A new history of ecclesiastical writers containing an account of the authors of the several books of the Old and New Testament, of the lives and writings of the primitive fathers, an abridgement and catalogue of their works ... also a compendious history of the councils, with chronological tables of the whole / written in French by Lewis Ellies du Pin.

Council of Merida * 1.1.

THIS Council, made up of the Bishops of the Province of Portugal, was assembled by the Order of King Receswinthe, in the Year 666. After having prayed for the King, * 1.2 they recited the Creed, with the addition, of the Holy Ghost, proceeding from the Father and the Son.

Then they decree, That on Holy Days they shall say Vespers in their Churches, before they sing what they call the Sound, that is, the Venite exultemus, which is thus called, because it was sung with a loud sounding Voice.

In the third Chapter they ordain, That whenever the King shall go to the Army, the Bi∣shops shall offer every Day the Sacrifice, and put up prayers for him and his till his Return.

The decree in the fourth, That Bishops, after their Ordination, shall give a Writing, whereby they shall bind themselves to a chaste, sober and honest Life. The Metropolitans were to send this Writing to the Bishops of their Province, and the Bishops to their Metro∣politan.

By the fifth, Bishops are enjoyned to come to the Synod, at the Time appointed by the Me∣tropolitan's Letters, and the King's Order. If any of them be detained by Sickness, he is permitted to send a Presbyter for his Representative, but they will not have him to depute a Deacon.

Moreover it is decreed by the sixth, That the Suffragan Bishops, which shall be sent for by the Metropolitan, to come and keep Christmas and Easter with him, shall be bound to obey his Orders.

The seventh renews the Law of holding every Year a Council, and the Penalties laid upon the Bishops that do not come to it.

In the eighth it is mentioned, That King Receswinthe hath re-establish'd the Rights of the Province of Portugal and its Metropolis: And then it says, That Selva Bishop of Ingidane had made his Complaint, that Justus Bishop of Salamanca had invaded his Diocess, and demanded Restitution of what belonged to him. It was ordained, That Surveyors shall be sent to compose this Difference, because there had not been thirty Years possession. In the end Bishops are warned to look well to the Preservation of what belongs to their Diocess; and it is decreed, That 30. Years Possession shall go for a Title.

By the ninth Canon, he to whom the Holy Chrisme is sent, is forbidden to take any thing for his Distribution of it; and Presbyters are forbidden exacting any thing for Baptizing; but they are permitted to take what shall be freely given to them.

The tenth enjoyns every Bishop to have an Arch-priest, an Arch-deacon and a Secretary; and these Officers are enjoyn'd to be subject to their Bishops, to pay them their Dues, to en∣tertain them in their Visitation, and to undertake no Business without their Consent.

By the twelfth a Bishop is permitted to take Parish Priests and Clerks into his Cathedral Church, yet so that they shall not lose their Title, nor the Revenue of their Livings, provided that another Priest or Clerk shall be put in their room, with a competent Maintenance.

The thirteenth impowers the Bishop to Prefer the Clerks, who discharge their Duty well, and to deprive them of this Advantage, if they abuse it.

The fourteenth Decrees, That all the Money offered on Holy Days, in Churches, shall, be gather'd together and put into the Bishop's Hands; who shall divide it into three parts the one for himself, the other for the Priests and Deacons, and the rest for the other Clerks.

The fifteenth orders the manner of punishing Church-Servants, that it be done agreeably to the Ecclesiastical Gentleness and Lenity.

By the sixteenth, the Bishops of the Province of Portugal are forbidden to appropriate to themselves the third part of the Church's Revenue, and are ordered to employ it in the Repair∣ing of the Churches.

The seventeenth appoints Penalties for those who speak ill of their Bishops after his Death.

By the eighteenth Parsons are enjoyn'd to have Clerks.

The nineteenth enjoyns Presbyters, charged with the Care of several Churches, to say Mass in every one of them every Sunday, and to recite the Names of those that built them, whether they be alive or dead.

The twentieth contains some Constitutions about the bestowing Freedom on the Slaves of the Church.

The twenty first decrees, That the Donations, made by a Bishop, shall stand, when the Church is found to have got more by his Estate, than he gave by his Will.

By the twenty second it is decreed, That those that will not observe these Decrees, shall be excommunicated.

This Council ended, as all the preceeding Councils of Spain, with Wishes and Prayers for King Receswinthe. It is subscribed by the Archbishop of Merida, and 11 Suffragan Bishops; which are the Bishops of Indane, of Pace, now Bece, of Avila, of Lisbon, of Lamega, of Salamanca, of Conimbra, of Cauria, of Oxonobe, now Istombar, of Elbora, now Talaverre, and of Caliabria, now Setuval; which we do now take notice of, because there was some Difference since between the Metropolitan of Braga and that of Merida, about 3 of those Churches, viz. Conimbra, Lamega and Indane.

Notes

• * 1.1

  [Concili∣lium Emeri∣tense.]
• * 1.2

  Council of Merida.