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{{Short description|Act of selling church offices and roles}} {{Other uses|Simony (disambiguation)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}} {{Political corruption sidebar}} {{Canon law}}

'''Simony''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|s|ɪ|m|ə|n|i}}) is the act of selling church offices and roles or sacred things. It is named after [[Simon Magus]],<ref>''The Reader's Encyclopedia'' (1965), New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, vol.2, ''p''.932, "Simon."</ref> who is described in the [[Acts of the Apostles]] as having offered two disciples of [[Jesus]] payment in exchange for their empowering him to impart the power of the [[Holy Spirit in Christianity|Holy Spirit]] to anyone on whom he would [[Laying on of hands|place his hands]].<ref name="Acts8">{{bibleverse|Acts of the Apostles|8:9–24}}</ref> The term extends to other forms of trafficking for money in "spiritual things".{{sfn|Smith|1880}}{{sfn|''Halsbury''|2002|loc='''832'''}}

== Origin ==
The earliest church legislation against simony may be that of the forty-eighth canon of the [[Synod of Elvira]] ({{circa|305}}), against the practice of making a donation following a baptism.<ref name="Weber1909">{{cite book|last1=Weber|first1=N. A.|title=A History of Simony in the Christian Church: from the beginning to the death of Charlemagne (814)|publisher=J. H. Furst|location=Baltimore|year=1909|url=https://www.agape-biblia.org/orthodoxy/Seek_the_Welfare_of_the_City/History_of_Simony_in_the_Christian_Church.pdf}}</ref>{{rp|60}}

Following the [[Edict of Milan]] (313), the increased power and wealth of the church hierarchy attracted simony.<ref name="Weber1909" />{{rp|30}} There are several accusations of simony (not by that name) against [[Arianism|Arians]], from [[Athanasius of Alexandria]], [[Hilary of Poitiers]], [[Pope Liberius]] and [[Gregory of Nazianzus]].<ref name="Weber1909" />{{rp|34–36}} Many Church Fathers, such as [[Ambrose]], spoke out against the selling of ministries.<ref name="Weber1909" />{{rp|56}}

Anti-simony provisions in [[Synod|Church Council]] canons (and [[Papal bull|papal bulls]]) became common: the [[First Council of Nicaea]], the [[Synods of Antioch#The Synod of Antioch in 341|Synod of Antioch (341)]], and the Councils of [[Council of Serdica|Serdica]] (343–344), [[Council of Chalcedon|Chalcedon]], and [[Council of Orléans 533|Orléans (533)]], etc.<ref name="Weber1909" />{{rp|62, 66, 121}}

The purchase or sale of ecclesiastical office was associated with the figure of [[Simon Magus]] in the [[Acts of the Apostles]] and his name came into use as a term.<ref name="Acts8" /> Important in popularizing the word 'Simony' was [[Pope Gregory I]] (590–604), who called such exchanges the "simoniac heresy".<ref>{{Cite book|last=Rosé|first=Isabelle|url=https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-01822846|title=Simon le Magicien hérésiaque ?|year=2017|publisher=Presses universitaires de Rennes|isbn=978-2-7535-5904-2}}</ref>

== In the Middle Ages ==
Although considered a serious offense against [[Canon law of the Catholic Church|canon law]], simony is thought to have become widespread in the [[Catholic Church]] during the 9th and 10th centuries.<ref>Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of World Religions, edited by Wendy Doniger, 1999</ref> In the eleventh century, it was the focus of a great deal of debate.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Reuter|first=Timothy|year=2001|title=Gifts And Simony|url=https://brill.com/view/book/edcoll/9789004476400/B9789004476400_s011.xml|journal=Medieval Transformations: Texts, Power, and Gifts in Context|pages=157–168|doi=10.1163/9789004476400_011|isbn=9789004476400}}</ref> Central to this debate was the validity of simoniacal orders: that is, whether a cleric who had obtained their office through simony was validly ordained.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=West|first=Charles|year=2022|title=The Simony Crisis of the Eleventh Century and the 'Letter of Guido'|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-ecclesiastical-history/article/abs/simony-crisis-of-the-eleventh-century-and-the-letter-of-guido/C915507B2324FC0A8EF03B99475202EA|journal=The Journal of Ecclesiastical History|volume=73|issue=2|pages=229–253|doi=10.1017/S0022046921000063|s2cid=239635858}}</ref>

