tiona "I ill" conference were therefore of very little advantage. Several regulations relating to dis- cipline were made. < concerning the election of bishops, it was ordered thai the name of the person nominated by the king i" a bishopric Bhall be posted at the cathe- dral doors, and in ntlicr public places, that all persons may have the opportunity of objecting to him if they know anything against him. The following is a sum- mary of other important actions of this synod :
forbidden to absent them- 'ii iheir dioceses for more than three months; rted to apply themselves to preaching and vis- itations, and t'> hold annual synods.
shops are directed to summon provincial conn-
iccording to the decrees of the
< Basle. Excommunications, save for weighty
Cnrates not to be admitted to
their benefices until they have been examined by the
they .ire orden i priest's orders
within a year from their admission : to reside constantly;
. Iheir people, .-Hid to teach them
- are forbidden to he said while
lined to prepare themselves carefully be-
[ the holy altar ; to pronounce the words
j ami gravity; not to snf-
■ of hymns and canticles, to be
in the organ; to correct the church 1 ks; to
try to abolish all superstitions practices; to instruct the
}it Images are exposed to view in the ison than to remind persons "i Jesus Cbrixt and tin- saints. It is further directed that all im- in any way indecent, or which merely -. -hall he entirely removed.
■ losed by a profession of faith, in which the errors of Lnther and Calvin, and other secta- .ily rejected.
• authorities already cited, De Ft lice,
• I ench Protestantism, p. 101 Bq.; Bossuet,
Li: Jen i-. Church of France, i. 137
Frankreich
.. voL i ; Rani Gesch. i. 236 sq. ;
1851 1. M.l. ii: Smedley, History
e, i, 148 -p. 178; Smiles,
Index) ; Hardwick, His-
\: 188 Bq. id. ||. \\'.i
Poitier, Pikrkk-Louis, a French religious writer.
■■■ 1745, at lie a- he had
a- appointed Buperior of the
n, by cardinal I. a Rochefoucauld, ar.li-
bishop oi that . ii... .\ti. r submitting !<■ the law which tie- constitutional oath of clergymen, he re- called it. and r. tin d to ii„- seminary ol St, I irmin, at Pfria, v. i ,,,,,, alll,_, m11
bis companii ns. He left some works of ediBcation, which had several editions. Hot fer, \
Poit ii : ■ rrupti f the
Lati" /' died by the Gallic tribe, the Pic-
taxi, who inhabited the district in Csesar's time) is one of the oldest towns in France. It is the capital of the department ofVienne, and i- situated on an eminence near the rivers Clain and Boivre. Ii- population is now about 31,034, and it possesses many churches, chap- id-;, and n asteries. It- cathedral, named St. Pierre,
i- one of the liue-t in France, and belongs to the 1-th century. It contains the a-h« ■- of Richard Cceui de Lion, and was the seat, in its present condition, or in the older edifice thai occupied it- Bite, of twenty-three ecclesiastical councils.
POITIERS, Councils oi (Concilium Pictaviense), were convened here at different times in the .Middle Ages.
I. The first of these was held in 593, and was pro- voked by a rebellion of nuns, under the leadership of Chrodielde, a Frankish prince-- and nun at Poitiers, who had rebelled against Leubovi ra, abbess of St, Croix. She was here called to account for leaving her nunnery, and for the violence which she had committed against Gon- degesile and other bishops; also lor the acts of rebell- ion which she, in concert with Besina, another nun, had committed against their abbess. Being exhorted to ask forgiveness of the abbess, she boldly refused, and threat- ened to kill her. The bishops, after consulting the can- ons, declared her to he excommunicated, and ordered thai -he should remain so until she should have done penance. They then re-established the abbess. Leubo- vera, in the government of the monastery. See Labbe, Condi. v, 1593 ; Gregor. Turon. Hist. d. France, ix, 1: \. 16, 19; Btfansi, ConciL i\. 1011; x. 155,459; Hardouin, Concil. iii, 190, 527, 531 ; Hefele, ConcUiengesch. Hi. 51.
II. Another council was held dan. 13, 1004, convoked by William V. count of Poitiers and duke of Aquitaine. Five bishops were present, who published three canons:
1. Pronounces those persons to he under anathema who pillage the churches, rob the poor, or strike the clergy;
and farther declare- thai if they rebel against this sen- tence the bishops and barons shall assemble and march against them, ravaging all around them until they submit. The other two canons forbid bishops to take any fees for penaiee and confirmation; aud priests and deacons to retain women in their houses.
See Labbe, Concil. ix, 780.
III. The third council was held in 1073, before car- dinal Gerand, the Roman legate, against Berenger. The question of the Holy Eucharist was discussed, and the minds of men were so exasperated against Berenger thai he narrowly escaped with his life. See l.aMie. t 'onciL \. 346.
IV. The fourth was held in 1078, by the legate Hugo, bishop of Die, who, by the account which he gave of thi> council to pope Gregory VII, seems to have en- countered much opposition to his plan-. He complains that tin king of France had forbidden the count of Poi- tiers to allow the council to be held within his states; that the archbishop of Tours and the bishop "i Rennes had rendered themselves almost complete masters of the council, and that the assembly had been disturbed by the armed followers of these pn latea. Some attrib- ute to this council, and others to the following one, ten canon-, of which these are the most worthy of note: