{"id":7966,"date":"2019-10-27T11:04:19","date_gmt":"2019-10-27T11:04:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/schoolshistory.org.uk\/topics\/?page_id=7966"},"modified":"2026-06-23T15:38:23","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T15:38:23","slug":"statute-of-the-synod-of-bishops","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/schoolshistory.org.uk\/topics\/primary-history\/celts\/statute-of-the-synod-of-bishops\/","title":{"rendered":"Statute of the Synod of Bishops"},"content":{"rendered":"

Synodus prima Sancti Patricii, also known as the Statute of the Synod of Bishops is an Irish Celtic religious statute. The date of the statutes original form is unknown, it could be anywhere from the 5th to 7th century AD. At this time Christianity was being established in Celtic Ireland. It was in fierce competition with pagan beliefs and the Druids. The Statute sets out rules for the clergy and followers of the Christian faith.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Illumination
Illumination from the Book of Kells<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Statute of the Synod of Bishops<\/h2>\n

\u00a7 Introduction. We give thanks to God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; we bishops, Patrick, Auxilius, and Isserninus, send a greeting to priests, deacons, and all of the clergy. It is more appropriate for us to give caution to the careless [members of the church] than to condemn those things that have already been done; just as [wise King] Solomon [of the Old Testament] says, \u201cIt is better to explain error than to get angry.\u201d Our judgments have been recorded below, as follows. [\u2026]<\/p>\n

\u00a7 3. Clerics should not be roaming around the public [without supervision]. [\u2026]<\/p>\n

\u00a7 7. If a cleric should back a pagan financially with any amount of money, and if that pagan should deceive the cleric, the cleric should pay the debt from his personal funds; for if he take up weapons to fight against that man, his case will have to be judged outside the church [i.e., the church will not stand up for him]. [\u2026]<\/p>\n

\u00a7 12. The church may not take alms from pagans.<\/p>\n

\u00a7 13. A christian who has committed murder, extramarital sex, or does business with a fortune-teller, in the manner of a pagan, should do a year\u2019s penance for each sin. After that year of penance is over he should appear with witnesses before a priest to be forgiven. [\u2026]<\/p>\n

\u00a7 15. A christian who believes in the banshee\u00a0\u2013 understood to be a practitioner of black-magic \u2013 is to be condemned; whoever has condemned his human soul is not to be accepted into the church until he retracts his statement with his own voice, and he must repent with sincerity. [\u2026]<\/p>\n

\u00a7 18. A christian woman who has married one man and then left him to marry another man should be excommunicated.<\/p>\n

\u00a7 19. A christian who commits fraud regarding debt, in the nature of certain pagans, is to be excommunicated until he pays off his debt. [\u2026]<\/p>\n

\u00a7 22. No priest should open his church up to people until it has been consecrated by his bishop. [\u2026]<\/p>\n

\u00a7 29. No British cleric is permitted to minister amongst us [in Ireland], even if he lives amongst the people, unless he has an official letter [of authority]. [\u2026]<\/p>\n

\u00a7 36. A monk roaming without the permission of his abbot should be punished.<\/p>\n

Do you want to find other Primary Sources for use in your lessons, or for research purposes?<\/strong> Visit our Primary Sources<\/a> page to see which areas we currently have a range of sources for.<\/p>\n

Primary History<\/a><\/p>\n

Knowledge Rich History Resources<\/a><\/p>\n

The Celts<\/a><\/p>\n

The Romans<\/a><\/p>\n

The Saxons<\/a><\/p>\n

The Vikings<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Synodus prima Sancti Patricii, also known as the Statute of the Synod of Bishops is an Irish Celtic religious statute. The date of the statutes original form is unknown, it could be anywhere from the 5th to 7th century AD. At this time Christianity was being established in Celtic Ireland. It was in fierce competition… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7967,"parent":6079,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"off","neve_meta_content_width":100,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-7966","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t