Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
Third Lateran Council

Third Lateran Council

9.9
A church meeting in 1179 at the Lateran in Rome that condemned some religious groups and made church reforms
  • proper noun
translation icon : Tercer Concilio Lateranense
  • Canon 23 of the Third Lateran Council established important regulations for church reforms in 1179.

Examples

  • During the Third Lateran Council, the church aimed to unify its stance against the Albigenses and Waldenses.

  • Both of these scholars stress the significance of Canon 23 of the Third Lateran Council, held in 1179 under Pope Alexander III.

    Academic text (2006)

  • The Third Lateran Council addressed the heresies that were troubling the church during the 12th century.

Surface Forms

Third Lateran Council main

Morphology

third + Lateran + council

The phrase is compositionally built from 'third' (ordinal) + 'Lateran' (place name) + 'council' (ecclesiastical assembly), so a learner who knows those words can infer it refers to the third church assembly held at the Lateran. While specific historical details (year, actions) are not predictable from the title, the referential meaning is directly derivable and follows a common naming pattern for councils.

Etymology

The proper name Third Lateran Council comes from the fact it was the third large church council held at the Lateran palace in Rome in 1179. At that 'meeting' church leaders rejected certain beliefs and made changes to church rules, so the name refers to that specific gathering and its decisions.