In 1538, the Belgian Franciscan Peter Crabbe (Pierre Grable) issued at Cologne an enlarged collection in two volumes, and the second edition in 1551 was enlarged to three folio volumes. Besides these, there was Lawrence Surius's still more complete collection, published in 1557 (4 vols. folio), and the Venice collection compiled by Domenick Bollanus, O. P., and printed by Dominic Nicolini, 1585 (5 vols. folio).
But the renowned collection of Professor Severin Binius surpassed all its predecessors, and its historical and critical notes are quoted with respect even to-day. The first edition, in four volumes folio, was issued at Cologne in 1606, and later editions, better than the first, in 1618 and 1636. This last edition was published at Paris in nine volumes, and made use of the Roman collection.
To the learned Jesuit Sirmond belongs the chief glory of having compiled this Roman collection, and the "Introduction" is from his pen. The work was undertaken by the authority of Pope Paul V., and much of the Greek text, copied from mss. in the Vatican Library, was now for the first time given to the reading public. This collection contains only the Ecumenical Councils according to the Roman method of reckoning, and its compilation took from 1608 to 1612.
No collection appeared from this date until the "Collectio Regia," a magnificent series of thirty-seven volumes folio, at the royal press at Paris in 1644. But while it was superb in get up, it left much to be desired when looked at critically, for many faults of the Roman edition already pointed out by Sirmond were not corrected.
And now we have reached the time when the first really great Concilia appeared, which while only filling seventeen volumes in folio was yet far more complete --Hefele says twenty-five per cent. more complete--than the great Collectio Regia just described. This edition was the work of Philip Labbe (Labbeus in Latin), S. J., and was completed after his death in 1667, by Father Gabriel Cossart of the same Society--"Almost all the French savants quote from this edition of Labbe's with Baluze's supplement," [15] and I have followed their lead, availing myself of the corrections made by later editors. The title of the edition used in this work is: "Sacrasancta Concilia ad Regiam Editionem exacta. Studio Philip. Labbei et Gabr. Cossartii, Soc. Jesu Presbyterorum. Lutetiæ Parisiorum. MDCLXXI. Cum Privilegio Regis Christianissimi."
Anything more perfect than these precious volumes it would be hard to conceive of, and while of course they contain the errors of chronology et cetera of their age, yet their general accuracy and marvellous completeness leave them even to-day as the greatest of the great, although the later edition of Hardouin is more often used by English and American scholars, and is the one quoted by Pope Benedict XIV. in his famous work De Synodo Diæcesana. Hardouin's edition did certainly correct many of the faults of Labbe and Cossart, yet had itself many faults and defects which are pointed out by Salmon [16] in a long list, although he fully acknowledges the value of Hardouin's improvements and additions. Perhaps, not unnaturally, as a Professor at the Sorbonne, he preferred Labbe and Cossart. It may not be amiss to add that Hardouin was very anti-Gallican and ultramontane.
The Dominican Archbishop of Lucca, Mansi, in 1759, put out his "Concilia" in thirty-one volumes folio at Florence, styled on the title-page "the most ample" edition ever printed, and claiming to contain all the old and much new matter. It was never finished, only reaching to the XV^th century, has no indices, and (says Hefele) "is very inferior to Hardouin in accuracy. The order of the subjects in the later volumes is sometimes not sufficiently methodical, and is at variance with the chronology." [17]
I shall now present the reader with some bibliographical notes which I extract verbatim from Hefele (Hefele, History of the Councils, Vol. I., p. 74).
Among the numerous works on the history of the councils, the most useful to consult are:
1. John Cabassutius, Notitia ecclesiastica historiarum conciliorum et canonum. Lyons 1680, folio. Very often reprinted.
2. Hermant, Histoire des Conciles, Rouen 1730, four volumes, 8vo.
3. Labbe, Synopsis historica Conciliorum, in vol. i. of his Collection of Councils.
4. Edm. Richer, Historia conciliorum generalium (Paris, 1680), three volumes, 4to. Reprinted in 8vo. at Cologne.
5. Charles Ludovic Richard, Analysis conciliorum generalium et particularium. Translated from French into Latin by Dalmasus. Four volumes, 8vo, Augsburg, 1778.
