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E03083: The Fifth Council of Toledo (central Spain) in 636 is held in the church of *Leocadia (martyr of Toledo, S01367) according to the Latin acts of the council.

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posted on 2017-06-24, 00:00 authored by mszada

Acts of the Fifth Council of Toledo

Concilium Toletanum quintum, XX episcoporum, aera DCLXXIIII.
Anno primo domni nostri Chintilani regis.

[...]

Apud urbem Toletanam diuersis ex prouinciis Spaniae sacerdotes Domini in uno pacis collegio in basilicam sanctae martyris Leocadiae qui consedimus, gratiarum actiones omnipotenti Domino persoluimus propter suam magnam misericordiam, cuius nutu in hanc conuenimus concordiam, et gloriosi principis nostri Chintilani regis initia, ob cuius salutis et felicitatis constantiam supernam imploramus clementiam. [...]

'The Fifth Council of Toledo attended by twenty bishops in the year 674 of the era [= AD 636].
In the first year of the reign of our lord King Chintila.

There follow the titles of the canons decreed at the council.

When we, the priests of the various provinces of Spain gathered as a united peaceful fellowship in the city of Toledo in the basilica of the holy martyr Leocadia, we gave thanks to Almighty God for His great mercy because we convene in this harmony at His pleasure, and on the initiative of our glorious ruler King Chintila for whose health and constant felicity we beg supreme clemency. [...]'

Text: Martínez Díez and Rodríguez 1992: 275–277. Translation: M. Szada.

History

Evidence ID

E03083

Saint Name

Leocadia, martyr in Toledo, ob. 304/311 : S01367

Saint Name in Source

Leocadia

Related Saint Records

https://oxford.figshare.com/articles/Leocadia_martyr_in_Toledo_ob_304_311/13732864

Language

Latin

Evidence not before

636

Evidence not after

636

Activity not before

636

Activity not after

636

Place of Evidence - Region

Iberian Peninsula

Place of Evidence - City, village, etc

Toledo

Place of evidence - City name in other Language(s)

Toledo Osset Osset Osen (castrum) Osser castrum

Cult activities - Places

Cult building - independent (church)

Cult activities - Activities Accompanying Cult

Meetings and gatherings of the clergy

Cult Activities - Protagonists in Cult and Narratives

Ecclesiastics - bishops Monarchs and their family

Source

The Fifth Council of Toledo was held shortly after the death of Isidore of Seville, in the first year of the reign of King Chintila who had succeeded King Sisenand. The main preoccupation of the council was the security of the king, his family and followers. Chintila must have been worried about the safety of his throne, and looked for ecclesiastical and divine endorsement. The council was held under the presidency of Eugenius I, bishop of Toledo. Twenty-two other bishops and two deputies of absentees signed the canons (however, the title of the acts in the majority of manuscripts gives the wrong number, of twenty bishops). See Collins 2004, 80-81.

Discussion

The date of foundation of this church of Leocadia is unknown. The acts of the Fourth Council of Toledo provide the earliest mention of it; however, it is usually dated back to the reign of King Sisebut (612-621). This assumption is based solely on the account in the so-called Prophetic Chronicle written in 883 that says that during the reign of Sisebut the basilica of Leocadia 'was enlarged with a high roof of wonderful workmanship' (trans. Wolf 2008). The church was located outside the walls of Toledo, to the north-west. In the 1990s Pedro de Palol excavated the remains of the basilica. The excavations have shown that the church was built on a site where late Roman or Visigothic buildings were founded in the area of the circus. Although there is a tradition that the basilica was built over the tomb of Leocadia (see E###), there is no material evidence of a tomb or cemetery below it. The basilica of Leocadia is sometimes called 'in praetorio toletano' (see E03084). It is possible that the Roman building excavated by de Palol was a praetorium, in which the church was later founded (see de Palol 1991; Martin 2003, 231-232).

Bibliography

Edition: Martínez Díez, G., and Rodríguez, F. (eds.), La colección canónica Hispana (Monumenta Hispaniae sacra. Serie canónica 5; Madrid, 1992). Further reading: Collins, R., Visigothic Spain, 409-711 (Oxford, 2004). Gurt i Esparraguera, J.M., and Diarte Blasco, P., "La basílica de santa Leocadia y el final de uso del circo romano de Toledo: una nueva interpretación," Zephyrus 69 (2012), 149–63. Martin, C., La géographie du pouvoir dans l'espace visigothique (Lille, 2003). Palol, P. de, "Resultados de las excavaciones junto al Cristo de la Vega, supuesta basílica conciliar de Sta. Leocadia de Toledo: algunas notas de topografía religiosa de la ciudad," Concilio III de Toledo: XIV Centenario 589-1989 (Toledo, 1991), 787-832. Wolf, K.B. (trans.), "Chronica Prophetica," Medieval Texts in Translation, 2008. Web 22 May 2009. https://sites.google.com/site/canilup/chronica_prophetica