Cassiodorus: Epistulae Theodericianae Variae

[1] Apud magnanimitatis tua excursus constare manifestum est pro quibuslibet intervenire pontificem ministerii sui qualitate constringi. Christianae mentis vestrae pietate confisus virum spectabilem Constantium credidi vobis meis litteris intimandun, utpote qui pro quolibet homine supplicare sacerdotalis officii ratione convenior.

[1] From the sallies of your magnanimity it is manifest that the pontiff, by the quality of his ministry, is constrained to intervene on behalf of anyone whatsoever. Trusting in the piety of your Christian mind, I judged that the man of Spectabilis rank, Constantius, should be made known to you by my letters, inasmuch as I, by the rule of sacerdotal office, am called upon to supplicate for any man whatsoever.

II. TEIAE COMITI GELASIUS.

2. GELASIUS TO TEIA, THE COUNT.

[1] Si conscientia secura est Eucharisti, aut solus huc ante venire non debuit, cum accusator eius aegritudine teneretur, aut postea quam accusator eius huc venit, hic potius debuit permanere, donec in praesenti accusatore suo manifestissime confutato suam nobis innocentiam manifestissime conprobaret. nos tamen eius causa iustitiam reservantes, quamvis intellegamus tergiversationibus eum suis audientiam declinare, in qua fallere omnino non posset, defensorem Anastasium cum praeceptione direximus, ut, si se confideret posse purgari, ad nostrum properaret examen, ubi convenienter ab accusatoris obiectionibus expeditus liber apud nos posset existere; quod si non fecisset, sciret de conscientia sua se esse confessum.

[1] If the conscience of Eucharistus is secure, either he ought not to have come hither alone before, when his accuser was held by sickness, or, after his accuser came hither, he rather ought to have remained here until, with his own accuser present and most manifestly confuted, he most manifestly proved his innocence to us. We, however, preserving justice on his behalf, although we understand that by his own tergiversations he declines a hearing in which he could in no way deceive, have sent the defender Anastasius with a precept, that, if he trusted that he could purge himself, he should hasten to our examination, where, suitably disencumbered and free from the accuser’s objections, he could stand with us; but if he should not do this, let him know that by his conscience he has confessed himself.

[2] Item. quod dicis non apud me Fausti debere verba proferri accusantis Eucharistum, quia ipse eum ante laudaret, tanto magis huic credendum est, qui scelus eius ex ipsa verius potuit familiaritate cognoscere. quod in tantum verum esse monstratur, ut ad Faustum convincendum nullatenus venire praesumat: quod utique, si conscientiam ab obiectionibus Fausti liberam se habere confideret, etiam nullo mandante facere debuisset.

[2] Likewise. As to your saying that the words of Faustus, the accuser of Eucharistus, ought not to be brought forward before me because he himself had previously lauded him, so much the more must this man be believed, who could more truly have recognized his crime from that very familiarity. This is shown to be so true that he by no means presumes to come to refute (convict) Faustus; which indeed, if he trusted that he held his conscience free from Faustus’s objections, he ought to have done even with no one mandating it.

[3] Item. dicit tua nobilitas nescio quos illic parentes Fausti iam fuisse convictos. tanto magis fiducialius huc Eucharistus properare debuerat, ut et Faustum sic ut proximos de mendacii concinnatione, quod dictum est saepe, convinceret.

[3] Likewise. Your Nobility says that certain, I know not which, relatives of Faustus have already there been convicted. All the more confidently ought Eucharistus to have hastened hither, so that he might also convict Faustus, just as the kinsmen, of the concoction of a lie, as has often been said.

neque enim parentes Fausti contra Eucharistum apud nos querimoniam commoverunt, sed eum hic Faustus positus accusat. non ergo ad nos pertinet, si illos convicit, qui eius apud nos non fecerant mentionem aut nunc etiam ad accusandum Eucharistum venire dissimulant, nisi Faustum, qui in eius accusatione persistit, in nostra examinatione convincat. quid autem visum fuerit nobilitati tuae, ut mihi iniuriam faceretis, ignoro, dum putatis, quia de nostro iudicio causa deberet auferri, et ad episcopos intra provinciam positos pro Eucharisti et sociorum voluntate transferri: quod non poterit ulla omnino ratione fieri.

for neither have the parents of Faustus stirred a querimony against Eucharistus before us, but here Faustus himself, being present, accuses him. therefore it does not pertain to us, if he has convicted those who had not made mention of him before us, or who even now dissimulate to come to accuse Eucharistus, unless he should convict Faustus, who persists in his accusation, in our examination. but what seemed good to your nobility, that you should do me an injury, I do not know, while you suppose that the case ought to be removed from our judgment, and transferred to the bishops placed within the province according to the will of Eucharistus and his associates: which cannot in any way whatsoever be done.

