Letter 3037: If your blessedness is called upon in other people's cases to settle quarrels, how much more should a matter be...
Cassiodorus→Peter|c. 522 AD|Cassiodorus
property economics
From: Theoderic (through Cassiodorus), King of the Ostrogoths
To: Peter, Bishop
Date: ~522 AD
Context: Theoderic refers a disputed inheritance case to the bishop, noting that since the bishop's church is the interested party, the bishop himself should judge fairly or the case will be escalated to the king.
If your blessedness is called upon in other people's cases to settle quarrels, how much more should a matter be referred to you when you are the interested party? Therefore, let your holiness know that Germanus has come to us with a tearful plea, claiming to be the legitimate son of the late Thomatis and saying that you are holding a portion of his father's estate that rightfully belongs to him by law.
If this petition is supported by the truth and you acknowledge that his father's property lawfully belongs to the petitioner, then in the interest of the justice you preach, let what is owed be granted without the cost of prolonged litigation. The quality of your own cases should be settled by your own judgment as judges -- justice is something to be expected from you more than imposed upon you. But if your judgment fails to resolve this case with fairness, know that the petitioner's complaint will be brought to our own hearing. You yourselves teach that the voices of the poor must not be neglected when justice accompanies them.
XXXVII. PETRO EPISCOPO THEODERICUS REX.
[1] Si in alienis causis beatitudinem tuam convenit adhiberi, ut per vos iurgantium strepitus conquiescat, quanto magis ad vos remitti debet quod vos spectat auctores? atque ideo sanctitas vestra a Germano nos aditos flebili allegatione cognoscat, qui se filium legitimum asserit quondam Thomatis, dicens partem facultatis patris sui a vobis detineri sibimet legibus competentem. [2] Quae petitio si veritate fulcitur et genitoris eius substantiam probatis iure competere supplicanti, considerata iustitia, quam monetis, sine observationis longae dispendio debita tribuantur, quoniam causarum vestrarum qualitas vobis debet iudicibus terminari, a quo expectanda est magis quam vobis. imponenda iustitia. quod si hanc causam sub aequitate vestrum minime definit arbitrium, noveritis supplicis querelam ad nostram audientiam perducendam. vos enim docetis voces pauperum non debere neglegi, quas potest iustitia comitari.
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From:Theoderic (through Cassiodorus), King of the Ostrogoths
To:Peter, Bishop
Date:~522 AD
Context:Theoderic refers a disputed inheritance case to the bishop, noting that since the bishop's church is the interested party, the bishop himself should judge fairly or the case will be escalated to the king.
If your blessedness is called upon in other people's cases to settle quarrels, how much more should a matter be referred to you when you are the interested party? Therefore, let your holiness know that Germanus has come to us with a tearful plea, claiming to be the legitimate son of the late Thomatis and saying that you are holding a portion of his father's estate that rightfully belongs to him by law.
If this petition is supported by the truth and you acknowledge that his father's property lawfully belongs to the petitioner, then in the interest of the justice you preach, let what is owed be granted without the cost of prolonged litigation. The quality of your own cases should be settled by your own judgment as judges -- justice is something to be expected from you more than imposed upon you. But if your judgment fails to resolve this case with fairness, know that the petitioner's complaint will be brought to our own hearing. You yourselves teach that the voices of the poor must not be neglected when justice accompanies them.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.