The ecclesiastical councils of Merovingian Francia claimed a legislative authority predicated on multiple factors. Foremost among these was (1) the consensus of the participating prelates and (2) the grounding of newly-composed regulae in an authoritative canonical tradition. While contemporary conciliar acta contain numerous terminological allusions to horizontal consensus, references to canonical traditional – while relatively common – are more often vague than specific. Indeed, the limited number of explicit citations to (or quotations from) earlier canons can give the false impression that such references to the statuta patrum are meant primarily to obfuscate the originality of new canons through an appeal to the past.
In reality, the participants at Gallo-Frankish councils were heavily reliant on earlier conciliar canons in crafting their own decrees. Scholars increasingly have come to recognize, for instance, the close relationship between canonical collections and the operations of individual councils. However, a great deal of work still needs to be done to understand how and why episcopal participants at particular synods utilized the sources that they did. As a preliminary step, this paper will look specifically at the use of non-Gallic canonical materials by Merovingian-era synods, with a particular focus on Eastern and African materials. Special attention will be paid to Nicaea (325) as a venerable, albeit selectively-utilized, reference point. It will be suggested through an examination of these exempla that Gallo-Frankish bishops recognized and sought to navigate an inherent tension between localism on the one hand and a canonical orthodoxy not limited by political borders.
Although episcopal participants at Gallo-Frankish councils regularly claimed to be reliant on canonical tradition in crafting their own decrees, direct citations and quotations in published acts are relatively rare. This scarcity has made it difficult for modern scholars to evaluate the nature and extent of this ostensible reliance. This paper addresses this problem by looking specifically at the use of non-Gallic canonical materials by Merovingian-era synods, with a particular focus on Eastern and African canons. Special attention is paid to Nicaea (325) as a venerable, albeit selectively-utilized, reference point. It will be suggested through an examination of these exempla that Gallo-Frankish bishops recognized and sought to navigate an inherent tension between localism on the one hand and a canonical orthodoxy not limited by political borders.