{"slug":"tmp1328.tmp1328.opp-lat1","id":"latin:ogl-pl:tmp1328.tmp1328.opp-lat1","title":"Decretum Synodi","title_source":"Decretum Synodi","author":"Concilium Romanum III","genre":"canon-law","date":"","tradition":"latin","coverage":"not-located","coverage_claim":{"status":"not-located","text":"No English translation could be identified: a language model asked twice could not name one, though it could not rule one out either. That is not proof that none exists — translations in dissertations, recent books and other modern languages are easily missed."},"publication":{"status":"machine-draft","reviewed_by":null,"model":"deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash:floor","provider":"Relace","generated":"2026-11-15T06:01:00Z","cost_usd":0.00191},"source":{"registry_id":"latin:ogl-pl:tmp1328.tmp1328.opp-lat1","work_id":"tmp1328.tmp1328.opp-lat1","edition":"ogl-pl","language":"","license":"Available under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License","url":"https://github.com/OpenGreekAndLatin/patrologia_latina-dev/blob/master/data/tmp1328/tmp1328/tmp1328.tmp1328.opp-lat1.xml"},"stats":{"passages":3,"english_words":542,"coptic_letters":0,"source_letters":2365,"commentary_units":17,"commentary_kinds":7,"derived_notes":0,"ambiguities":4,"work_notes":5,"external_links":0,"timeline":4},"summary":{"work":"tmp1328.tmp1328.opp-lat1","abstract":"The Decretum Synodi (Concilium Romanum III) is a set of canons traditionally attributed to a Roman council of 1078 under Pope Gregory VII, though the manuscript evidence is later. The text survives only in canonical collections such as the Collectio Britannica and the Polycarpus, not as independent conciliar acta. Its canons address simony and clerical celibacy, reinforcing Gregorian reform ideals. The edition in the Patrologia Latina (vol. 148) reprints earlier printed editions without critical apparatus, and variant readings from other manuscripts are not recorded. The work's attribution and date remain uncertain, with some scholars suggesting it may be a later compilation or interpolation.","historical_context":"The Decretum Synodi is traditionally linked to the Roman council of 1078, convened by Pope Gregory VII (1073–1085) during the height of the Gregorian Reform. This reform movement sought to combat simony (the buying and selling of church offices), enforce clerical celibacy, and assert papal authority over secular rulers. The canons in this collection reflect these priorities, and later medieval canonists cited them in discussions of simony and celibacy. However, the text does not survive as an independent conciliar acta but only in later canonical collections like the Collectio Britannica (late 11th–early 12th century) and the Polycarpus (early 12th century). The Patrologia Latina edition (vol. 148) reprints earlier printed editions without manuscript collation, so the textual history is uncertain. The date of 1078 is not firmly supported by manuscript evidence, and the work may be a later compilation or a product of the Pseudo-Isidorian tradition.","significance":"The Decretum Synodi is significant as a witness to the Gregorian Reform's legal and ideological program, particularly its emphasis on simony and clerical celibacy. Its canons were cited by later medieval canonists, shaping canon law and ecclesiastical discipline. The work also illustrates the challenges of textual transmission and attribution in medieval canon law, as its survival only in collections and its uncertain date highlight the fluidity of such texts.","timeline":[{"date":"1078 (traditional)","event":"Roman council under Pope Gregory VII, to which the Decretum Synodi is attributed."},{"date":"Late 11th–early 12th c.","event":"Earliest manuscript witnesses in the Collectio Britannica and Polycarpus."},{"date":"12th–13th c.","event":"Canons cited by medieval canonists in discussions of simony and clerical celibacy."},{"date":"19th c.","event":"Patrologia Latina edition (vol. 148) reprints earlier printed editions."}],"relations":[{"work":"Collectio Britannica","relation":"Contains the Decretum Synodi as part of its canonical collection.","key":"","label":null,"url":null},{"work":"Polycarpus","relation":"Another canonical collection preserving the Decretum Synodi.","key":"","label":null,"url":null},{"work":"Gregorian Reform","relation":"The Decretum Synodi reflects the reform's ideals, especially against simony and for clerical celibacy.","key":"","label":null,"url":null},{"work":"Pseudo-Isidorian Decretals","relation":"Possible influence or parallel in the use of forged or interpolated conciliar decrees.","key":"","label":null,"url":null}],"external_links":[],"cautions":["The traditional date of 1078 is not supported by manuscript evidence; the text survives only in later collections.","The Patrologia Latina edition lacks a critical apparatus and does not record variant readings from other manuscripts.","The attribution to a specific Roman council is uncertain; the text may be a later compilation or interpolation."],"model":"deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash:floor","provider":"Relace","cost_usd":0.000476,"generated":"2026-11-15T06:00:59Z"},"links":[{"kind":"source","label":"Open Greek and Latin Patrologia Latina","url":"https://github.com/OpenGreekAndLatin/patrologia_latina-dev/blob/master/data/tmp1328/tmp1328/tmp1328.tmp1328.opp-lat1.xml"}],"checks":{"work":"tmp1328.tmp1328.opp-lat1","status":"pass","blocking":[],"warnings":[],"stats":{"passages":3,"translated":3,"commentary_passages":3,"commentary_units":17,"english_words":542,"source_letters":2365,"commentary_kinds":7},"model":"deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash:floor"},"work_notes":[{"unit":"dating","kind":"chronology","basis":"text","lemma":"","severity":"info","text":"The Decretum Synodi (Concilium Romanum III) is traditionally dated to 1078 under Pope Gregory VII, but the manuscript evidence for this specific text is later.