Priscillianism

Priscillian, a rigorous Spanish Christian ascetic apparently influenced by gnosticism and Manichaean dualism, espouses an unorthodox doctrine similar to both in its dualistic belief that matter is evil and the spirit good.

He teaches that angels and human souls emanate from the Godhead, that bodies are creations of the devil, and that human souls are joined to bodies as a punishment for sins.

Leading his followers in a quasi-secret society that aims for higher perfection through ascetic practices and proscribes all sensual pleasure, marriage, and the consumption of wine and meat, his movement, called Priscillianism, spreads throughout western and southern Spain and in southern Gaul.

Despite his unorthodox views, Priscillian had become bishop of Ávila in 380.

The Spanish church, led by bishops Hyginus of Mérida and Ithacius of Ossonoba, had soon opposed the movement.

A council of Spanish and Aquitanian bishops had adopted at Saragossa eight canons bearing more or less directly on the prevalent heresy of Priscillianism.

Priscillian’s enemies now persuade the devoutly Christian Gratian to exile the bishop and his primary disciples to Italy.

Damasus does not receive Priscillian and his key followers but they manage to gain absolution from civil authorities, who ultimately enable the Priscillians to force Ithacius from Spain.

Maximus, making his capital at Augusta Treverorum in Gaul, rules Britain, Gaul, Spain and Africa.

He issues coinage and a number of edicts reorganizing Gaul's system of provinces.

Some scholars believe Maximus may have founded the office of the Comes Britanniarum as well.

He becomes a popular emperor: Quintus Aurelius Symmachus delivers a panegyric on Maximus' virtues.

He uses foederati forces such as the Alamanni to great effect.

Ithacius goes to the imperial court, where he persuades the emperor to have Priscillian tried.

Siricius, unanimously elected to succeed the late Damasus in late December 385, had, along with Ambrose of Milan and Martin of Tours, protested against the verdict leveled by Maximus against Priscillian.

Priscillian, condemned in 384 by a synod at Burdigala (modern Bordeaux), appeals to Maximus, who orders him to the Imperial court.

Bishop Martin of Tours, although greatly opposed to the Priscillianists, had hurried to Trier on an errand of mercy to remove them from the secular jurisdiction of the emperor.

His efforts at affecting reconciliation with the latter lead some to suspect him of heresy.

Maximus had at first acceded to his entreaty, but, after Martin departs, yields to the solicitations of Ithacius.

Judging Priscillian and his six companions guilty of sorcery and immorality, he orders the accused to be beheaded in 385, making them the first Christians to be executed by other Christians for heresy, in this case of Priscillianism, (though the civil charges were for the practice of magic).

Their property is confiscated.

Martin, deeply grieved, refuses to communicate with Ithacius and the bishops who condoned the slaughter of the Priscillian heretics, until pressured by the Emperor.

The Legacy of Bishop Martin of Tours and the Works of Sulpicius Severus

In 397 CE, Bishop Martin of Tours dies; later canonized, he will become the patron saint of France. His life and deeds inspire Sulpicius Severus, who, having begun his work while Martin was still alive, will produce the earliest and most enduring biography of the saint. This account will remain the most widely read biography of one of the most revered figures in early Western Christianity.

Sulpicius Severus, an Aquitanian aristocrat, was originally destined for an administrative career and received a classical education. However, following the early death of his wife, he renounced public life and embraced monasticism.

In addition to his biography of Martin, Sulpicius undertakes the writing of a world chronicle of sacred history, the Chronicorum Libri Duo (or Historia Sacra). This work, covering the period from the creation of the world to 400 CE, deliberately omits the events of the Gospels and Acts, explaining that their sacred nature should not be reduced to mere historical narrative. His chronicle, blending Christian perspective with classical literary traditions, will influence later medieval historiography, providing one of the earliest continuous historical accounts from a Christian worldview.

The First Council of Braga, convened in 561 CE, formally condemns Priscillianism, a heretical movement that had persisted in Hispania since the fourth century. This council, held in the Suebi Kingdom of Galicia, reinforces the region’s alignment with Chalcedonian Christianity, further distancing it from Arian and Priscillianist influences.