Lateran Councils

{lat'-ur-uhn}

The Lateran councils were five ecumenical councils of the Roman Catholic church held during the 12th, 13th, and 16th centuries at the Lateran Palace in Rome. The First Lateran Council (1123) was called by Pope Callistus II to ratify the Concordat of Worms (1122), which formally ended the lengthy Investiture Controversy. The Second Lateran Council (1139) was convoked by Pope Innocent II to reaffirm the unity of the church after the schism (1130-38) of the antipope Anacletus II (d. 1138). It also condemned the teachings of Arnold of Brescia. The Third Lateran Council (1179), convoked by Pope Alexander III, ended the schism (1159-77) of the antipope Callistus III and his predecessors. It also limited papal electors to members of the College of Cardinals.

Although each of the first three Lateran councils decreed a number of reform measures, the Fourth Lateran Council (1215), convoked by Pope Innocent III, was the most important of the Lateran councils. Attended by well over 1,000 churchmen from throughout Christendom, the council sanctioned a definition of the Eucharist in which the word transubstantiation was used officially for the first time. The council also attempted to organize a new crusade to the Holy Land and to encourage crusading efforts against the Albigenses and Waldenses. Many precepts still binding on Roman Catholics (such as the Easter duty, or obligation, of annual confession and Holy Communion) were adopted at this council. In many respects the council marked a pinnacle in the power and prestige of the medieval papacy. The Fifth Lateran Council (1512-17), convened by Pope Julius II and continued by Pope Leo X, was convoked for the purpose of reform, but the main causes of the Reformation were left untouched. Its most significant decree was a condemnation of Conciliarism.

T. Tackett