Second Council of the Lateran

Second Council of the Lateran
Date	1139
Accepted by	Catholicism
Previous Council	First Council of the Lateran
Next Council	Third Council of the Lateran
Convoked by	Pope Innocent II
Presided by	Pope Innocent II
Attendance	1000
Topics of discussion	schism of Antipope Anacletus II
Documents and statements	thirty canons, mostly repeating those of the First Lateran Council, clerical marriage declared invalid, clerical dress regulated, attacks on clerics punished by excommunication
chronological list of Ecumenical councils

The second Lateran, and tenth ecumenical council was held by Pope Innocent II in April 1139, and was attended by close on a thousand clerics.

Its immediate task was to neutralize the after-effects of the schism, which had only been terminated in the previous year by the death of Antipope Anacletus II (d. January 25 1138). All consecrations received at his hands were declared invalid, his adherents were deposed, and King Roger II of Sicily was excommunicated. Arnold of Brescia, too, was removed from office and banished from Italy.

This entry was originally from the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.

The council was also significant for its outlawing the use of crossbows in wars between Christians. This was arguably the first international law against inhumane conduct.