα, ''páskha'') or Resurrection Sunday, is a Christian festival and cultural holiday commemorating the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, de ...
. The 2nd canon prohibits Jews from talking to nuns.
It has been suggested that this council may have drawn on the
Sirmondian constitutions for some of its canons.
Third council
The third council was held in 585. Among the main subjects the council considered was the issue of
Tithing – for which the council formally legislated.
Legend of the debate on women's souls
Since the early modern period, there have apparently been claims that the council of 585 "denied that women have a soul".
This tradition can be traced to one Johannes Leyser (1631–1685), a
Lutheran
Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...
pastor from Hesse, who published a work in favour of
polygamy
Polygamy (from Late Greek , "state of marriage to many spouses") is the practice of marriage, marrying multiple spouses. When a man is married to more than one wife at the same time, it is called polygyny. When a woman is married to more tha ...
, ''Polygamia Triumphatrix'' in 1676 in which he wrote, in reference to the council of Macon, "Among the holy fathers there was one who insisted that women cannot, and should not, be called 'human beings' (viz. ''homines'' "men")."
This information is apparently based on a story told by
St. Gregory of Tours in his ''The History of the Franks''.
Gregory tells of a council (that may or may not, have been any of the synods at Mâcon) at which the meaning of the Latin word ''homo'' was discussed. This Latin word primarily means "human being" but also "adult male". Gregory writes the following in Latin, which is translated by Paul Halsall as:
The claim that a Catholic council denied that "women are human" was taken up by
Pierre Bayle
Pierre Bayle (; 18 November 1647 – 28 December 1706) was a French philosopher, author, and lexicographer. He is best known for his '' Historical and Critical Dictionary'', whose publication began in 1697. Many of the more controversial ideas ...
in his pamphlets against Catholicism, and Bayle's work was used in anti-Catholic works, the rephrasing of the linguistic questions (does Latin ''homines'' include females?) in terms of a question of women having a "soul" is apparently due to one M. Aime-Martin.
[;
Michael Nolan,
University College Dublin, DO WOMEN HAVE SOULS? The Story of Three Myths, New Black friars, Vol 74, No 876, November 199]
/ref>
Fourth council
The fourth council (in 626 or 627) was convoked at the instigation of the monk Agrestius of Luxeuil over the schism of the Three Chapters. It approved the monastic rule of Saint Columbanus.
Later councils
Other councils were held in Mâcon in 906 and 1286.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Macon
581
582
585
6th century in Francia
6th-century church councils
Saône-et-Loire
Christian antisemitism in the Middle Ages
Christianity and women
Christianity in Francia