The {{lang|la|[[Corpus Juris Canonici]]}}, the {{lang|la|[[Decretum Gratiani|Decretum]]}}<ref>{{harvnb|Chisholm|1911|p=133}} cites Pt. ii. cause i. quest. 3</ref> and the [[Decretals of Gregory IX]]<ref>{{harvnb|Chisholm|1911|p=133}} cites Bk. v. tit. 3.</ref> all dealt with the subject. The offender, whether {{lang|la|simoniacus}} (the perpetrator of a simoniacal transaction) or {{lang|la|simoniace promotus}} (the beneficiary of a simoniacal transaction), was liable to deprivation of his benefice and deposition from orders if a [[Secular clergy|secular priest]], or to confinement in a stricter [[monastery]] if a [[Regular clergy|regular]]. No distinction seems to have been drawn between the sale of an immediate and of a reversionary interest. The innocent {{lang|la|simoniace promotus}} was, apart from dispensation, liable to the same penalties as though he were guilty.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=133}}{{clarify|date=August 2013}}

In 1494, a member of the [[Carmelites|Carmelite]] order, Adam of Genoa, was found murdered in his bed with twenty wounds after preaching against the practice of simony.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Burckhardt|first1=Jacob|title=The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy|year=1878|publisher=Vienna Phaidon Press|location=University of Toronto - Robarts Library|page=[https://archive.org/details/civilizationofre00burc/page/60 60]|url=https://archive.org/details/civilizationofre00burc}}</ref><gallery widths="200px" heights="180px">
File:Abbé_pratiquant_la_simonie.jpg|Abbot practising simony (France, 12th century)
File:Tizian_109.jpg|Girolamo and cardinal Marco Corner investing Marco, abbot of Carrara, with his benefice, [[Titian]], {{c.|1520}}
</gallery>

=== In literature ===
[[File:DvinfernoPopeNicholasIII_m.jpg|left|thumb|[[Dante]] speaks to [[Pope Nicholas III]], committed to the ''[[Hell|Inferno]]'' for his simony, in [[Gustave Doré]]'s 1861 [[wood engraving]] (portrait of the [[Malebolge#The Ten Bolgias|Third Bolgia]] of the Eighth Circle of Hell)]]
In the 14th century, [[Dante Alighieri]] depicted the punishment of many "clergymen, and popes and cardinals" in hell for being [[Greed|avaricious]] or miserly.<ref>''[[Inferno (Dante)#Fourth Circle (Greed)|Inferno]]'', Canto VII, line 47, Mandelbaum translation.</ref>

He also criticised certain popes and other simoniacs:<ref>''[[Inferno (Dante)#cite ref-DLS18 77-4|Inferno]]'', Canto XIX, lines 2–6, Mandelbaum translation</ref>

{{poemquote|Rapacious ones, who take the things of God,
that ought to be the brides of Righteousness,
and make them fornicate for gold and silver!
The time has come to let the trumpet sound
for you; ...}}

== In the Catholic Church ==
Simony remains prohibited in Roman Catholic canon law. In the Code of Canon Law, Canon 149.3 notes that "Provision of an office made as a result of simony is invalid by the law itself."<ref>{{Cite web|title=Code of Canon Law - Title IX - Ecclesiastical Offices (Cann. 145-196)|url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/cod-iuris-canonici/eng/documents/cic_lib1-cann145-196_en.html#Art._1.|access-date=2022-04-26|website=www.vatican.va}}</ref>

== Church of England ==
The [[Church of England]] struggled with the practice after its separation from Rome. For the purposes of [[English law]], simony is defined by [[William Blackstone]] as "obtain[ing] orders, or a licence to preach, by money or corrupt practices"<ref>{{cite book|last=Blackstone|first=William|title=Commentaries on the Laws of England vol I|date=1765|pages=376–7|place=Oxford|publisher=Clarendon Press|title-link=Commentaries on the Laws of England}}</ref> or, more narrowly, "the corrupt presentation of any one to an ecclesiastical [[benefice]] for gift or reward".<ref>{{cite book|last=Blackstone|first=William|title=Commentaries on the Laws of England vol IV|date=1769|page=62|place=Oxford|publisher=Clarendon Press|title-link=Commentaries on the Laws of England}}</ref> While English law recognized simony as an offence,<ref>'''3''' ''[[Edward Coke|Coke's Institutes]]'' 153–156</ref> it treated it as merely an ecclesiastical matter, rather than a crime, for which the punishment was forfeiture of the office or any advantage from the offence and severance of any patronage relationship with the person who bestowed the office. Both [[Edward VI of England|Edward VI]] and [[Elizabeth I]] promulgated statutes against simony, in the latter case through the [[Simony Act 1588]] ([[31 Eliz. 1]]. c. 6) and [[Simony Act 1688]]. The cases of [[Bishop of St. David's]] [[Thomas Watson (Bishop of St David's)|Thomas Watson]] in 1699{{sfn|Handley|2004}} and of [[Dean of York]] [[Sir William Cockburn, 11th Baronet|William Cockburn]] in 1841 were particularly notable.<ref name="times410410">''[[The Times]]'', 10 April 1841, p. 6 col.b, reprinted from the ''Cambridge Advertiser''</ref>

