Canon 14 of the Synod of Split (925)

The author addresses the question of the reliability of the acts of the Synod of Split (925), which remains open to doubt, given that these documents survive only in the so-called Historia Salonitana maior, the earliest manuscript of which dates to the early sixteenth century. Convened in the metropolitan province of Salon (Split) under the jurisdiction of the Roman Church, the synod is of particular significance for its provisions concerning the Slavic (Croatian) population along the Adriatic coast. The article presents a methodology for assessing the congruence of the Split material with the ecclesio-political and legal context of the age, conventionally designated as the Carolingian period, through the close examination of a single canon. The focus of this study is on Canon 14, which draws upon Gospel texts that held a prominent place in European ecclesiastical practice of the period. Its opening clause prohibits divorce, permitting it only in cases of adultery, and, in such instances, forbids the husband to remarry. The canon’s second clause is understood to have urged the Slavs to instruct their children and household slaves in literacy, with the aim of identifying suitable candidates for the priesthood — men best fitted to carry out pastoral duties within their own communities. By comparing this provision with a range of sources, including Frankish royal and imperial capitularies, legal compilations such as the Collectio Dionysiana, and episcopal capitularies like Regino of Prüm’s collection, which systematized Carolingian material, the author demonstrates its full consonance with contemporary European practice, while advancing new interpretations, particularly the inference that children placed in training were intended for ordination. The author observes that this comparative method is equally applicable to other synodal acts; nonetheless, the constraints of space make it impossible to address the full range of matters discussed at the Synod within the scope of this article.