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"transmission","kind":"transmission","basis":"text","lemma":"","severity":"info","text":"Survives in canonical collections such as the Collectio Britannica and the Polycarpus, not as an independent conciliar acta.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"reception","kind":"reception","basis":"background","lemma":"","severity":"info","text":"The canons were cited by later medieval canonists, especially in discussions of simony and clerical celibacy, reinforcing Gregorian reform ideals.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"sense","kind":"sense","basis":"text","lemma":"","severity":"caution","text":"The OGL-PL edition does not provide a critical apparatus; variant readings from other manuscripts are not recorded here.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"sense","kind":"sense","basis":"background","lemma":"","severity":"info","text":"The text in this edition is based on the Patrologia Latina, volume 148, which reprints earlier printed editions without manuscript collation.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"derived_work_notes":[{"kind":"coverage","severity":"info","text":"No English translation could be identified: a language model asked twice could not name one, though it could not rule one out either. That is not proof that none exists — translations in dissertations, recent books and other modern languages are easily missed."},{"kind":"limit","severity":"caution","text":"The English is a machine draft produced passage by passage from the transcribed Coptic; no human has verified it. The commentary is model-written and cites only keys the pipeline could resolve."},{"kind":"register","severity":"info","text":"Register: canon-law in Latin; the English keeps the liturgical formulae and the vocatives rather than normalising them."},{"kind":"structure","severity":"info","text":"Passages: 3 narrative."},{"kind":"source","severity":"info","text":"Source edition: ogl-pl — Available under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License"}],"derived_structure":{"narrative":3},"term_index":[],"citations":{},"segments":[{"i":1,"ref":"p1","source":"DECRETUM SYNODI,\n\nPromulgatum in concilio Romano III. Kal. Martias anno Christi 610.\n\nQuomodo liceat monachis cum sacerdotali officio ubiubi ministrare.\n\nSunt nonnulli fulti nullo dogmate, audacissime quidem, zelo magis amaritudinis quam dilectione inflammati, asserentes monachos, quia mundo mortui sunt, et Deo vivunt, sacerdotalis officii potentia indignos, neque poenitentiam, neque Christianitatem largiri, neque absolvere posse per sacerdotali officio divinitus injunctam potestatem: sed omnino labuntur. Nam si ex hac causa veteres aemuli vera praedicarent, apostolicae compar sedis beatissimus Gregorius monachico cultu pollens ad summam nullatenus apicem conscenderet. Quoniam quidem haec ostiatim fungendi, ligandi, solvendique potestas a Deo summa conceditur. Augustinus quoque ejusdem sanctissimi Gregorii discipulus, Anglorum praedicator egregius, ac Pannoniensis Martinus beatissimus, cujus sanctitatis fama longe lateque diffusa totus personat mundus; alii quoque jam plurimi sanctissimi pretiosissimo monachorum habitu fulgentes nequaquam annulo pontificali subartarentur, si quia monachi fuerunt praedictis uti prohiberentur. Neque enim Benedictus monachorum praeceptor almificus hujuscemodi rei aliquo modo fuit interdictor; sed eos saecularium negotiorum edixit expertes fore solummodo.","english":"DECREE OF THE SYNOD,\n\nPromulgated in the Roman Council on the third day before the Kalends of March in the year of Christ 610.\n\nHow it is permitted for monks with the priestly office to minister anywhere.\n\nThere are some, supported by no teaching, most audaciously indeed, inflamed more by the zeal of bitterness than by love, asserting that monks, because they are dead to the world and live for God, are unworthy of the power of the priestly office, and that they can neither grant penance nor baptism, nor absolve through the divinely enjoined power of the priestly office; but they are utterly mistaken. For if from this cause the ancient rivals spoke the truth, the most blessed Gregory, peer of the apostolic see, flourishing in the monastic habit, would by no means have ascended to the highest pinnacle. Since indeed this power of administering, binding, and loosing at the threshold is granted by the highest God. Likewise Augustine, the disciple of that same most holy Gregory, the distinguished preacher to the English, and the most blessed Martin of Pannonia, whose fame for sanctity, spread far and wide, resounds throughout the whole world; also many others, most holy, shining in the most precious monastic habit, would by no means be constrained by the pontifical ring, if because they were monks they were prohibited from using the aforesaid. For neither was Benedict, the nourishing teacher of monks, in any way a prohibitor of such a thing; but he decreed only that they should be without part in secular affairs.","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"dating","kind":"chronology","basis":"text","lemma":"anno Christi 610","severity":"info","text":"The year 610 is given for the Roman council. This date is problematic: Pope Gregory the Great died in 604, and the council is often associated with his pontificate. The date may be a scribal error or a later interpolation.