Troyes, Councils of (Concilium Tricassinum)

Troyes, Councils Of (Concilium Tricassinum)

were held in Troyes, France, a city which has a splendid Gothic cathedral, founded in 1208; the Church of St. Urban; the Church of St. John, in which Henry V of England was married; the Church of Sainte-Madeleine, containing a stone rood loft of great beauty; and a public library of 110,000 volumes.

I. Held Oct. 25, 867. 'About twenty bishops, from the kingdoms of Charles and Lothaire, were present, who wrote a long letter to pope Nicholas I, in which they gave the history of the affair of Ebbo, and of the priests whom he had ordained. They, moreover, besought the pope not to interfere with the rule laid down by his predecessor, and not to permit, in future, the deposition of any bishop without the intervention of the Holy See. This was in accordance with the principles of the false decretals of the pope. See Mansi, Concil. 8:868.

II. Held in 878, by pope John VIII, who presided over thirty bishops. The former had come into France to escape from the violence of Lambert, duke of Spoletto. In the first session, the pope exhorted the bishops to compassionate the injuries which the Roman Church had suffered from Lambert and his accomplices, and to excommunicate them. The prelates, however, declined to act until the arrival of their brethren. In the second session, John read an account of the ravages committed by Lambert, after which the council declared him to be worthy of death and anathema. The archbishop of Arles presented a petition against bishops and priests leaving one Church for another, and also against persons deserting their wives in order to marry other women. In the third session the bishops declared their consent to the pope's propositions. Hincmar of Laon, whose eyes had been put out, presented a complaint against his uncle, and demanded to be judged according to the canons. Hincmar of Rheims required that the cause might be delayed, to give him time to reply to the complaint. Further, the sentence of condemnation passed against Formosus, formerly bishop of Porto, and Gregory, a nobleman, was read, anathematizing them without hope of absolution; as also were the canons forbidding the translation of bishops, viz. those of Sardica, Africa, and of pope Leo. Seven canons were published.

1. Orders that temporal lords shall show due respect to bishops, and that they shall not sit down in their presence without their permission.

7. Forbids to receive anonymous accusations against any person.

III. Held in 1104, by the legate Richard, bishop of Albano, whom Paschal II had sent into France to absolve king Philip. The council was very numerous, and among those present we find Ivo of Chartres. Hubert, bishop of Senlis, accused of simony, cleared himself by oath. The election of the abbot Godefroi, by the people of Amiens, to the bishopric of that town was approved, and, in spite of the abbot's resistance, he was compelled to consent to it. See Mansi, Concil. 10:738.

IV. Held in 1107, by pope Paschal II, who presided. The main object of this council was to excite the zeal of men for the Crusade, besides which sentence of excommunication was denounced against those who should violate the Truce of God. The freedom of elections of bishops was asserted and established, and the condemnation of investitures repeated. Several German bishops were on various accounts suspended. Mansi (Concil. 10:754) adds five canons to those usually attributed to this council.

1. Orders that any one receiving investiture at the hands of a layman shall he deposed, as well as the persons ordaining or consecrating him.

V. Held Jan. 13,1128, by the legate Matthew, bishop of Albano, assisted by the archbishops of Rheims and Sens, thirteen bishops, and by St. Bernard, St. Stephen, and other abbots. A rule was drawn up for the Order of the Templars, instituted in 1118, prepared by authority of the pope and of the patriarch of Jerusalem. In this council the white dress was given to the Templars. See Mansi, Concil. 10:922.