By the [[Benefices Act 1892]],{{which|date=July 2024}} a person guilty of simony is guilty of an offence for which he may be proceeded against under the [[Clergy Discipline Act 1892]] ([[55 & 56 Vict.]] c. 32). An innocent clerk is under no disability, as he might be by the canon law. Simony may be committed in three ways – in promotion to orders, in presentation to a benefice, and in resignation of a benefice. The [[common law]] (with which the [[canon law]] is incorporated, as far as it is not contrary to the common or statute law or the prerogative of [[the Crown]]) has been considerably modified by statute. Where no statute applies to the case, the doctrines of the canon law may still be of authority.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=133}}

{{As of|2011}}, simony remains an offence.<ref>{{harvnb|''Halsbury''|2002|loc='''832''' & '''1359'''}}</ref>{{better source needed|"as of 2011" but the source is from 2002!|date=March 2025}} An unlawfully bestowed office can be declared void by the Crown, and the offender can be disabled from making future appointments and fined up to £1,000.<ref>[[Simony Act 1588]], s.4</ref> Clergy are no longer required to make a declaration as to simony on [[ordination]], but offences are now likely to be dealt with under the [[Clergy Discipline Measure 2003]] (No. 3).<ref>2003 No. 3</ref>{{Full citation needed|date=June 2020}}<ref>r.8.{{harvnb|''Halsbury''|2002|loc='''1359'''}}</ref>

== See also ==

* [[Civil law (common law)]]
* [[Concordat of Worms]]
* [[Corruption#Religious organizations|Corruption in religion]]
* [[Gregorian Reform]]
* [[Indulgence]], a Church doctrine widely abused in the late medieval period
* For papal simony, see [[Papal selection before 1059#Ostrogothic rule (493–537)|Papal selection before 1059 § Ostrogothic rule (493–537)]]
* [[Simony Act 1688]]
* [[Simony Act 1713]]

== Citations ==
{{Reflist}}

== General and cited references ==

* {{Cite book|editor-first=Lord Mackay of|editor-last=Clashfern|year=2002|title=Halsbury's Laws of England|edition=4|volume=14|ref={{Sfnref|Halsbury|2002}}|at="Ecclesiastical Law", '''832''' "Penalties and disability on simony"; '''1359''' "Simony"}} See also current updates.
* {{Cite ODNB|last=Handley|first=S.|year=2004|title=Watson, Thomas (1637–1717)|id=28868}}
* {{Cite encyclopedia|last=Smith|first=W.|year=1880|encyclopedia=A Dictionary of Christian Antiquities: Being a Continuation of the 'Dictionary of the Bible'|url=https://archive.org/details/adictionarychri04cheegoog|title=Simony|publisher=J.B. Burr Pub. Co.}}

'''Attribution:'''

* {{EB1911|wstitle=Simony|volume=25|pages=133-134}}

== Further reading ==

* {{cite web|ref=none|last=Aquinas|first=Thomas|author-link=Thomas Aquinas|title=Summa Theologica: Simony (Secunda Secundae Partis, Q. 100)|url=http://www.newadvent.org/summa/3100.htm|website=New Advent|access-date=14 December 2023}}
* {{cite DNB|ref=none|last=Macdonell|first=George Paul|wstitle=Ayliffe, John|volume=2|pages=279-281|short=x}}
* {{cite CE1913|ref=none|last=Weber|first=N.A.|wstitle=Simony|volume=14|short=x}}

== External links ==
{{Wiktionary|simony}}

{{Authority control}}{{Investiture Controversy}}