Priscillian (in
Latin
Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
: ''Priscillianus'';
Gallaecia
Gallaecia, also known as Hispania Gallaecia, was the name of a Roman province in the north-west of Hispania, approximately present-day Galicia, northern Portugal, Asturias and Leon and the later Kingdom of Gallaecia. The Roman cities inclu ...
, –
Augusta Treverorum,
Gallia Belgica
Gallia Belgica ("Belgic Gaul") was a Roman province, province of the Roman Empire located in the north-eastern part of Roman Gaul, in what is today primarily northern France, Belgium, and Luxembourg, along with parts of the Netherlands and German ...
, ) was a wealthy nobleman of
Roman Hispania who promoted a strict form of Christian
asceticism
Asceticism is a lifestyle characterized by abstinence from worldly pleasures through self-discipline, self-imposed poverty, and simple living, often for the purpose of pursuing Spirituality, spiritual goals. Ascetics may withdraw from the world ...
. He became
bishop of Ávila in 380. Certain practices of his followers (such as meeting at country villas instead of attending church) were denounced at the
Council of Zaragoza in 380. Tensions between Priscillian and bishops opposed to his views continued, as well as political maneuvering by both sides. Around 385, Priscillian was charged with sorcery and executed by authority of the
Emperor Maximus. The ascetic movement
Priscillianism
Priscillianism was a Christianity, Christian sect developed in the Roman province of Hispania in the 4th century by Priscillian. It is derived from the Gnosticism, Gnostic doctrines taught by Marcus, an Ægyptus, Egyptian from Memphis, Egypt, Memp ...
is named after him, and continued in
Hispania
Hispania was the Ancient Rome, Roman name for the Iberian Peninsula. Under the Roman Republic, Hispania was divided into two Roman province, provinces: Hispania Citerior and Hispania Ulterior. During the Principate, Hispania Ulterior was divide ...
and
Gaul
Gaul () was a region of Western Europe first clearly described by the Roman people, Romans, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and parts of Switzerland, the Netherlands, Germany, and Northern Italy. It covered an area of . Ac ...
until the late 6th century.
Tractates by Priscillian and close followers, which were thought lost, were discovered in 1885 and published in 1889.
Sources
The principal and almost contemporary source for the career of Priscillian is the Gallic chronicler
Sulpicius Severus
Sulpicius Severus (; c. 363 – c. 425) was a Christian writer and native of Aquitania in modern-day France. He is known for his chronicle of sacred history, as well as his biography of Saint Martin of Tours.
Life
Almost all that we know of Se ...
, who characterized him (''Chronica'' II.46) as noble and rich, a layman who had devoted his life to study, and was vain of his classical pagan education.
Life
Priscillian was born around 340, into the nobility, possibly in northwestern Hispania (
Gallaecia
Gallaecia, also known as Hispania Gallaecia, was the name of a Roman province in the north-west of Hispania, approximately present-day Galicia, northern Portugal, Asturias and Leon and the later Kingdom of Gallaecia. The Roman cities inclu ...
), and was well-educated. About 370, he initiated a movement in favour of asceticism. Priscillian advocated studying not only the Bible, but also apocryphal books. His followers, who were won over by his eloquence and his severely ascetic example, included the bishops Instantius and Salvianus.
Beliefs
According to Priscillian, apostles, prophets, and "doctors" (in the
Latin
Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
sense of "teachers") are the divinely appointed orders of the Church, preeminence being due the doctors, among whom Priscillian reckoned himself. The "spiritual" comprehend and judge all things, being "children of wisdom and light"; and the distinction between flesh and spirit, darkness and light, Moses and Christ, and the "prince of this world" and Christ, are emphasised. In asceticism, Priscillian distinguished three degrees, though he did not deny hope of pardon to those who were unable to attain full perfection. The perfect in body, mind, and spirit were celibate, or, if married, continent. Certain practices of the Priscillianists are known through the condemnatory canons issued by the 380 synod, such as receiving the Eucharist in the church but eating it at home or in the conventicle; women joining with men during the time of prayer;
fasting
Fasting is the act of refraining from eating, and sometimes drinking. However, from a purely physiological context, "fasting" may refer to the metabolic status of a person who has not eaten overnight (before "breakfast"), or to the metabolic sta ...
even on Sunday; and meditating at home or in the mountains instead of attending church during
Lent
Lent (, 'Fortieth') is the solemn Christianity, Christian religious moveable feast#Lent, observance in the liturgical year in preparation for Easter. It echoes the 40 days Jesus spent fasting in the desert and enduring Temptation of Christ, t ...
