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History of the Franks
St Gregory of Tours, tr. Dalton, 1927
Book 8, 20. Of the Transactions at the Council of Mâcon
Meanwhile the day of the council came round, and by command of King Guntram the bishops assembled in the city of Mâcon. Faustianus, who had been consecrated bishop of Dax by order of Gundovald,1 was deprived of his see on the condition that Bertram, Orestes, and Palladius, who had given him the benediction, should in turn support him, paying him a hundred pieces of gold a year. But Nicetius,2 who, though a layman, had induced King Chilperic to give him his diploma, now took possession of his bishopric in the city. Ursicinus, bishop of Cahors,3 was excommunicated because he openly confessed to having received Gundovald. Sentence was passed that he should do penance for three years, leave head and beard unshorn, and abstain from flesh and wine. Further, he must never presume to celebrate Mass, or ordain clergy, bless churches and the holy chrism, or present consecrated bread. He might, however, manage the external business of the Church in the usual manner.
At this council there was a certain bishop who defended the opinion that women could not be included under the general description ‘man’; but he accepted the reasoning of his brethren, and said no more. Their arguments were as follows: The holy book of the Old Testament teaches that in the beginning, when God created man, He created them male and female, and called their name Adam,4 which, being interpreted, means earthly man; even so He called the woman Eve; of both He used the word ‘man’. And the Lord Jesus Christ is therefore called Son of man, because He was the Virgin’s son, which is to say, the son of a woman. To her He said, when He was about to change the water into wine: ‘Woman, what have I to do with thee?’5 and that which follows. They brought other convincing testimony, and there this matter rested. Praetextatus, bishop of Rouen,6 recited before his brethren some prayers which he had written when in exile. Some approved of them; but others criticized, on the ground that he had too little observed the rules of art. The style, however, was in places appropriate and worthy of a true son of the Church.
There was at this time a great brawl between the servants of Bishop Priscus7 and those of Duke Leudegisel,8 and Bishop Priscus offered a large sum to buy his peace. In these days also, King Guntram fell into so sore a sickness that some believed he could never recover. To my thinking, this was an act of God’s providence; for the king had it in his mind to drive a number of bishops into banishment. Bishop Theodore9 returned to his see, and was received with the goodwill of the whole people and with their acclamations.
Notes
- Cf. VII. 31.
- Ibid. He was the count.
- Cf. V. 42.
- Gen. v. 2.
- John ii. 4.
- Cf. V. 12 (18).
- Of Lyons.
- Cf. VII. 37, 39.
- Of Marseilles; cf. above, ch. 12.