Council of Reims (1148)

Originally the summons to the council went out in October 1147 and it was supposed to be held in February 1148 at Trier, but conditions there were such that it was moved to Reims.

The council convened on 21 March 1148 and is said to have lasted 11 days in total, which would give an end date of 1 April 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.

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 Italian bishops, however, were mostly excused from attendance, as Eugene held a council at Cremona in July 1148 where the Reims decrees were announced.

[1] Although the number of Spanish bishops attending is unknown, it is known that among them was Raymond de Sauvetât, Archbishop of Toledo.

King Alfonso VII of León and Castile interceded with the pope to lift the sentences against those bishops who did not attend.

Despite this, Theobald evaded his guards and hired a fishing boat to take him across the English Channel to attend the council.

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.

All of the proposed canons were approved, except for one on clerical attire which was opposed by Rainald of Dassel and other German ecclesiastics.

[4] The Reims council also condemned Éon de l'Étoile, a Breton heretic and ordered his arrest.

Albero de Montreuil, Archbishop of Trier, was already so ill he was carried to the council on a horse litter.

[1] A consistory was a specialized form of trial held to investigate questionable theological teachings, and was beginning to be used for this purpose in this period.

[11] 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.