Lat·er·an Council

(lăt′ər-ən)

Any of a series of Roman Catholic ecclesiastical councils held at the Lateran Palace in Rome between the 7th and the 18th century, five of which (in 1123, 1139, 1179, 1215, and 1512-1517) were ecumenical. The fourth of these ecumenical councils, often considered the most important, produced the doctrine of transubstantiation.

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Noun

Lateran Council - any of five general councils of the Western Catholic Church that were held in the Lateran Palace

council - (Christianity) an assembly of theologians and bishops and other representatives of different churches or dioceses that is convened to regulate matters of discipline or doctrine

First Lateran Council - the first council of the Western Church held in the Lateran Palace in 1123; focused on church discipline and made plans to recover the Holy Lands from the Muslim `infidels'

Second Lateran Council - the second council of the Western Church in 1139 which put an end to the dogmatic errors of Arnold of Brescia

Third Lateran Council - the Lateran Council in 1179 that condemned the heresies of the Albigenses and the Waldenses

Fourth Lateran Council - the Lateran Council in 1215 was the most important council of the Middle Ages; issued a creed against Albigensianism, published reformatory decrees, promulgated the doctrine of transubstantiation, and clarified church doctrine on the Trinity and Incarnation

Fifth Lateran Council - the council in 1512-1517 that published disciplinary decrees and planned (but did not carry out) a crusade against Turkey

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References in periodicals archive

El primero, de Johannes Helmrath, lleva por titulo <<The Fourth Lateran Council. Its Fundamentals, Its Procedure in Comparative Perspectiv>>.

Gert Melville--Johannes Helmrath (eds.),: The Fourth Lateran Council: Institutional Reform and Spiritual Renewal

Through a wide-ranging analysis of visual representations of the cross that were created in different media in England over a long twelfth century (from the Norman Conquest to the Fourth Lateran Council of 1215) Munns demonstrates how religious devotion changed over this period, influenced significantly by the spiritual writings of Anselm and his followers.

Cross and Culture in Anglo-Norman England John Munns

To be perfectly fair, comparisons with Nazi Germany are somewhat wide of the mark -- even allowing for the fact that 13th-century England was the first European nation to require Jews to wear a visible cloth badge (prompted by the Fourth Lateran Council of 1215 which demanded Jews and Muslims wear special dress since you ask).

A U.K. malodorous wind of change

On the other hand, the Fifth Lateran Council in 1517 reversed earlier prohibitions against charging interest on loans, and current Catholic teaching mostly avoids the topic.

Is it sinful to charge interest on a loan?

Following that, Anne Duggan looked to the contribution made by the letters and ideas of Alexander III, and in particular the canons of his 1179 Lateran council, to Innocent III and the Lateran IV decrees.

Concilium Lateranense IV (Rome, 23-29 November, 2015)

"The Preacher of the Fourth Lateran Council" by Andrew W.

Preface

Crucially important was theology, that quarrelsome old woman (to borrow a phrase from Erasmus), which received a specific and striking endorsement at the Fourth Lateran Council that approved Peter Lombard.

Monagle, Clare, Orthodoxy and Controversy in Twelfth-Century Religious Discourse: Peter Lombard's 'Sentences' and the Development of Theology

The Church prohibition on clerics issuing sentences that "shed blood" was formalised at the Fourth Lateran Council under Innocent III in 1215CE.

Canon law and child sexual abuse through the ages

This was an important event in the history of philosophy because it foreshadowed the bull Apostolici regiminis of the Lateran Council of 1513.

Nicoletto Vernia: studi sull'aristotelismo del XV secolo

His Fourth Lateran Council called on prelates and priests to avoid ostentatious apparel and ornaments.

Be Innocent too

Notwithstanding its popular manner--thin annotation and barely a historio-graphical glance--and the odd slip (Third Lateran Council for the Fourth), this is an important book, which is at once capacious, sympathetic, and fun (70).

Chivalry in Medieval England

After the Fourth Lateran Council in 1215, theologians were required to use the term 'transubstantiation' of the Eucharistic conversion and Christ's real presence (138), but there was considerable flexibility in its explanation.

Marilyn McCord Adams: Some Later Medieval Theories of the Eucharist: Thomas Aquinas, Giles of Rome, Duns Scotus, and William Ockham