Talk:Lateran Council (769)

Council or Synod

Is this a Council or a Synod? The terms are not interchangeable. Pope Gregory VII had several Roman synods, but never a Council. --Vicedomino (talk) 01:24, 16 April 2016 (UTC)

I note that the section title in Mann's Lives Of The Popes, Vol I, Part 2, this meeting is titled "The Lateran Council 769" (pg 372). Then throughout the text he refers to it as a Synod. Hefele's History of the Councils of the Church, Vol V, calls it a Synod (pg 333). In the Wikipedia article on Synod, in the Catholic subsection, it states: "In Roman Catholic usage, synod and council are theoretically synonymous as they are of Greek and Latin origins, respectively, both meaning an authoritative meeting of bishops for the purpose of church administration in the areas of teaching (faith and morals) or governance (church discipline or law)". Although this is no longer the case in modern times where they are different things, for the synods/councils of Late Antiquity and the early to mid Medieval period, they are interchangeable. Note that the Pope referred was not Gregory VII, but Stephen III. Oatley2112 (talk) 02:08, 16 April 2016 (UTC)

Thanks for the comment. I hope it's right. No, I was actually referring to Gregory VII (1073-1085) who had at least six Roman synods. He was fighting a schism too. --Vicedomino (talk) 07:08, 16 April 2016 (UTC)

Tongue torn out

At one point the Wikipedia article stated that the council ordered Constantine's tongue to be torn out. This is an incorrect retelling from the source itself: p373 states that Constantine was beaten and his acts burned, it does not say that the council ordered his tongue torn out. Perhaps the original editor of the wiki page conflated this with a reference on p371 which mentions that Gracilis was sized by an extrajudicial gang of 'wicked Campanians', and had his eyes and tongue removed by them. Constantine was later blinded by the same gang. Or perhaps the original wiki editor conflated a reference on p370 which mentions that Constantine's lieutenant (vicedominus) was sized by an extrajudicial gang, and had his eyes and tongue removed by them.

Mann, Horace K. (1903). The Lives of the Popes in the Early Middle Ages, Vol. I: The Popes Under the Lombard Rule, Part 2, 657–795.