TRUCE OF GOD, an attempt of the Church in the middle ages to alleviate the evils of private warfare. The two measures which were adopted by the Church to remedy this evil—the pax ecclesiae or Dei and the treuga or treva Dei—are usually both referred to as the Truce of God, but they are distinct in char acter. The latter was a development of the former.
The pax ecclesiae is first heard of in the year 990 at three synods held in different parts of southern and central France—at Charroux, Narbonne and Puy. It enlisted the immediate support of the regular clergy, particularly the vigorous congregation of Cluny, and of William V. of Aquitaine, the most powerful lord of south ern France, who urged its adoption at the councils of Limoges (994) and Poitiers (999). The peace decrees of these various synods differed considerably in detail, but in general they forbade, under pain of excommunication, every act of private warfare or violence against ecclesiastical buildings and their environs, and against certain persons, such as clerics, pilgrims, merchants, wom en and peasants, and against cattle and agricultural implements. With the opening of the 11th century, the pax ecclesiae spread over northern France and Burgundy, and diocesan leagues began to be organized for its maintenance. The bishop, or count, on whose lands the peace was violated was vested with judicial power, and was directed, in case he was himself unable to execute sen tence, to summon to his assistance the laymen and even the clerics of the diocese, all of whom were required to take a solemn oath to observe and enforce the peace. At the council of Bourges (1038), the archbishop decreed that every Christian 15 years and over should take such an oath and enter the diocesan militia. The idea that peace is a divine institution seems to have given rise to a new name for the peace, the pax Dei, or peace of God.
The treuga or treva Dei, the prohibition of every act of private warfare during certain days, goes back at least to the Synod of Elne (1027) which suspended all warfare from noon on Saturday till prime on Monday. Like the pax ecclesiae it found ardent champions in the regular clergy, especially in Odilo (962-1049), the fifth abbot of Cluny, and soon spread over all France. It pene trated Piedmont and Lombardy in 1041 and Normandy in 1042. By this time the truce extended from the Wednesday evening to the Monday morning in every week and also, in most places, lasted during the seasons of Lent and Advent, the three great vigils and feasts of the Blessed Virgin, and those of the 12 apos tles and a few other saints. The treuga Dei was decreed for
Flanders at the Synod of Therouanne (1063) and was instituted in southern Italy in 1089, probably through Norman influence. The bishop of Liege introduced it in Germany in 1082, and three years later a synod held at Mainz in the presence of the emperor Henry IV. extended it to the whole empire. It did not extend to England, where the strength of the monarchy made it unneces sary. The popes took its direction into their own hands towards the end of the 11th century; and the first decree of the Council of Clermont (1095), at which Urban II. preached the first cru sade, proclaimed a weekly truce for all Christendom, adding a guarantee of safety to all who might take refuge at a wayside cross or at the plough. The Truce of God was reaffirmed by many councils, such as that held at Reims by Calixtus II. in 1119, and the Lateran councils of 1123, 1139 and 1179. When the treuga Dei reached its most extended form, scarcely one-fourth of the year remained for fighting, and even then the older canons relating to the pax ecclesiae remained in force. The means employed for its enforcement remained practically the same : spiritual penalties, such as excommunication, special ecclesiastical tribunals, sworn leagues of peace, and assistance from the temporal power. The Council of Clermont prescribed that the oath of adherence to the truce be taken every three years by all men above the age of 12, whether noble, burgess, villein or serf. The results of these peace efforts were perhaps surprisingly mediocre, but it must be borne in mind that not only was the military organization of the dioceses always very imperfect, but Continental feudalism, so long as it retained political power, was inherently hostile to the principle and practice of private peace. The Truce of God was most power ful in the 12th century, but with the 13th its influence waned as the kings gradually gained control over the nobles and substituted the king's peace for that of the Church.
See Du Cange, Glossarium, s.v. Treuga; A. Kluckhohn, Geschichte des Gottesfriedens (Leipzig, 1857) ; J. Fehr, Der Gottesfriede und die katholische Kirche des Mittelalters (Augsburg, 1860 ; E. Semichon, La Paix et la treve de Dieu (2nd ed. 1869) ; L. Huberti, Studien zur Rechtsgeschichte des Gottesfrieden and Landfrieden, Bd. i. Die Friedens-Ordnungen in Frankreich (Ansbach, 1892) ; E. Mayer, Deutsche und franzosische Verfassungsgeschichte (1899), vol. i.; A. Luchaire, "La Paix et la treye de Dieu," in E. Lavisse's Histoire de France, II. 2, pp. 133-138 (i9oi). (C. H. H.)