Enslavement of Children of Priests.

Enslaving Children of Priests & Religious.

The Ninth Council of Toledo in the year 655, a medieval provincial synod, composed a set of canons that entered into the ‘Decretum Gratiani’ (C 15 q 8 can. 3), a compilation of canon laws. The tenth canon is outlined below For more on this topic, read Vincent Doyle’s considerations on the matter at this link. Below the text of the canon is hyperlinked to the original Latin text.

“Because many decrees of the Fathers were issued up to this time concerning the incontinence of the clerical order, and still were not able to correct their morals, the condemnation of the sins was extended so that the punishment should be incurred not only on the perpetrators of the crime, but also on the offspring of the condemned. Therefore, if anyone from bishop to subdeacon begets a child from a detestable marriage to a slave or a free woman while holding the office, then these children who are proven to have been begotten by them shall be punished by the canonical law. The offspring begotten from such a pollution shall never receive an inheritance from their parents, but, what is more, they shall remain forever in the service of the Church to whose disgrace they have been begotten by its priest or minister.”