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The Truce of God is a temporary suspension of hostilities, as distinct from the Peace of God which is perpetual. Thejurisdiction of the Peace of God is narrower than that of the Truce. Under the Peace of God are included only:
At an earlydate the councils extended the Peace of God to theChurch's protégés, thepoor,pilgrims,crusaders, and even merchants on a journey. The peace of the sanctuary gave rise to the right of asylum. Finally it was the sanctification of Sunday which gave rise to the Truce of God, for it had always been agreed not to do battle on that day and to suspend disputes in the law-courts.
The Truce of God dates only from the eleventh century. It arose amid theanarchy offeudalism as a remedy for the powerlessness of lay authorities to enforce respect for the public peace. There was then an epidemic of privatewars, which madeEurope a battlefield bristling with fortified castles and overrun by armed bands who respected nothing, not even sanctuaries,clergy, orconsecrated days. A Council of Elne in 1027, in a canon concerning the sanctification of Sunday, forbade hostilities from Saturday night until Monday morning. Here may be seen the germ of the Truce of God. This prohibition was subsequently extended to the days of the weekconsecrated by the great mysteries ofChristianity, viz., Thursday, in memory of theAscension, Friday, the day of the Passion, and Saturday, the day of theResurrection (council 1041). Still another step includedAdvent andLent in the Truce. Efforts were made in this way to limit the scourge of privatewar without suppressing it outright. The penalty wasexcommunication. The Truce soon spread fromFrance toItaly andGermany; the oecumenical council of 1179 extended the institution to the whole Church by Canon xxi, "De treugis servandis", which was inserted in the collection of canon law (Decretal ofGregory IX, I, tit., "De treuga et pace"). The problem of the public peace which was the great desideratum of theMiddle Ages was not solved at one stroke, but at least the impetus was given. Gradually the public authorities, royalty, the leagues between nobles (Landfrieden), and the communes followed the impulse and finally restrictedwar to international conflicts.
SEMICHON, La paix et la treve de Dieu (Paris 1869); HUBERTI, Gottes und Landfrieden (Ansbach, 1892).
APA citation.Moeller, C.(1912).Truce of God. InThe Catholic Encyclopedia.New York: Robert Appleton Company.http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15068a.htm
MLA citation.Moeller, Charles."Truce of God."The Catholic Encyclopedia.Vol. 15.New York: Robert Appleton Company,1912.<http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15068a.htm>.
Transcription.This article was transcribed for New Advent by S. Przeslak.
Ecclesiastical approbation.Nihil Obstat. October 1, 1912. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor.Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York.
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