PREFACE.

The task entrusted to me of preparing this volume can clearly be divided into two separate parts. The first is the collecting of the material needed and presenting it to the reader in English; the other is the preparation of suitable introductions and notes to the matter thus provided. In each of these areas, two courses were open to the editor: to be original, or to be a copyist. I need hardly say that the former offered many temptations. However, I could not fail to recognize that such a course would greatly diminish the real value of the work. Therefore, without any hesitation, I have adopted the latter alternative and have endeavored, as far as possible, to keep myself out of the question altogether. As a general rule, even the translation of the text (as distinguished from the notes) is not mine, but that of some scholar of well-established reputation.

In carrying out this method, I have availed myself of all the translations I could find. Where I have thought them substantially accurate after comparing them with the original, I have adopted and reproduced them. Where I have thought a translation was misleading, I have amended it using another version; I believe in no case have I ventured a change of translation based on my own judgment alone. A very considerable portion of the matter found in this volume, however, is now translated into English for the first time. For some of this, I am indebted to my friends, who have most kindly given me every assistance in their power. Even here, no translation has been made from the Greek without careful reference to the traditional understanding handed down in the Latin versions, and wherever the Latin and Greek texts differ on material points, the difference has been noted. I have not thought it necessary or desirable to specify the source of each particular translation, but I have provided a list of all the translations I have used for the reader’s use. I should also add that I have not considered any one text sufficiently well-established to demand total deference, and I have usually followed (for my own convenience rather than any other reason) the text contained in Labbe and Cossart’s Concilia original: "Concilia" (Councils). No doubt Hardouin and Mansi are in some respects superior, but old prejudices are very strong, and the reader will remember that these differing Concilia gave rise to a hard-fought battle in the history of the Gallican Church Referring to the historical rivalry between different editions of Church council records, which was a point of contention in French ecclesiastical history.. I should add, however, that where more recent students have detected errors of importance in Labbe's text, I have corrected them, usually noting the variation in reading. Regarding the text, I entirely disclaim any responsibility, especially as my opinion on such a matter would be valueless. Regarding the translation, my responsibility goes no further than certifying to the reader that, to all intents and purposes, the meaning of the original is presented in English without introducing interpretation under the guise of translation. Some portions are literal translations,