THE NEW SCHAFF-HERZOG
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF RELIGIOUS KNOWLEDGE
A
AACHEN, ao’ken, SYNODS OF: The political importance of the town of Aachen (Latin Agquis- granum,; French, Atz-la-Chapelie) under Charle- magne and his successors made it a favorite meeting- place for various assemblies. The first synod of Aschen (or Aix) is usually reckoned as having met on Mar. 23, 789, and there is no doubt that a gathering took place on that day; but its results are known only from two royal decrees, the so- called Admonitto generalis (MGH, Leg., i., Capitu- aria regum Francorum, ed. A. Boretius, i., 1883, cap. 22}, and the instructions for the royal repre- sentatives {cap. 23). The former repeats a summary of the earlier canonical legislation on the duties of the clergy, and adda further regulations for the improvement of clerical and social life, dealing with diligence in preaching, the education of the clergy, the observance of the Lord’s Day, just judgment, equal weighta and measures, hoe- pitality, and the prevention of witchcraft and per- jury. The other document treata of monastic discipline and the regulation of civil society. It ia questionable if this gathering can be properly called a synod; and still less can the name be applied to that of 797 (cap. 27), which regulated the con- dition of the conquered Saxons. On the other hand, the assembly of June, 799, in which Alcuin disputed with Felix of Urgel {see Aporrioniam) may be so called, and likewise the three meetings in the years 801 and 802. Their deliberations led to a series of decreea (cap. 33-35 and 36-41) which throw light on Charlemagne’sa endeavors to elevate elergy and laity. The most important ia the great instruction for the missi dominict sent out in the spring of 802, dealing with the discipline of bishops, clergy, monks, and nuns, the faithful performance of their duties by public officials, and the establish- ment of justice throughout the empire. Among the results of the autumn eynod of 802, cap. 36 and 38 deserve ial attention; they deal with the duty of interceesion for the emperor and bishops, the education of the people, tithes, divine worship and the sacraments, clerical discipline, and the system of ecclesiastical visitations, The next synod (Nov. 809), was occupied with the doctrine of the jon of the Holy Ghost. In the autumn of $16, or the summer of 817, Louis le Débonnaire aseembled his first eynod at Aschen, when tho bishops laid down new regulations for the com- munity life, both of canona and nuns, In the summer of 817 an sssembly of abbots discussed the observance of the Benedictine rule. The dieta of 819 and 825 and similar later assemblies can again svarcely be counted as synods, though the one heid in the sacristy of the cathedral, Feb. 6, 835, has a synodical character. It adopted « thorough- going pronouncement on the life and teaching of bishope and inferior clergy, and on the position of the king, his family, and his ministers, with a view to regulating the confusion which the strife between Louia and his sons had caused. It also required of Pépin of Aquitaine that he should restore the church property which he had appropriated. For the synod held at Aachen in connection with the question of Lothaire’s divorce, see Nicnoxas 1. The last two synods of Aachen were held under Henry II., one in the year 1000 in connection with the restoration of the bishopric of Merseburg (see Wiiiiew); the other, in 1023, when the contest between the dioceses of Cologne and Liége for the possession of the monastery of Burtecheid was decided in favor of the latter.
Bibliography: Fragmentum historicum de concilio Aquia-(illegible text), in Mabillon [missing] Bouquet, Recueti, vi. 415-443; Byistola Synodi Aquie ovanensis ad Pippin, in Labbe, Concilia, vii. 1728, and in Bougust, Recueil, vi. 354; A. J. Binterim, ‘Geschichte der dautecken . . . Concitien, ii., iii. 1836-37; MGH, Leg. i. (1835) 466; ib, Capitularia reg. Frane., ii. 2 (1893), 483-466: Hauck, XD, ii; Hefele, Conciliengeschichia, vols, iii., iv.; MGH, Leg. sectio iti,, Concilia, i, 1 (1904),
AARON: The brother of Mosea, In the Yab-
wistie sources of the Pentateuch he is called
“ Aaron, the Levite,” i.e., the priest. He is firat
mentioned when Yahweh appoints him as spokes-
man for Moses in the mission to Pharaoh (Ex, iv.
10-17, 27-31); and consistently he always appears
with Moaes before the Egyptian king. Later Aaron
and Hur support Mosea during the battle with the
Amalekites (Ex. xvii. 8-13). When the covenant
waa made at Sinai, Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, with
seventy elders, accompanied Moses to the moun-
tain; but Moses alone “ went up into the mount
