The Martyrs of Trier

 

A 'Cruciero'. One of the Stations of the Cross on Mount Pedrouso, Santiago de Compostela.

Before we look at the "Homework Questions" and the possible teachings of Priscillian, we need to give a brief account of the after effects of his trial and execution.

The final sentence on Priscillian was confirmed by the Emperor Maximus while St. Martin was absent from Trier on other business -Severus does not give the reason. However, on the return of Martin, Maximus rescinded the order for the "witch- hunt" in Northern Spain and recalled his tribunes. This was apparently a "quid pro quo" to persuade Martin to take part in the consecration of Felix.(1)

Martin, along with Ambrose and other bishops condemned Ithacius for taking what was essentially a church matter to a secular court. This condemnation went as far as declaring illegal the consecration of Felix as bishop of Trier in 387A.D., because Ithacius was one of the consecrating bishops! The schism caused by this division sadly affected the Christian Church in Gaul for years to come, with Christians taking sides and supporting rival groups. (2)

Upon the defeat and execution of Maximus by the Emperor of the East, Theodosius, the Pricillianist church in Galicia found a new freedom. They obtained permission to bring back the mortal remains of 'The Martyrs of Trier', and there was a resurgence in the teachings of the founder of the movement, 'Saint Priscillian'. (3) Chadwick speculates that Santiago de Compostela (4) may have been the site of Priscillian's shrine which was certainly somewhere in Galicia. (5)

At a synod in c. 390, Ithacius was canonically deposed from his see for the bringing of an accusation on a capital charge. Hydatius of Mérida resigned before sentence could be given and both he and Ithacius shared excommunication and a sentence of exile.(6)

In parts of Spain, especially in Galicia, Priscillian was celebrated as a martyr. However at the Council of Toledo (A.D. 400) the four priscillianist bishops who would not recant were excommunicated and deprived of their sees. At the Council one of the clergy of the recalcitrant bishops cried out ' "of his own accord, not under interrogation", that Priscillian was a catholic and a holy martyr who had been orthodox to the end and had suffered perscution at the hands of the bishops'. (7)

By the time of the second Council of Bracara (Braga) in 572, Arianism in the Sueve kingdom of northern Spain was a thing of the past. There is little reference to Priscillianism in the canons of the Council. One of the few late references to the heresy is in a letter of Braulio, bishop of Saragossa from A.D.631 - 651. (8).  By this time Priscillianism was a spent force probably only surviving as a folk memory in the rural population in Galicia.


(1) S. Severus. Chron ii.50.4 in Chadwick - p. 146
(2) Babut. Martin of Tours pp.163-4 and the letter of Maximus to Pope Siricius in Avell. XL (CSEL 35)
(3) S. Severus. Chron. ii.51. 5-8 and Prosper. Chron. min.i.460
(4) Chadwick - p.233
(5) Prosper. Chron.min.i.460
(6) Prosper. Chron. ad ann 389 (Chron. min. i.462)
(7) Chadwick - p.184
(8) Braulio. Ep.44 (PL 80.693D)