.
According to historia
Ana Maria Castelo Martins Jorge "He played the role of a catalyst among Lusitanian Christians and crystallized a variety of ascetic, monastic and intellectual aspirations that were either fairly, or even entirely, incompatible with Christianity as it was lived by the great majority of the bishops of the day."
Opposition
His notable opponents in Hispania were
Hyginus, bishop of
Corduba, and Hydatius, bishop of
Augusta Emerita. They accused Priscillian's teachings of being
gnostic
Gnosticism (from Ancient Greek: , romanized: ''gnōstikós'', Koine Greek: �nostiˈkos 'having knowledge') is a collection of religious ideas and systems that coalesced in the late 1st century AD among early Christian sects. These diverse g ...
in nature. Through his intolerance of and severity toward Priscillian, Hydatius promoted rather than prevented the spread of his sect.
Hydatius convened a synod held at
Caesaraugusta in 380. Ten bishops were present at this synod from Spain, and two from Aquitaine: Delphinus of Bordeaux, and Phœbadus of Agen. Although neither Priscillian nor any of his followers attended, he wrote in reply his third tract justifying the reading of apocryphal literature, without denying that their contents were partly spurious.
Neither Priscillian nor any of his disciples are mentioned in the decrees. The synod forbade certain practices. It forbade assumption of the title of "doctor", and forbade
cleric
Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...
s from becoming monks on the motivation of a more perfect life; women were not to be given the title of "
virgins" until they had reached the age of forty.
Michael Kulikowski characterizes the concern at Zaragoza as the relationship between town and country, and the authority of the urban episcopacy over religious practice in outlying rural areas.
In the immediate aftermath of the synod, Priscillian was elected bishop of
Abila or Abela, and was consecrated by Instantius and Salvianus. Priscillian was now a
suffragan
A suffragan bishop is a type of bishop in some Christian denominations.
In the Catholic Church, a suffragan bishop leads a diocese within an ecclesiastical province other than the principal diocese, the metropolitan archdiocese; the diocese led ...
of Ithacius of
Ossonoba, the
metropolitan bishop
In Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, churches with episcopal polity, the rank of metropolitan bishop, or simply metropolitan (alternative obsolete form: metropolite), is held by the diocesan bishop or archbishop of a Metropolis (reli ...
of
Lusitania
Lusitania (; ) was an ancient Iberian Roman province encompassing most of modern-day Portugal (south of the Douro River) and a large portion of western Spain (the present Extremadura and Province of Salamanca). Romans named the region after th ...
, whom he attempted to oust, but who then obtained from the emperor Gratian an edict against "false bishops and
Manichees". This was a threat against the Priscillianists, since the Roman Empire had banned Manichaeism long before it legalized Christianity. Consequently, the three bishops, Instantius, Salvianus and Priscillian, went in person to Rome, to present their case before
Pope Damasus I, himself a native of Hispania. Neither the Pope nor
Ambrose
Ambrose of Milan (; 4 April 397), venerated as Saint Ambrose, was a theologian and statesman who served as Bishop of Milan from 374 to 397. He expressed himself prominently as a public figure, fiercely promoting Roman Christianity against Ari ...
, bishop of
Mediolanum
Mediolanum, the ancient city where Milan now stands, was originally an Insubres, Insubrian city, but afterwards became an important Ancient Rome, Roman city in Northern Italy.
The city was settled by a Celts, Celtic tribe belonging to the Ins ...
, where the emperor resided, granted them an audience. Salvianus died in Rome, but through the intervention of Macedonius, the imperial ''
magister officiorum
The (Latin; ; ) was one of the most senior administrative officials in the Later Roman Empire and the early centuries of the Byzantine Empire. In Byzantium, the office was eventually transformed into a senior honorary rank, simply called ''magist ...
'' and an enemy of Ambrose, they succeeded in procuring the withdrawal of Gratian's edict, and an order for the arrest of Ithacius. Instantius and Priscillian, returning to Spain, regained their sees and churches.
A sudden change occurred in 383, when the governor of Britain,
Magnus Maximus
Magnus Maximus (; died 28 August 388) was Roman emperor in the West from 383 to 388. He usurped the throne from emperor Gratian.
Born in Gallaecia, he served as an officer in Britain under Theodosius the Elder during the Great Conspiracy ...
, rebelled against
Gratian, who marched against him but was assassinated. Maximus was recognized as emperor of
Britain
Britain most often refers to:
* Great Britain, a large island comprising the countries of England, Scotland and Wales
* The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a sovereign state in Europe comprising Great Britain and the north-eas ...
,
Gaul
Gaul () was a region of Western Europe first clearly described by the Roman people, Romans, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and parts of Switzerland, the Netherlands, Germany, and Northern Italy. It covered an area of . Ac ...
and
Spain
Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
, and made
Augusta Treverorum, in
Gallia Belgica
Gallia Belgica ("Belgic Gaul") was a Roman province, province of the Roman Empire located in the north-eastern part of Roman Gaul, in what is today primarily northern France, Belgium, and Luxembourg, along with parts of the Netherlands and German ...
, his residence.
There Ithacius presented his case against Priscillian, and Maximus ordered a
synod
A synod () is a council of a Christian denomination, usually convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. The word '' synod'' comes from the Ancient Greek () ; the term is analogous with the Latin word . Originally, ...
convened at
Burdigala in 384. After this, the matter was transferred to the secular court at Augusta Treverorum. Ithacius and Hydatius of Mérida both went there for the trial. Sulpicius Severus notes that
Martin of Tours
Martin of Tours (; 316/3368 November 397) was the third bishop of Tours. He is the patron saint of many communities and organizations across Europe, including France's Third French Republic, Third Republic. A native of Pannonia (present-day Hung ...
protested to the Emperor against the ruling, which said that the accused who went to Treves should be imprisoned. Maximus, a Spaniard by birth, treated the matter not as one of ecclesiastical rivalry but as one of morality and society. He is also said to have wished to enrich his treasury by confiscation of the property of the condemned.
At Augusta Treverorum, Priscillian was tried by a secular court on criminal charges that included sorcery, a capital offence. Priscillian was questioned and forced to make the confession that he studied obscene doctrines, held nocturnal meetings with shameful women, and prayed while naked. Consequently, he was charged with practicing magic (maleficium), for which he was convicted and sentenced to death. Ithacius was his chief accuser. Priscillian was condemned and, with five of his companions, executed by the sword in 385. Priscillian's execution is seen as the first example of secular justice intervening in an ecclesiastical matter and the first Christian killed by other Christians for heresy.
Reactions to the execution
Pope Siricius,
Ambrose of Milan, and
Martin of Tours
Martin of Tours (; 316/3368 November 397) was the third bishop of Tours. He is the patron saint of many communities and organizations across Europe, including France's Third French Republic, Third Republic. A native of Pannonia (present-day Hung ...
protested against the execution, largely on the jurisdictional grounds that an ecclesiastical case should not be decided by a civil tribunal, and worked to reduce the persecution. Pope Siricius censured not only Ithacius but the emperor himself. On receiving information from Maximus, he excommunicated Ithacius and his associates. On an official visit to Augusta Treverorum, Ambrose refused to give any recognition to Ithacius, "not wishing to have anything to do with bishops who had sent heretics to their death".
Before the trial, Martin had obtained from Maximus a promise not to apply a death penalty. After the execution, Martin broke off relations with
Felix, bishop of Augusta Treverorum, and all others associated with the enquiries and the trial, and restored communion only when the emperor promised to stop the persecution of the Priscillianists. Maximus was killed in his attempted invasion of Italy in 388. Under the new ruler, Ithacius and Hydatius were deposed and exiled. The remains of Priscillian were brought from Augusta Treverorum to Spain, where he was honoured as a martyr, especially in the west of the country, where Priscillianism did not die out until the second half of the 6th century.
Continued Priscillianism
The heresy, notwithstanding the severe measures taken against it, continued to spread in Gaul as well as in Hispania. A letter dated 20 February 405, from
Pope Innocent I to Exuperius, bishop of
Tolosa, opposed the Priscillianists’ interpretation of the Apocrypha.
In 412, Lazarus,
bishop of Aix-en-Provence, and Herod, bishop of
Arelate, were expelled from their sees on a charge of Manichaeism. Proculus, the metropolitan of
Massilia, and the metropolitans of
Vienna
Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...
and
Gallia Narbonensis Secunda were also followers of the rigorist tradition of Priscillian. Something was done for its repression by a synod held by Turibius of
Asturica in 446, and by that of
Toletum in 447; as an openly professed creed it had to be declared heretical once more by the second synod of
Bracara Augusta in 563, a sign that Priscillianist asceticism was still strong long after his execution. "The official church," says
F. C. Conybeare, "had to respect the
ascetic spirit to the extent of enjoining
celibacy
Celibacy (from Latin ''caelibatus'') is the state of voluntarily being unmarried, sexually abstinent, or both. It is often in association with the role of a religious official or devotee. In its narrow sense, the term ''celibacy'' is applied ...
upon its priests, and of recognizing, or rather immuring, such of the laity as desired to live out the old ascetic ideal."