6. Christ. Wilh. Franz Walch, Entwurf einer vollständigen Historie der Kirchenversammlungen, Leipzig, 1759.
7. Fabricius, Bibliotheca Græca, edit. Harless. t. xii., p. 422 sqq., in which is contained an alphabetical table of all the councils, and an estimate of the value of the principal collections.
8. Alletz, Concilien-Lexikon, translated from French into German by Father Maurus Disch, a Benedictine and professor at Augsburg, 1843.
9. Dictionnaire universel et complet des Conciles, tant généraux que particuliers, etc., rédigé par M. l'abbé P----, prêtre du Diocese de Paris, published by the Abbé Migne (Paris, 1846), two volumes, 4to.
In the great works on ecclesiastical history--for example, in the Nouvelle Bibliothèque des Auteurs Ecclesiastiques, by El. Dupin, and the Historia Literaria of Cave, and particularly in the excellent Histoire des Auteurs Sacrés, by Remi Ceillier--we find matter relating to the history of the councils. Salmon, l. c., p. 387, and Walch in his Historie der Kirchenversammlungen, pp. 48-67, have pointed out a large number of works on the history of the councils. There are also very valuable dissertations on the same subject in--
1. Christian Lupus, Synodorum generalium ac provincialium decreta et canones, scholiis, notis ac historica actorum dissertatione illustrata, Louv., 1665; Brussels, 1673; five volumes, 4to.
2. Lud. Thomassin, Dissertationum in Concilia generalia et particularia, t. i., Paris, 1667; reprinted in Rocaberti, Bibl. pontificia, tr. XV.
3. Van Espen, Tractatus Historicus exhibens scholia in omnes canones conciliorum, etc., in his complete works.
4. Barth. Caranza has written a very complete and useful abstract of the acts of the councils in his Summa Conciliorum, which has often been re-edited.
5. George Daniel Fuchs, deacon of Stuttgart, has, in his Bibliothek der Kirchenversammlungen, four volumes, Leipsic, 1780-1784, given German translations and abstracts of the acts of the councils in the fourth and fifth centuries.
6. Francis Salmon, Doctor and Librarian of the Sorbonne, has published an Introduction to the Study of the Councils, in his Traité de l'Étude des Conciles et de leurs collections, Paris, 1724, in 4to, which has often been reprinted.
To these I would add the following:
1. Fleury, Histoire Ecclesiastique. This work in many volumes, part of which has been translated into English, is most useful and accurate, and contains a resumé of the separate canons and definitions as well as the history of the proceedings.
2. Denziger, Enchiridion Symbolorum et Definitionum quæ de rebus fidei et morum a Conciliis OEcumenicis et Summis Pontificibus emanarunt. A most useful handbook in the original.
3. Hefele, Conciliengeschicte. This, the most recent work upon the subject, is also in some respects the most satisfactory, and it is a matter of real regret that only the first part of the work, down to the end of the Seventh OEcumenical Council, has been translated into English. The last volume of the author's revised edition appeared in 1890. The first volume of the first edition was published in 1855, and the seventh and last in 1874. The entire book was translated into French some years ago (with full indices) by M. l'abbé Goschlerand and M. l'abbé Delarc (Paris, Adrien le Clere et Cie). It should in fairness, however, be remarked that Bishop Hefele was one of the minority who opposed the opportuneness of the definition of Papal infallibility at the Vatican Council, and while indeed afterwards he submitted to the final decree, yet he has been a somewhat suspected person since to those who held extreme views on this doctrine.