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"text","lemma":"Gregorius","severity":"info","text":"Gregory the Great (pope 590–604) was a monk before becoming pope. The text uses his example to argue that monks can hold priestly office. Gregory's own writings, especially the Regula Pastoralis, support the integration of monastic and clerical life.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"text","lemma":"Augustinus ... Anglorum praedicator","severity":"info","text":"Augustine of Canterbury (d. 604/605) was sent by Gregory the Great to evangelize the Anglo-Saxons. He was a monk and became the first Archbishop of Canterbury. The text cites him as a precedent for monks exercising episcopal authority.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"text","lemma":"Martinus Pannoniensis","severity":"info","text":"Martin of Pannonia is likely Martin of Tours (d. 397), who was born in Pannonia (modern Hungary) and became a monk before being elected bishop. His monastic background and episcopal career are used to support the argument.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"text","lemma":"Benedictus monachorum praeceptor","severity":"info","text":"Benedict of Nursia (d. 547), author of the Rule of St Benedict, is cited as not prohibiting monks from priestly office. The text references his rule that monks should avoid secular affairs, not clerical duties.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"caution","kind":"caution","basis":"text","lemma":"Decretum Synodi","severity":"caution","text":"The attribution of this decree to a Roman council of 610 is uncertain. No such council is recorded in reliable sources. The text may be a later forgery or a compilation from earlier material, possibly from the Pseudo-Isidorian decretals.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The date 'anno Christi 610' is suspect; the council is not independently attested. The identity of 'Martin of Pannonia' is ambiguous: it could refer to Martin of Tours or a different Martin. The phrase 'ostiatim fungendi' is unclear; it may mean 'administering at the threshold' (i.e., of the church) or be a corruption."],"confidence":"medium","notes":[]},{"i":2,"ref":"p2","source":"Quod quidem apostolicis documentis, et omnium sanctorum Patrum institutis, non solum monachis, verum etiam canonicis maximopere imperatur. Nemo enim militans Deo implicat se negotiis saecularibus. Utrisque etiam praefatorum Patrum exemplis perspicacibus circumquaque ut mundo mortui sint evidentissima ratione praecipitur. Tantorum igitur Patrum instituti exemptis, quibus periculosissimum est refragari, credimus a sacerdotibus monachis ligandi solvendique officium Deo imperante haud indigne administrari, si eos digne contigerit ad hoc ministerium sublimari. Quod incunctanter affirmat quisquis statum monachorum et habitum potentatumque evidenter considerat. Verbi gratia: angelus Graece, Latine nuntius dicitur. Sacerdotes igitur monachi atque canonici, qui quotidie sancta Dei praecepta annuntiant, angeli vocantur, ratione non incongrua. Sed unusquisque angelicus ordo quanto claritatem Dei vicinius contemplatur, tanto dignitate sublimior affirmatur. Nam uti cherubim, monachi sex alis velantur. Duae quidem in capitio quo caput tegitur verisimilibus demonstratur assertionibus. Illud vero tunicae quod brachiis extenditur, alas duas esse dicimus: et illud tandem quo conditur corpus, sex alarum numerum certissime implere asseritur.","english":"This is indeed commanded by the apostolic documents and the institutions of all the holy Fathers, not only to monks but also to canons, with the greatest urgency. For no one serving God involves himself in secular affairs. For both, moreover, it is commanded by the clear examples of the aforementioned Fathers, on every side, with the most evident reasoning, that they be dead to the world. Therefore, instructed by the examples of so many Fathers, to whom it is most dangerous to oppose, we believe that the office of binding and loosing is administered by priest-monks, at God's command, not unworthily, if they happen to be worthily raised to this ministry. This is affirmed without hesitation by anyone who clearly considers the state, habit, and authority of monks. For example: angel in Greek is called messenger in Latin. Therefore, priest-monks and canons, who daily announce the holy precepts of God, are called angels, not without reason. But each angelic order, the more closely it contemplates the brightness of God, is affirmed to be the more sublime in dignity. For, as it were, cherubim, monks are veiled with six wings. Two indeed are shown by plausible assertions in the hood with which the head is covered. That part of the tunic, moreover, which extends to the arms, we say are two wings; and finally that part with which the body is covered is asserted to most certainly complete the number of six wings.","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"sense","kind":"sense","basis":"text","lemma":"ligandi solvendique officium","severity":"info","text":"The phrase 'office of binding and loosing' refers to the priestly power of absolution and excommunication, a standard term in early medieval canon law.