Priscillianist affair
c. 375–6th c.
attested. The execution is attested (Sulpicius Severus). Whether Priscillian was truly heterodox is disputed. Chadwick (1976) and Burrus (1995) see him as largely orthodox.
Priscillian, a lay ascetic who became bishop of Ávila, led a movement of study, fasting and the reading of apocrypha in Spain and Aquitaine. Bishops accused him of Manichaeism and magic. In 385 the usurper Magnus Maximus had him executed at Trier, the first Christian executed for heresy by Christian authority, which Martin of Tours and Ambrose protested.
Sides
Priscillianist
Leaders: Priscillian, Instantius, Salvianus, Latronianus, Euchrotia
Ascetic renewal. Free use of apocryphal books. Charismatic study circles including women.
Hispanic episcopate (accusers)
Leaders: Hydatius of Mérida, Ithacius of Ossonoba, Magnus Maximus
The movement was Manichaean, Gnostic or magical and should be suppressed by the state.
Councils and places
- Abula (Ávila): see of Priscillian 4th
- Augusta Treverorum (Trier): execution of Priscillian, 385 4th
- Bracara Augusta (Braga), Gallaecia 5th–6th
- Council of Saragossa (Caesaraugusta) (380) 4th
- First Council of Braga (561) 6th
Outcome
Priscillian was executed in 385. His accusers were later disgraced, and Ithacius was deposed. The movement was condemned at Toledo (400) and Braga (561).
What happened to the losers
Galicia venerated Priscillian as a martyr, and the movement persisted there until the late 6th century. The 'Würzburg tractates', discovered in 1885, preserve writings by him or his circle.