So far as I am aware no serious work has been done upon the councils by any writer using the English tongue in recent times, with the exception of the useful Notes on the Canons of the First Four General Councils, by Canon Wm. Bright.
The following is a list of the English translations which I have consulted or followed:
John Johnson, The Clergyman's Vade-mecum (London, 2d Ed., 1714).
Wm. A. Hammond, The Definitions of Faith and Canons of Discipline of the Six OEcumenical Councils, etc.
William Lambert, The Canons of the First Four General Councils of the Church and those of the Early Greek Synods (London, s.d. Preface dated 1868).
John Fulton, Index Canonum. [This work ends with the Council of Chalcedon.] (New York, 1872. 3d Ed., 1892.)
John Mendham, The Seventh General Council, the Second of Nice (London, s. d.).
H. R. Percival, The Decrees of the Seven Ecumenical Synods. Appendix I. to A Digest of Theology (London, Masters, 1893).
It only remains that I mention two other works.
Dr. Pusey's book, The Councils of the Church from the Council of Jerusalem a.d. 51 to the Council of Constantinople, 381 (1857) should not be omitted, and certainly the reader's attention should be called to that most accurate and valuable volume by Herm. Theod. Bruns, Canones Apostolorum et Conciliorum Veterum Selecti (Berolini, 1839), which has been constantly referred to in preparing this work.
[11] As one of the few books of the Eastern Church ever translated into a Western tongue, the reader may be glad to have its full title. Compendium des Kanonischen Rechtes der einen heiligen, allgemeinen und apostoliochen Kirche verfaszt von Andreas Freiherrn von Schaguna. Hermannstadt, Buchdruckerei des Josef Droklieff, 1868.
[12] According to the Elenchus, in the beginning of this volume, both of these writings are found in the First Part and not in the Second Part of the volume.
[13] Schoell says that the text is not accurately given.
[14] I am indebted to Hefele, History of the Councils, Vol. I., p. 67 et seqq., for this account of Merlin's Collection, as also for most of the statements that follow. Hefele says (footnote to page 67): "The longest details on Merlin's edition are found in a work of Salmon, Doctor and Librarian of the Sorbonne, Traité de l'Etude des Conciles et de leurs Collections, etc. Paris, 1726."
[15] Hefele, Hist. Councils, vol. I, p. 69.
[16] Salmon, l. c., pp. 315-331, 786-831.
[17] Hefele, Hist. Councils, vol. I, p. 72.
Appended Note on the Eastern Editions of Synodical Literature.
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From the presses of the East, especially those at Athens, a number of editions more or less complete of the Greek text of the Canons of the Ecumenical and of the Local Councils have been issued, and the notes of Balsamon, Zonaras, and Aristenus have been added in some cases. Professor Bolotoff writes however that so far as Greek literature on the subject is concerned, with the exception of purely topographical researches in the environs of Constantinople, it is simply putting into Greek what was originally in German.
The Russian Church has done somewhat more and as will be seen from the following table, some attempts have been made at providing scholia, but when the scheme of this present work was shewn him, Professor Bolotoff said: "We have nothing analogous to this undertaking in Russia." The learned professor remarks that all the best Russian literature upon the subject is contained in magazine articles, especially those of Professor Zaozersky of the Moscow Theological Academy, and of Professor A. S. Pavloff, of the University of Moscow; he mentions also the latter's article in the Orthodox Review, and adds that "An Essay on a Course of Church Legislation," by Joann Smolensk (St. Petersburg, 1851) should be referred to.
Bibliograficeskij Ukazatel' Pecatnyh Izdanij Apostol'skih I Sobornyh Pravil Na Slavjanskom I Russkom Jazykah.
V pravoslavnoj Russkoj Cerkvi izdanija sobornyh pravil i opredelenij sover?alis' tol'ko po neposredstvennomu rasporjazeniju i soizvoleniju vys?ej cerknovnoj vlasti i fakticeski izjaty iz kompetencii castnoj ucenoj predpriimcivosti. Poetomu podrobnyja izdanija vypuskalis' v Rossii li?' po mere prakticeskoj potrebnosti.
