The Council of Arles (314)
The decisions of the bishops whom Constantine summoned to Arles in 314 to judge the case against Caecilian of Carthage: a letter to the bishop of Rome and twenty-two canons on Easter, rebaptism, clergy who had handed over the Scriptures, and other matters of discipline.
Read the text at fourthcentury.com ↗The council’s letter to Silvester of Rome, in the appendix to Optatus (Tertullian Project) ↗Introduction to the council and its documents (Fourth Century Christianity, Wisconsin Lutheran College) ↗
The council’s decisions survive in two forms. One is a letter to Silvester of Rome, headed by the names of thirty-three bishops, which reports that the accusers of Caecilian were condemned and summarises a few rulings; it is preserved in the appendix to Optatus and in collections of Gallic canons. The other is a list of twenty-two canons with the names of those who subscribed, transmitted in early collections of church law. The manuscripts number canons 9 to 17 in two slightly different ways, so that the canon on rebaptism is 8 or 9 and the canon on those who handed over the Scriptures is 13 or 14.
These are the council’s own words and the best evidence for what it decided. They do not include minutes of the hearing itself, which are lost. For the dispute that led to the council see the Donatist Schism and the Council of Arles.
Cited in
- AD 251 to AD 258, firm date
- AD 314, firm date