Third Council of Toledo facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Third Council of Toledo
Reccared I and St Isidore of Seville at Toledo
Date	589
Accepted by	Catholic Church
Previous council	Second Council of Toledo
Next council	Fourth Council of Toledo
Convoked by	Reccared I
President	Leander of Seville
Attendance	72 bishops
Topics	Rejection of Arianism by the Visigoths, transference of the Arian bishops and clerics to their respective Catholic dioceses. Jews and their relationship with Christian society.
Location	Toledo
Chronological list of ecumenical councils

The Third Council of Toledo was a very important meeting held in the city of Toledo in the year 589. This event marked a huge change for Visigothic Spain. It was when the Visigoth rulers and their people officially joined the Catholic Church.

This council is also known for adding a special phrase, "filioque", to a Christian prayer called the Nicene Creed. This phrase later caused some disagreements in the Christian world. The council also made new rules about Jews living in the kingdom. The change to Catholic Christianity led to some problems between the new Catholic rulers and the Jewish communities.

Arian Goths: A Different Kind of Christianity

Long ago, in the 300s, a bishop named Wulfila created a writing system for the Gothic language. He then translated the Bible into Gothic. Through his work, many Goths became Christians, but they followed a different branch of Christianity called Arianism.

When the Visigoths (a group of Goths) moved west, they met other Christians who followed the Latin Christian faith, which is now known as the Catholic Church. For these Latin Christians, Arianism was seen as wrong. But the Visigoths held onto their Arian beliefs and did not want to join the Catholic Church for a long time.

King Reccared's Efforts to Unite His Kingdom

Before the big council in Toledo, King Reccared wanted to bring everyone in his kingdom together under one faith. He held smaller meetings with bishops to try and solve the religious differences.

At one meeting, both Arian and Catholic bishops shared their ideas. King Reccared pointed out that no Arian bishop had ever performed a healing miracle. After these discussions, King Reccared decided to accept the Catholic faith himself.

Important Leaders: Bishop Leander and King Reccared

The Third Council of Toledo was largely organized by Bishop Leander of Seville. He had worked very hard to convince the Arian Visigothic kings to become Catholic. He finally succeeded with King Reccared.

Another important person was Abbot Eutropius, who managed the daily tasks of the council. In May of 589, Bishop Leander, acting for the king, brought together many bishops and nobles. However, King Reccared and Bishop Leander could only convince eight Arian bishops to attend the council.

What Happened at the Council

Starting the Council with Prayer

The council began on May 4th. For the first three days, everyone spent time in prayer and fasting. After this, King Reccared's official statement of faith was read aloud by a scribe.

This statement was very detailed about Christian beliefs, showing that Reccared was now a true Catholic. It also quoted a lot from the Bible. Many historians believe that Bishop Leander probably helped the king write this important speech.

King Reccared's Declarations

In his speech, King Reccared said that God had inspired him to lead the Goths back to the "true faith." He explained that they had been led astray by false teachers in the past. He also mentioned that not only the Goths but also the Suebi people had returned to the faith.

He then officially rejected Arius and his teachings. King Reccared also accepted the decisions of earlier important church councils, like those held in Nicaea, Constantinople, Ephesus, and Chalcedon. He warned that anyone who went back to Arianism after joining the Catholic Church would be condemned. After this, the official Christian creeds were read. The king and his queen, Baddo, then signed the document. Everyone present cheered loudly.

One of the Catholic bishops then asked all the bishops, clergy, and Gothic nobles to publicly state that they were giving up Arianism and accepting Catholicism. They said they had already done so when they followed the king, but they would do it again.

Rejecting Old Beliefs

Next, 23 statements were made, strongly condemning Arius and his teachings. These were followed by the creeds of Nicaea and Constantinople. All eight Arian bishops, along with their clergy and all the Gothic nobles, signed these statements.

The names of these eight bishops were Ugnas, Ubiligisclus, Murila, Sunnila, Gardingus, Bechila, Argiovitus, and Froisclus. Many of their names were Germanic. Four of them came from areas that used to be part of the Suebi kingdom. This suggests that after King Leovigild conquered the Suebi, he might have replaced their Catholic bishops with Arian ones.

New Rules for the Kingdom

King Reccared then asked the council to create new rules, called canons. He especially wanted a rule that the Christian creed should be recited during Holy Communion. This would make sure no one could claim they didn't know the correct beliefs.

The council then created 23 canons, which the king confirmed. Here are a few important ones:

• The first rule confirmed decisions from earlier Catholic Church councils and letters from the popes.
• The second rule said that the creed of Constantinople should be recited during Holy Communion. It also added the phrase "filioque" (meaning "and the Son") to the part about the Holy Spirit. This phrase, "I believe in the Holy Spirit who proceeds from the Father and Son," was not accepted by Christians in the East and caused a long-lasting controversy.
• The fifth rule said that Arian bishops, priests, and deacons who converted to Catholicism could no longer live with their wives.
• The ninth rule transferred Arian churches to the Catholic bishops in those areas.
• The fourteenth rule made it illegal for Jews to have Christian wives, partners, or slaves. It also ordered that children from such relationships must be baptized. Jews were also not allowed to hold any official position where they might have to punish Christians.

The king signed the canons first, followed by five of the six main bishops. Then, 62 bishops signed in person, and 6 signed through someone else.

Ending the Council

The council ended with a powerful speech by Bishop Leander. He spoke about the great success of the Church in converting the Goths. His brother, Isidore, saved this speech, which is called "Homily on the Triumph of the Church and the Conversion of the Goths."

What Happened After the Council

The new rules against Jews quickly led to forced conversions. This caused many Jews to leave Visigothic Spain. They fled to places like Ceuta and other nearby areas in North Africa. There, these groups of exiles later helped the Moorish invasion in 711 by providing information and support.

The "filioque clause" spread throughout the Western Christian world, where Latin was spoken. However, it was not accepted in the Greek-speaking East. The Franks adopted it, but its use caused problems in the 800s. It became common in Rome after the year 1000. This difference in the creed was one of the reasons for the Great Schism in 1054, which divided the Eastern Orthodox and Catholic Churches.

Sources

• Thompson, E. A. (1969) The Goths in Spain. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
• Synodus Toletana tertia, minutes from the Collectio Hispana Gallica Augustodunensis (Vat. lat. 1341)

See also

In Spanish: III Concilio de Toledo para niños

• Argiovito, one of the bishops who abjured Arianism in the Third Council of Toledo