The Hibernensis canon law collection quotes the ruling of an unidentifiable Irish church council on the violation of relics, probably dating to the 7th c. Compiled in Latin in Ireland and/or Iona (north-west Britain), c. 690/748.
E08319
Canonical and legal texts
Collectio Hibernensis
(The section in italics appears only in the Hib. B recension of the text.)
43.7. De decreto Hibernentium in uiolandis reliquiis
Sinodus Hibernensis: Quicumque reliquias episcoporum uel martirum homicidio uiolauerit, VII annis peregrinus poeneteat. Si uero furto, III annis.
Quodsi presbiterum aut martyrum loca homicidio maculauerit, III annis et demedio distincte seruiens peniteat. Si autem in termino loci sancti, ubi episcopi sepulcrum, quempiam occiderit homicida, III annis et demedium peniteat. Si autem eundum terminum ante iniquorum turbae non frequentebantur, quodsi presbiterorum loci terminos homicidio quis uiolauerit, anno pleno et demedio peniteat homicida, sed tamen termino inuiolato permanente. Nam si uiolatus sit, anno uno uel L diebus peniteat permittantur. Quia non sanctus est dicendus locus, in quem homicidie cum spoliis, et fures cum furto, et adulterii, et periurii, et precones, et magi, et meretrices solent intrare. Quia omnis locus sanctus non solum intus mundari debet, sed eius termini. Qui a sanctis consecrati, mundi esse debent.
Si autem in termino loci sancti occiderit, in quo laici hospitantur, anno uno. Indulgemus autem posteriora tempora, L dies, quia non locus sanctus dicendus est, in quem homicidae cum spolis, fures cum furtis, adulteri, et periurii, et precones, et magii intrant. Et non solum omnis locus sanctus debet intus mundari, sed et eius termini. Qui consecrati sunt a sanctis, mundi esse debent.
'43.7. Concerning the decree of the Hibernenses in relation to those who violate relics
A Hibernian synod: Whoever has violated the relics of bishops and martyrs by homicide, let him do penance for seven years in exile. But if by theft, three years.
But if he has defiled the loca of presbyters or martyrs by homicide, let him do penance for three and a half years in special servitude. But if a killer has slain someone within the bounds of a holy place where there is a tomb of a bishop, let him do penance for three and a half years. But if the same enclosure was not previously frequented by a wicked crowd, and if someone has violated the boundaries of a locus of presbyters by homicide, let the killer do penance for a full year and a half, but with the boundary nevertheless remaining inviolate. For if it should be violated, they should be permitted to do penance for a year and fifty days. For a locus is not to be called holy in which killers with their spoils, and thieves with their loot, and adulterers, and perjurers, and fortune-tellers, and druids, and harlots, are accustomed to enter. For every holy locus ought to be purified not only from within, but its boundaries [also ought to be purified]. Those which have been consecrated by saints, ought to be pure.
But if he has killed within the bounds of the holy locus in which laymen receive hospitality [let him do penance] for one year. But we remit the posterior period, fifty days, for a locus is not to be called holy, which killers with their spoils, thieves with their loot, adulterers, and perjurers, and fortune-tellers, and druids enter. And every holy locus ought to be purified not only from within, but its boundaries [also ought to be purified]. Those which have been consecrated by saints ought to be pure.'
Text: Flechner 2019, 344-5.
Translation: Flechner 2019, 731.
Burial site of a saint - unspecified
Rejection, Condemnation, SceptisismDestruction/desecration of saint's shrine
Non Liturgical ActivityTransmission, copying and reading saint-related texts
Magic
Divination
RelicsUnspecified relic
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesEcclesiastics - bishops
Ecclesiastics - lesser clergy
The socially marginal (beggars, prostitutes, thieves)
Other lay individuals/ people
Crowds
Source
The Hibernensis canon law collection was compiled in Ireland from a wide range of sources in the late seventh or earlier eighth century, primarily by the scholars Ruben of Munster (ob. 725) and Cú Chuimne of Iona (ob. 747). The Hibernensis' use of the probably posthumous collection of canons attributed to Archbishop Theodore of Canterbury (ob. 690) provides the work's terminus ante quem; its terminus post quem derives from its own first identifiable citation, in a Corbie canon law collection of 748. All extant manuscript witnesses of the Hibernensis were produced in continental Europe, where it had a significant influence up to the twelfth century. It survives in two distinct recensions (Hib. A and Hib. B), neither of which can be shown to have priority over the other (for this and all further discussion, see Flechner 2019 and Flechner 2021).Discussion
This canon is one of many in the Hibernensis citing the ruling of an otherwise unknown Irish church council. This probably took place in the seventh century, but it may have repromulgated the decision of an earlier council (Flechner 2021, 101-3).See also E08320, which immediately follows this canon in the Hibernensis.
Bibliography
Edition and translationThe Hibernensis, ed. and trans. R. Flechner, 2 vols (Washington, D.C., 2019).
Further reading
R. Flechner, Making Laws for a Christian Society: the Hibernensis and the Beginnings of Church Law in Ireland and Britain (Abingdon, 2021).