ARLES, SYNOD OF. The first general council of the West ern church, summoned in 314 at Arles by the emperor Constan tine to settle the dispute between the Catholics and Donatists (see DONATISTS), after an assembly of referees meeting at Rome in 313 had failed to settle the questions at issue. Of these the most important was the eligibility for priestly office of traditores or those who had delivered up their copies of the Scriptures under the compulsion of the Diocletian persecution. Thirty-three bishops attended at Arles, three of whom were from Britain. The canons drawn up by the synod dealt with matters of ecclesiastical discipline, clerical and lay, and included a declaration that ordina tion was not invalid because performed by a traditor, if otherwise regular, thus condemning the principal contention of the Donat ists.
See Smith and Cheetham, Dictionary of Christian Antiquities, art. "Arles"; W. Bright, Chapters of Early English Church History with references to other authorities given.