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"term","kind":"term","basis":"text","lemma":"angelus","severity":"info","text":"The text etymologizes 'angelus' (Greek ἄγγελος) as 'nuntius' (messenger), linking monks and canons to angelic orders through their role as announcers of God's precepts.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"text","lemma":"sex alis","severity":"info","text":"The six wings of the cherubim derive from a tradition in Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite's Celestial Hierarchy, where seraphim have six wings; here adapted to monastic habit.","cites":[],"named_sources":["Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite"],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"structure","kind":"structure","basis":"text","lemma":"Verbi gratia","severity":"info","text":"This phrase introduces an allegorical excursus on angelic orders and monastic vestments, shifting from legal argument to symbolic exegesis to reinforce the decree's authority.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"reception","kind":"reception","basis":"text","lemma":"monachis sacerdotibus","severity":"info","text":"The decree defends the legitimacy of priest-monks, a contested issue in early 7th-century Rome, later affirmed by the Gregorian Reform.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"caution","kind":"caution","basis":"text","lemma":"sex alarum numerum certissime implere asseritur","severity":"caution","text":"The allegory of six wings in the monastic habit is obscure; the text's 'plausible assertions' may reflect a local or lost tradition, not universally recognized.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The identity of the 'aforementioned Fathers' is unspecified; likely patristic authorities on monasticism.","The precise mapping of the six wings to parts of the tunic is unclear and may be symbolic rather than literal."],"confidence":"medium","notes":[]},{"i":3,"ref":"p3","source":"Decertantes igitur monachicae professionis presbyteros sacerdotalis potentiae arcere officio, omnimodo praecipimus, ut ab hujuscemodi nefandis ausibus reprimantur in posterum, quia quanto quisque celsior, tanto potentior.","english":"Therefore, we command in every way that presbyters of the monastic profession who strive to restrain the office of priestly power be restrained from such nefarious audacities in the future, because the higher one is, the more powerful he is.","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"sense","kind":"sense","basis":"text","lemma":"Decertantes igitur monachicae professionis presbyteros sacerdotalis potentiae arcere officio","severity":"info","text":"The Latin syntax is ambiguous: 'presbyters of the monastic profession who strive to restrain the office of priestly power' or 'presbyters of the monastic profession striving to be restrained from the office of priestly power'? The former is adopted, as the context of clerical discipline suggests.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"term","kind":"term","basis":"text","lemma":"sacerdotalis potentiae","severity":"info","text":"'Priestly power' refers to the authority of the priesthood, distinct from monastic humility. The decree insists that monks who are presbyters must not evade or undermine this authority.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"text","lemma":"quanto quisque celsior, tanto potentior","severity":"info","text":"This maxim echoes a principle of hierarchical order common in early medieval canon law, possibly derived from Gregory the Great's pastoral theology, where higher rank entails greater responsibility and power.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"structure","kind":"structure","basis":"text","lemma":"Decertantes igitur","severity":"info","text":"The passage concludes a narrative section of the decree, using 'igitur' to signal a summary command. It reinforces the preceding prohibition against monks engaging in secular affairs.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"reception","kind":"reception","basis":"text","lemma":"ab hujuscemodi nefandis ausibus","severity":"info","text":"The strong language ('nefandis ausibus') reflects the severity with which later medieval canonists, such as Gratian, treated clerical insubordination by monks.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The phrase 'arcere officio' could be read as 'to restrain from office' (ablative of separation) or 'to restrain by office' (instrumental ablative). The former is preferred, consistent with the decree's aim to prevent monks from usurping priestly functions."],"confidence":"high","notes":[]}]}