(1) Pervoe po vremeni pecatnoe izdanie nazvannyh pravil bylo v slavjanskoj "Kormcej Knige" (=grec. Pedalion ), kotoraja nacata pecataniem pri Moskovskom patriarhe Iosife v Moskve 7go oktjabrja 1649 g. i okoncena 1go ijulja 1650 g., no patr. Nikon podverg ego sobornomu peresmotru, pri cem ne?kol'ko listov bylo perepecatano i vneseno vnov'. [18] Po semu ekzempljary etoj "Kormcej" byli razoslany po cerkvam dlja cerkovnago upotreblenija i postupili v obrascenie ne ranee 1653 g. Vtoroe izdanie "Kormcej"bylo v 1787 g. posle peresmotra eja mitropolitom Novgorodskim i S. Peterburgskim Gavriilom, [19] a zatem i drugija (napr., v 1804 g., 1816 g. i 1823 g.) bez osobyh peremen. Pozdnej?ija izdanija otlicajutsja ot Nikonovskago v castnostjah, no eto ne kasaetsja cerkovnyh pravil, kotoryja pome?cajutsja v pervoj casti "Kormcej"i soderzat 85 apostol'skih pravil, postanovlenija 16-i soborov (Nikejskago, Ankirskago, Neokesarijskago, Gangrskago, Antiohijskago, Laodikijskago, II-go, III-go, IV-go vselenskih, Sardikskago, Karfagenskago, Konstantinopol'skago, pri Nekoparge, Trull'skago 692 g., VII-go vselenskago, Dvukratnago i v cerkvi sv. Sofii) i pravila 13-ti sv. otcov.
(2) V pecatnoj "Kormcej" kanony izlozeny ne v polnom tekste, a v sokra?cennom, inogda daju?cem li?' ves'ma nedostatocnoe predstavlenie o soderzanii podlinnika. Poetomu izdavna delalis' popytki celostnyh perevodov, [20] no poslednie ne pojavljalis' v pecati. Tol'ko uze v 1839 g. sv. Sinodom vypu?ceno bylo v S. Peterburge takoe izdanie: "Kniga pravil sv. apostol, sv. soborov vselenskih i pomestnyh i sv. otec", napecatannaja v bol'?oj list v "carstvuju?cem grade sv. Petra pervym tisneniem, v leto ot sozdanija mira 7347, ot Rozdestva ze po ploti Boga Slova 1839, indikta 12"; v nem 4 nenumerovannye lista i 455 numerovannyh strannic. Na kazdoj strannice dve kolonny dlja podlinnika i novago slavjanskago perevoda po polnomu tekstu, no bez tolkovanij vizantijskih kanonistov; redko na osnovanii Zonary ili Val'samona dajutsja primecanija, ne vsegda tocnyja isto-riceski (napr. k 10 pravilu Ankirsk., 3 Sard., 4 Karfag. i o dvukratnom sobore 861 g.), a po mestam i samyj tekst ne ispraven (napr., v 13-m prav. I-go vsel. sobora). Eta "Kniga"imela potom sleduju?cija izdanija: (2) v Moskve v Sinodal'noj tipografii v 1862, in folio 8 ll.+672+74 numer. strn., s tekstom greceskim i slavjanskim (3) ibid. v 1866 g. in quarto, 3 ll.+ 373 strn.+1 l.+ 59 strn., s odnim slavjanskim tekstom; (4) ibid. v 1874 g., in octavo, 4 ll.+ 455 strn.+ 2 ll.+ 104 + 4 strn., toze s odnim slavjanskim tekstom; (5) ibid. v 1886 g., in folio, 3 ll.+395+42 strn.+1 l., opjat' v odnom slavjanskom tekste.