It is not always easy to separate the genuine assertions of Priscillian himself from those ascribed to him by his enemies, nor from the later developments taken by groups who were labelled Priscillianist. The long prevalent estimation of Priscillian as a heretic and
Manichaean rested upon
Augustine
Augustine of Hippo ( , ; ; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430) was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Africa. His writings deeply influenced the development of Western philosop ...
,
Turibius of Astorga,
Pope Leo I, the Great, and
Orosius
Paulus Orosius (; born 375/385 – 420 AD), less often Paul Orosius in English, was a Roman priest, historian and theologian, and a student of Augustine of Hippo. It is possible that he was born in '' Bracara Augusta'' (now Braga, Portugal), ...
(who quotes a fragment of a letter of Priscillian's), although at the Council of Toledo in 400, fifteen years after Priscillian's death, when his case was reviewed, the most serious charge that could be brought was the error of language involved in a misrendering of the word ''innascibilis'' ("unbegettable"). Augustine criticized the Priscillianists, who he said were like the Manicheans in their habit of fasting on Sundays.
Priscillianism continued in the north of Hispania and the south of Gaul. Priscillian was honored as a martyr, especially in
Gallaecia
Gallaecia, also known as Hispania Gallaecia, was the name of a Roman province in the north-west of Hispania, approximately present-day Galicia, northern Portugal, Asturias and Leon and the later Kingdom of Gallaecia. The Roman cities inclu ...
(modern
Galicia and
northern Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...
), where his headless body was reverentially returned from Augusta Treverorum and allegedly became rediscovered and revered in the 9th century as
Saint James the Great.
Writings and rediscovery
Some writings by Priscillian were accounted orthodox and were not burned. For instance he divided the Pauline epistles (including the ''
Epistle to the Hebrews
The Epistle to the Hebrews () is one of the books of the New Testament.
The text does not mention the name of its author, but was traditionally attributed to Paul the Apostle; most of the Ancient Greek manuscripts, the Old Syriac Peshitto and ...
'') into a series of texts on their theological points and wrote an introduction to each section. These canons survived in a form edited by
Peregrinus. They contain a strong call to a life of personal piety and asceticism, including celibacy and abstinence from meat and wine. The
charismatic
Charisma () is a personal quality of magnetic charm, persuasion, or appeal.
In the fields of sociology and political science, psychology, and management, the term ''charismatic'' describes a type of leadership.
In Christian theology, the term ...
gifts of all believers are equally affirmed. Study of scripture is urged. Priscillian placed considerable weight on
apocryphal books, not as being inspired but as helpful in discerning truth and error. It was long thought that all his writings had perished, but in 1885, Georg Schepss discovered at the
University of Würzburg eleven genuine tracts, published in the
CSEL in 1886.Though they bear Priscillian's name, four describing Priscillian's trial appear to have been written by a close follower.
According to
Raymond E. Brown (1995), the source of the ''
Comma Johanneum'', a later insertion into the
First Epistle of John
The First Epistle of John is the first of the Johannine epistles of the New Testament, and the fourth of the catholic epistles. There is no scholarly consensus as to the authorship of the Johannine works. The author of the First Epistle is ...
, known since the fourth century, appears to be the Latin ''Liber Apologeticus'' by Priscillian.
The modern assessment of Priscillian is summed up by
Henry Chadwick (1976).
References
Citations
Sources
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
* *
*
*
*
*
*
*
Further reading
*
*
* and in Spanish: ''Peregrinos de la Herejía'' (Bóveda 2009), offers a fictionalised version of the events in Priscillian's story and furthers the suggestion put forth by Henry Chadwick that Priscillian may be the occupant in the tomb in Santiago de Compostela
External links
"Priscillian", ''España es Cultura'', Ministry and Education, Culture, and Sport*
{{Authority control
385 deaths
4th-century bishops in Hispania
4th-century Christian mystics
4th-century executions
4th-century writers in Latin
Anti-natalists
Christian denominations established in the 4th century
Priscillianism
People executed by decapitation
People executed by the Roman Empire
People executed for heresy
Place of birth unknown
Year of birth unknown
Year of birth uncertain