Editing Priscillian (section)

==Opposition==
His notable opponents in Hispania were [[Hyginus of Córdoba|Hyginus]], bishop of [[Corduba]], and Hydatius, bishop of [[Augusta Emerita]]. They accused Priscillian's teachings of being [[Gnosticism|gnostic]] in nature.{{sfn|SMT|2012}} Through his intolerance of and severity toward Priscillian, Hydatius promoted rather than prevented the spread of his sect.{{sfn|Wace|1911|p=}}
Hydatius convened a synod held at [[Caesaraugusta]] in 380. Ten bishops were present at this synod from Spain, and two from Aquitaine, Delphinus of Bordeaux, and Phœbadus of Agen.{{sfn|Herzog|Hauck|Jackson|Sherman|1910|p=}} Although neither Priscillian nor any of his followers attended, he wrote in reply his third tract justifying the reading of apocryphal literature, without denying that their contents were partly spurious.{{sfn|Herzog|Hauck|Jackson|Sherman|1910|p=}}

Neither Priscillian nor any of his disciples are mentioned in the decrees. The synod forbade certain practices. It forbade assumption of the title of "doctor", and forbade [[cleric]]s from becoming monks on the motivation of a more perfect life; women were not to be given the title of "[[Virginity|virgins]]" until they had reached the age of forty. [[Michael Kulikowski]] characterizes the concern at Zaragoza as the relationship between town and country, and the authority of the urban episcopacy over religious practice in outlying rural areas.{{sfn|Kulikowski|2010|pp=244-250}}

In the immediate aftermath of the synod, Priscillian was elected bishop of [[Ávila, Spain|Abila or Abela]], and was consecrated by Instantius and Salvianus.{{sfn|Wace|1911|p=}} Priscillian was now a [[suffragan]] of Ithacius of [[Diocese of Ossonoba|Ossonoba]], the [[metropolitan bishop]] of [[Lusitania]], whom he attempted to oust, but who then obtained from the emperor Gratian an edict against "false bishops and [[Manichaeism|Manichees]]". This was a threat against the Priscillianists, since the Roman Empire had banned Manichaeism long before it legalized Christianity.{{sfn|Hughes|1979|pp=27-28}} Consequently, the three bishops, Instantius, Salvianus and Priscillian, went in person to Rome, to present their case before [[Pope Damasus I]], himself a native of Hispania. Neither the Pope nor [[Ambrose]], bishop of [[Mediolanum]], where the emperor resided, granted them an audience. Salvianus died in Rome, but through the intervention of Macedonius, the imperial ''[[magister officiorum]]'' and an enemy of Ambrose, they succeeded in procuring the withdrawal of Gratian's edict, and an order for the arrest of Ithacius. Instantius and Priscillian, returning to Spain, regained their sees and churches.

A sudden change occurred in 383, when the governor of Britain, [[Magnus Maximus]], rebelled against [[Gratian (359-383)|Gratian]], who marched against him but was assassinated. Maximus was recognized as emperor of [[Roman Britain|Britain]], [[Roman Gaul|Gaul]] and [[Roman Spain|Spain]], and made [[Augusta Treverorum]], in [[Gallia Belgica]], his residence.

There Ithacius presented his case against Priscillian, and Maximus ordered a [[synod]] convened at [[Burdigala]] in 384. After this, the matter was transferred to the secular court at Augusta Treverorum. Ithacius and Hydatius of Mérida both went there for the trial. Sulpicius Severus notes that [[Martin of Tours]] protested to the Emperor against the ruling, which said that the accused who went to Treves should be imprisoned.{{sfn|Jorge|2006}} Maximus, a Spaniard by birth, treated the matter not as one of ecclesiastical rivalry but as one of morality and society.{{sfn|Wace|1911|p=}} He is also said to have wished to enrich his treasury by confiscation of the property of the condemned.{{sfn|Healy|1911}}

At Augusta Treverorum, Priscillian was tried by a secular court on criminal charges that included sorcery, a capital offence. Priscillian was questioned and forced to make the confession that he studied obscene doctrines, held nocturnal meetings with shameful women, and prayed while naked.{{sfn|Bosmajian|1999|p=20}}{{sfn|Kronenfeld|1998|p=19}} Consequently, he was charged with practicing magic (maleficium), for which he was convicted and sentenced to death.{{sfn |Salzman|Sághy|Testa|2015|p=167}} Ithacius was his chief accuser. Priscillian was condemned and, with five of his companions, executed by the sword in 385.{{sfn|Burrus|1995|p=97}}{{sfn|Hughes|1979| pp=27-28}} Priscillian's execution is seen as the first example of secular justice intervening in an ecclesiastical matter{{sfn|Jorge|2006}} and the first Christian killed by other Christians for heresy.{{sfn|Webster|2019}}