High Middle Ages · Europe · Religion

1123

First Lateran Council

March 18, 1123

Callixtus II convened the first general council of the Latin Church in the West since antiquity, confirmed the Concordat of Worms, and reaffirmed the ban on clerical marriage and simony. Over three hundred bishops attended the twelve-day meeting in the rebuilt Lateran basilica. The council also addressed the problem of false monks, counterfeit relics, and the increasing tendency of lay lords to treat tithes as personal income.