[4] Item. nobilitatem tuam magis ac magis commonemus, ut se ab ecclesiasticis causis et rebus abstinere dignetur et permittas omni exagitatione cessante religionis regulam custodiri, praecipue cum te alterius communionis non dubium sit, nec personam tuam debeas rebus ad te non pertinentibus qualibet intentione miscere, ne nos conpellas, ut supra diximus, ad domnum filium meum regem haec omnia missa relatione referre, quia, cum ipse pro sua sapientia causis ecclesiasticis in nullo velit esse contrarius, iustum est, ut quicumque sub illius regno vivit, quod facit rex magnificus imitetur, ne videatur supra illius tendere voluntatem.

[4] Likewise. We more and more admonish your nobility to deign to abstain from ecclesiastical causes and matters, and to permit, with all agitation ceasing, the rule of religion to be kept, especially since it is not doubtful that you are of another communion, nor ought you, under any intention, to mix your person in matters not pertaining to you, lest you compel us, as we said above, to report all these things, with a sent relation, to my lord, my son, the king; because, since he himself by his wisdom wills to be in no way contrary to ecclesiastical causes, it is just that whoever lives under his reign should imitate what the magnificent king does, lest he seem to stretch beyond his will.

III. [GELASIUS] THEODERICO REGI.

3. [GELASIUS] TO THEODERIC THE KING.

[1] Magnificentia vestra perpendit sacerdotalis me officii necessitate constringi, ut apud clementiam vestram, quam constat omnia librare sapienter, intercessor accedam.

[1] Your Magnificence considers that I am constrained by the necessity of my sacerdotal office, so that I may approach before your clemency, which is known to weigh all things wisely, as an intercessor.

IIII. GELASIUS HERELEUVAE REGINAE.

4. GELASIUS TO HERELEUVA THE QUEEN.

[1] Qui pro victu pauperum domino filio meo excellentissimo regi cum meis litteris supplicaret, Petrum ecclesiae defensorem dirigere properavi. quo veniente sublimitatem quoque tuam salutare non destiti, plurimum deprecans, ut pro vestrae salutis et prosperitatis augmentis egentium causas iuvare dignemini. data V. k. Mar.

[1] He who would petition, with my letters, for the victual of the poor from my lord and son, the most excellent king, I have hastened to dispatch—Peter, defender of the church. Upon his coming I did not cease to salute your Sublimity as well, most earnestly beseeching that, for the increase of your safety and prosperity, you deign to aid the causes of the needy. given on the 5th day before the Kalends of March.

V. GELASIUS ERELEUVAE.

5. GELASIUS TO ERELEUVA.

[1] Felicem et Petrum Nolanae ecclesiae clericos surripere potuisse sensibus vestrae sublimitatis admiror, ut contra divinas humanasque leges ecclesiastica privilegia respuentes suppresso nomine clericali ad iudicia publica convolarent, quando imperialibus constitutis inter huiusmodi personas quicquid sedes apostolica censuisset, decretum fuerit oportere servari, non solum domno filio meo, magnifico regi illudentes, veluti laici contra proprium praecepta regia deposcerent sacerdotem, sed etiam adhibitis barbaris sub nomine domus vestrae in eiusdem praesulis sui perniciem necemque saevierint, cum iustis ex causis ante convicti, quod ecclesiasticam pecuniam reddere cogerentur, magna sit eis sui humanitate pontificis quantitas relaxata. quia ergo pervidet vestra sublimitas etiam in apostolicae sedis contumeliam eos fuisse progressos, officio meae salutationis accepto precamur, ut privilegia beati apostoli Petri, quae divinis humanisque legibus concessit antiquitas, nulla patiamini subreptione convelli.

[1] I marvel that Felix and Peter, clerics of the Nolan church, could have eluded the senses of your Sublimity, so that, rejecting ecclesiastical privileges against divine and human laws, and with their clerical name suppressed, they should fly to the public courts, whereas by imperial constitutions it has been decreed that among persons of this sort whatever the Apostolic See should have judged must be observed—not only mocking my lord son, the magnificent king, as though, like laymen, they demanded a priest contrary to his own royal precepts, but even, barbarians having been brought in under the name of your house, they raged to the ruin and death of that same their prelate (bishop); although, previously convicted for just causes—namely, that they should be compelled to restore ecclesiastical money—a great amount had been remitted to them by the humanity of their own pontiff. Since therefore your Sublimity perceives that they have even advanced to an affront against the Apostolic See, with the office of my salutation received we beseech that you suffer not the privileges of the blessed apostle Peter, which antiquity granted by divine and human laws, to be torn by any subreption.

VI. GELASIUS THEODERICO REGI.

6. GELASIUS TO KING THEODERIC.

[1] Certum est magnificentiam vestram leges Romanorum principum, quas in negotiis hominum custodiendas esse praecepit, multo magis circa reverentiam beati Petri apostoli pro suae felicitatis augmento velle servari.

[1] It is certain that Your Magnificence wishes the laws of the Roman princes, which he has enjoined to be kept in the affairs of men, to be observed much more with regard to the reverence of the blessed apostle Peter, for the augmentation of your felicity.

