A church council is held at Arles in 524 at the dedication of a basilica to *Mary (Mother of Christ, S00033), built by Caesarius of Arles. Recorded in Latin at Arles (southern Gaul).
E07998
Canonical and legal texts
Council of Arles (AD 524)
Opening of the canons of the council:
Cum in uoluntate Dei ad dedicationem basilicae sanctae Mariae in Arelatensi ciuitate sacerdotes Domini conuenissent, congruum eis et rationabile uisum est, ut primum de obseruandis canonibus attentissima sollicitudine pertractantes, qualiter ab ipsis ecclesiastica regula seruaretur, salubri consilio definirent.
'Since the bishops of the Lord have come together in the will of God to the dedication of the basilica of St Mary in the city of Arles, it has seemed fitting and reasonable to them that first, considering the observation of the canons with the most attentive scrutiny, they should define with salutary counsel how the rule of the church should be preserved by them.'
Text:: De Clercq 1963, 43.
Translation: David Lambert.
Ceremony of dedication
Cult PlacesCult building - independent (church)
Activities accompanying CultMeetings and gatherings of the clergy
Source
The council is dated 6 June 524, and was attended by eighteen bishops or their representatives, all from southern Gaul (De Clercq 1963, 42).Discussion
In the Life of Caesarius (1.57-8; E06283), it is stated that he founded a triple basilica with a central nave dedicated to Mary, and side aisles dedicated to John the Baptist and Martin of Tours, a description which is confirmed by the later Constitutum (E07999). Though doubts have sometimes been expressed, given the reference here exclusively to Mary (e.g. Février 1986, 83), the evidence across multiple sources leaves little reasonable doubt that this is the church in question. In particular, while the Life of Caesarius gives no date for the foundation of the church, its position in the narrative implies a date in the mid 520s (Heijmans 2004, 266). The consecration of the triple basilica can therefore be dated to 6 June 524, as recorded in the record of the church council which Caesarius took the opportunity to hold at the same time.Bibliography
Edition:De Clercq, C., Concilia Galliae, a. 511-a. 696 (Corpus Christianorum Series Latina 148A; Turnhout, 1963).
Gaudemet, J., and Basdevant, B., Les canons des conciles Mérovingiennes (VIe-VIIe siècles) (Sources Chrétiennes 353; Paris, 1989), 138-143.
Further reading:
Février, P.-A., "Arles," in: N. Gauthier and J.-Ch. Picard (eds.), Topographie chrétienne des cités de la Gaule des origines au milieu du VIIIe siècle, vol. 3: Provinces ecclésiastique de Vienne et d'Arles (Viennensis et Alpes Graiae et Poeninae) (Paris: Boccard, 1986), 73-84.
Heijmans, M., Arles durant l'Antiquité tardive: De la duplex Arelas à l'Urbs Genesii (Rome: École Françiase de Rome, 2004).
Klingshirn, W.E., Caesarius of Arles: The Making of a Christian Community in Late Antique Gaul (Cambridge, 1994).
David Lambert
11/09/2020
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00033 | Mary, Mother of Christ | Maria | Certain |
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David Lambert, Cult of Saints, E07998 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E07998