View source for Fifteenth Council of Toledo

The '''Fifteenth [[Council of Toledo]]''' first met in [[Toledo, Spain]] on 11 May 688 under [[Visigothic Kingdom|Visigothic]] King [[Egica]]. It was the first of his three councils.

In 680-681, the sixth [[ecumenical council]], the [[Third Council of Constantinople]], had repudiated [[monothelitism]] and affirmed the doctrine of [[dyothelitism]], that [[Christ]] had two wills. The decision of the council had been sent to [[Quiricus of Toledo|Quiricus]], [[archbishop of Toledo|metropolitan of Toledo]], who died before it reached him, and ended up in the hands of his successor [[Julian of Toledo|Julian]]. The response of the Spanish bishops to [[Pope Benedict II]]'s letter was not to the pope's liking, especially the phrase ''voluntas genuit voluntatem'', meaning "will engendered will". Nevertheless, Julian defended his propositions and it was the Fifteenth Council which adopted them. It has been theorised by some that a schism with the church of [[Rome]] was imminent, but diverted by political events in both Spain and Italy, such as the [[Moorish]] invasion of 711. This view, however, is not generally accepted.

Egica, besides the affirmation of Julian's theology, had a second reason to call the council. He had been obliged by his predecessor, [[Erwig]], to take two oaths before assuming the kingship. First, he was forced to swear never to harm Erwig's children when Erwig gave him his daughter in marriage.  Second, he was forced, on Erwig's deathbed, to vow to uphold justice for the people. Egica claimed that, on account of Erwig's injustices, he could not protect his children if he wanted to do justice to the people. It is usually presumed that Erwig had unjustly confiscated property and this was in the hands of his children. Therefore, Egica would have to take back that property to return it to its rightful possessors. He wished the protection of Erwig's children to be removed from his hands. The bishops ordered him to love his in-laws, but released him from his oath. He wished them also to reverse the [[Thirteenth Council of Toledo|Thirteenth Council]]'s canon protecting Erwig's family, but the bishops refused, saying that that canon did not protect them from just penalties.

==Sources==
*Thompson, E. A. ''The Goths in Spain'', [[Clarendon Press]]: [[Oxford]], 1969.

{{Councils of Toledo}}

[[Category:Councils of Toledo|15]]
[[Category:688]]
[[Category:7th century in the Visigothic Kingdom]]
[[Category:7th-century church councils]]
[[Category:Oaths]]