VII. GELASIUS PAPA GERONTIO ET IOHANNI EPISCOPIS.

7. GELASIUS THE POPE TO GERONTIUS AND JOHN, BISHOPS.

[1] Frater et coepiscopus noster Serenus tantis est contumeliis appetitus, ut non sine nostra fuerit lacessitus iniuria, quia ad comitatum domini filii nostri regis pro immanitate facti venire compulsus est. hunc ergo omnibus decet a nobis solacii adiuvari, quia cunctis crescit, quicquid in tali causa probatur impensum.

[1] Our brother and fellow-bishop Serenus has been assailed by such great contumelies that he has not been provoked without injury to us, because he was compelled to come to the court of the lord, our son the king, on account of the immanity of the deed. Therefore it befits all that this man be helped by solace from us, since for all there increases whatever is proved to have been expended in such a cause.

VIII. GELASIUS QUINIGESIO ET CONSTANTINO EPISCOPIS.

8. GELASIUS TO QUINIGESIUS AND CONSTANTINUS, BISHOPS.

[1] Felix et Petrus ecclesiae Nolanae clerici contumaciter et contra constitutum rebelles ad comitatum filii mei regis putaverunt esse properandum dicentes sibi vim fuisse generatam tacito clericatus officio; et auctoritate promerita contra civilitatem redemptis sibi barbaris supra scriptum episcopum suum gravibus iniuriis et dispendiis affecerunt. proinde necessarium fuit, ut ad eundem dominum filium meum supra dictus frater noster Serenus episcopus convolaret ostensaque fraude secundum beatitudinem temporum suorum vir praecellentissimus filius meus Theodoricus rex ad nostrum contumaces clericos remisit examen.

[1] Felix and Peter, clerics of the church of Nola, contumaciously and in rebellion against the constituted ordinance, thought there must be a hurrying to the court of my son the king, saying that violence had been engendered against them, with the office of the clerical state kept tacit; and, by a self-claimed authority against civility, having hired barbarians for themselves, they afflicted their aforesaid bishop with grievous injuries and losses. Therefore it was necessary that to that same lord, my son, the aforesaid our brother Serenus the bishop should hasten; and the fraud having been shown, according to the blessedness of his times, the most preeminent man, my son Theodoric the king, remitted the contumacious clerics to our examination.

VIIII. PRAECEPTUM REGIS THEODERICI.

9. THE PRECEPT OF KING THEODERIC.

[1] Domitori orbis, praesuli et reparatori libertatis senatui urbis Romae Flavius

[1] To the subduer of the world, the president and repairer of liberty, to the senate of the city of Rome, Flavius

Theodericus rex. Pervenit ad nos, patres conscripti, de ecclesiae missa utilitate suggestio et nostrae mansuetudinis grata sacri coetus vestri ordinatio corda pulsavit. et licet post venerabilem synodum ad huiusmodi decreta vestri sufficiat ordinatio sola iudicii, tamen pro vestra huiusmodi praesentibus oraculis dedimus consultatione responsum, ut nulli fas sit ecclesiae cuiuslibet antistiti sub qualibet alienatione de proprietate contractus.

Theoderic the king. It has come to us, Conscript Fathers, a suggestion about the utility sent from the Church, and the agreeable ordinance of your sacred assembly has struck the heart of our clemency. And although after the venerable synod, for decrees of this sort, the sole ordinance of your judgment would suffice, nevertheless, on behalf of your present oracles of this kind, we have given a response upon consultation: that it be lawful for no prelate (antistes) of any church, under any manner of alienation, to enter into a contract concerning property.

usumfructum plane suum cui salva voluerint aequitate praestabunt. neque enim frustrari [debet] sola pontificis voluntate vel cleri peregrinis debita omnibus vel statui ecclesiae res delata. quid enim tam profanum est quam ut in hac largientis parte violetur arbitrium, dum quod ad ecclesiam quisque voluit pertinere, privatae sibi vindicent pro usufructu rei personae contractum.

the usufruct is plainly their own; they will bestow it upon whom they wish, with equity safeguarded. For neither ought, by the will of the pontiff alone or of the clergy, either what is owed to all foreigners (peregrines) or property conveyed to the estate of the Church to be frustrated. For what is so profane as that, in this portion belonging to the donor, discretion be violated, while that which anyone wished to pertain to the Church private persons claim for themselves under a personal contract for the usufruct of the thing?

ergo si quis scelestis ausibus interdicta praesumpserit et ultra usumfructum rem tenere cupit episcopo vel clero largiente, alienata res protinus cum fructibus a venerando praesule vindicentur. et cetera.

therefore, if anyone, with wicked daring, shall have presumed the interdicted things and desires, beyond the usufruct, to hold the property, with the bishop or the clergy granting, let the alienated thing at once, together with the fruits, be vindicated by the venerable prelate. and the rest.

Data V idus Martias Ravenna Venantio v. c. consule.

Given on the 5th day before the Ides of March at Ravenna, in the consulship of Venantius, a most distinguished man.