Council of Reims (1148)

A letter of Eugene's to Suger, Abbot of St Denis, dated 6 October 1147, had already named Trier as the location for the council. It was first convoked on 11 October 1147 by Eugene, who ordered the bishops and other prelates to assemble at Trier on 21 March 1148. This is known from a letter sent by the pope to Henry Zdík, Bishop of Olmuetz. Though a letter sent by the pope on the next day, 12 October 1147, to Eberhard, Archbishop of Salzburg, named Troyes as the location, this is presumably a scribal error. The papal entourage arrived in Trier on 30 November 1147, but shortly afterwards the pope, moved by complaints from the citizens of Trier, decided to move the proceedings, and announced in February 1148 that the council would move to Reims, but maintaining the date already fixed. A feature of the council was that the pope ordered the attendance of the various bishops and other Churchmen. Although some of those convoked were excused, the reason given was mostly ill health, not any need to deal with their particular office. Those who failed to attend were suspended from office. The Italian bishops, however, were mostly excused from attendance, as Eugene held a council at Cremona in July 1148 where the Reims decrees were announced. The precise overall number of bishops, archbishops, and abbots who attended is unknown. Estimates range from 1,100 to 400, with the lower number being much more likely. Those present were from what were later the countries of France, Germany, England, and Spain, and in keeping with the times, would have included not just the prelates who were summoned, but also their servants and officials, making the true number of people in Reims impossible to estimate with any ease. ==Council==

at Reims The council opened at Reims Cathedral on Sunday 21 March 1148. Pope Eugene and his attendants had arrived in Reims by 9 March. The main business of the council was to debate a number of canons. Most of these were not new measures, since they had been promulgated by Eugene's predecessor at the councils of Reims in 1131 and at the Lateran council of 1139. All of the proposed canons were approved, except for one on clerical attire which was opposed by Rainald of Dassel and other German ecclesiastics. Another canon condemning clerical marriage was greeted with amusement, as the council members felt that all clergy should already know that marriage was forbidden to them. The Reims council also condemned Éon de l'Étoile, a Breton heretic, and ordered his arrest. He was eventually tortured into confession and imprisoned until his death in 1150. Further decrees condemned the Anacletans and supporters of an earlier antipope, who had previously been condemned in 1136. Further side business was the settling of a dispute between two Norman abbots, Eustachius of Jumièges Abbey and Robert of the Abbey of St. Vincent, Le Mans, an issue which was delegated to two cardinals to decide. They reached a decision on 5 April. Other disputes, including other cases of contention between abbots, were also handled at the council, although not necessarily during the council deliberations. Also included in the council's business was the confirmation of the excommunication of the Bishop of Dol and the Bishop of Saint-Brieuc. Although it has been said that the Bishop of Orléans and the Bishop of Troyes were deposed by the council, this is erroneous, and probably stemmed from the number of ecclesiastics who were suspended for non-attendance. At the council, or shortly after, a number of Churchmen died, including Robert de Bethune, Bishop of Hereford, who fell ill on the third day of the council and died on either 14 or 16 April 1148. The Bishop of Angoulême died in June, after attending the council. Albero de Montreuil, Archbishop of Trier, was already so ill he was carried to the council on a horse litter. ==Confession==

Although the council probably ended on 1 April, Eugene asked a number of attendees to stay after the formal close of the council to consider the case of Gilbert of Poitiers, who was under investigation for heresy, connected with his teachings. The specific problem came when Gilbert's writings attempted to explicate the relationship between God and his "divinity", which led to his opponents claiming that Gilbert was attempting to create two Gods, rather than just one. His opponents claimed that this occurred in Gilbert's treatise on Boethius' theological work De Trinitate. Gilbert had previously been investigated by Eugene at Paris in April 1147, but this hearing came to nothing for two reasons. One was that Gilbert's opponents were not unified in what they opposed in Gilbert's teachings. The second reason was that no one had a copy of the treatise on Boethius by Gilbert that was in dispute. Prior to the second hearing at Reims, Bernard of Clairvaux, who was opposed to Gilbert's teachings, held a private meeting with a number of the attendees, where Bernard attempted to pressure them to condemn Gilbert. This offended the various cardinals in attendance, who then proceeded to insist that they were the only persons who could judge the case. Although connected with the council, Gilbert was tried after the council closed, at a consistory held in the Archbishop of Reims' chambers. The consistory lasted two days, and included John of Salisbury, who had previously been a student of Gilbert's, but was now in Eugene's service. Another opponent was Otto of Freising, who was unable to attend the trial. No official records of the trial were kept, which subsequently led to considerable confusion. ==Notes==