Letter 4018: King Theodoric to Anna, Vir Spectabilis [Most Respectable], Count.
King Theodoric to Anna, Vir Spectabilis [Most Respectable], Count.
It is the custom of our clemency to entrust important matters to men of proven loyalty, so that when we appoint judges of mature judgment, there is no room for deception. Some time ago, reports from many sources reached us that a certain Laurentius, a priest, has been digging up graves in search of ghastly riches among human remains -- disturbing the dead, a man who ought to be preaching peace to the living. He is said not to have kept his consecrated hands from this cruel pollution. He reportedly sought gold with abominable greed -- a man whose duty was to give his own wealth to the poor, or at least to gather it honestly.
We order you to investigate this matter with careful examination. If you find the reports to be true, restrain the man's ambition to this extent at least: ensure he cannot conceal what he had no right to find. The crime we leave unpunished out of respect for his priestly office, we believe will be avenged by a higher power.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.
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