This article offers a translation of and commentary on the Second Council of Toledo, inaugurating a new, collaborative project to translate the Church councils of late antique Iberia. I begin by considering the context of the synod, which took place during the period of Arian kingship and Ostrogothic overlordship in Iberia. I then outline the three main lines of transmission of its text in the sixth- and seventh-century conciliar compilations known as the Collectio Hispana, Collectio Novariensis, and Epitome Hispana, before noting the implications for dating the Council and reconstructing its contents. I argue for a date of 531 over 527 and for the priority of the Collectio Novariensis and Epitome Hispana over the Collectio Hispana, which affects how we should read the distinct lists of subscribing bishops in the manuscripts. Finally, I review the five canons decreed by the Council on child oblation and education, clerical hierarchy and celibacy, usufruct of Church property, and incestuous relations as a preface to the Latin text and English translation.
Graham Barrett (Sun,) studied this question.