Letter 8024: We owe all the more to God the greater the gifts we receive beyond other mortals.

From: Athalaric (through Cassiodorus), King of the Ostrogoths To: The Clergy of the Roman Church Date: ~527 AD Context: Athalaric writes to the Roman clergy affirming his commitment to protecting papal elections and church property, positioning the Gothic crown as guardian of ecclesiastical order. We owe all the more to God the greater the gifts we receive beyond other mortals. What can a ruler return to God that is proportionate to the gift of empire? Yet even if our repayment can never match the gift, it pleases us to show our gratitude through reverence for the divine religion. This is why we consider it our highest duty to preserve the peace and dignity of the Roman church. We understand that in the past, certain disorders occurred during papal elections -- that factions contended with unseemly ambition and that church property was sometimes seized by those who had no right to it. We decree by this present authority that such abuses shall cease. No one may dare to plunder ecclesiastical property during a vacancy in the papal see. The election of a pope should proceed with the gravity and reverence that befits the appointment of Christ's vicar. If anyone presumes to seize church goods during a transition, they will face severe punishment. The clergy should know that our protection extends over the entire process -- from the death of one pope to the consecration of the next. We consider the defense of the church as sacred as any military obligation, because the peace of the faith is the foundation upon which the peace of the kingdom rests. Let the election proceed in good order, and let the people of Rome see in their Gothic rulers not oppressors of the faith but its steadfast guardians.

XXIIII. CLERO ECCLESIAE ROMANAE ATHALARICUS REX. [1] Tanto divinitati plurima debemus, quanto a ceteris mortalibus maiora suscipimus: nam quid simile rependat deo, qui potitur imperio? sed licet pro tanto munere nihil compensari possit idonee, ipsi tamen gratia redditur, dum in servientibus honoratur. [2] Itaque flebili aditione causamini hoc fuisse longae consuetudinis institutum, ut, si quis sacrosanctae Romanae ecclesiae servientem aliqua crederet actione pulsandum, ad supra dictae civitatis antistitem negotium suum dicturus occurreret, ne clerus vester forensibus litibus profanatus, officiis potius saecularibus occupetur: addentes diaconum quoque vestrum ad contumeliam religionis tanta executionis acerbitate compulsum, ut saius eum propriae custodiae crederet mancipandum. [3] Presbyterum quin etiam ecclesiae Romanae pro levibus causis asseritis criminaliter impetitum. quod nobis pro ingenita reverentia, quam nostro debemus auctori, displicuisse profitemur, ut, qui pridem sacris meruerant inservire mysteriis, conventionibus inreverenter expositi nefariis iniuriis subiacerent. sed aliorum plectenda subreptio nobis contulit plenissimae laudis eventum, ut causa contingeret praestandi, quae nos caelestibus commendaret auxiliis. [4] Atque ideo considerantes et apostolicae sedis honorem et consulentes desiderio supplicantum praesenti auctoritate moderato ordine definimus, ut, si quispiam ad Romanum clerum aliquem pertinentem in qualibet causa probabili crediderit actione pulsandum, ad beatissimi papae iudicium prius conveniat audiendus, ut aut ipse inter utrosque more suae sanctitatis cognoscat aut causam deleget aequitatis studio terminandam, et si forte, quod credi nefas est, competens desiderium fuerit petitoris elusum, tunc ad saecularia fora iurgaturus occurrat, quando suas petitiones probaverit a supra dictae sedis praesule fuisse contemptas. [5] Quod si quis extiterit tam improbus litigator atque omnium iudicio sacrilega mente damnatus, qui reverentiam tantae sedi exhibere contemnat et aliquid de nostris affatibus crediderit promerendum, ante alicuius conventionis effectum decem librarum auri dispendio feriatur, quae a palatinis sacrarum largitionum protinus exactae per manus saepe memorati antistitis pauperibus erogentur, carensque impetratis negotii quoque sui amissione multetur. dignus est enim duplici poena percelli, qui et divinam reverentiam et nostra iussa temeravit. [6] Sed item vos, quos iudicia nostra venerantur, ecclesiasticis vivite constitutis. magnum scelus est crimen admittere, quos nec conversationem decet habere saecularem: professio vestra vita caelestis est. nolite ad mortalium errores et humilia vota descendere. mundani coerceantur humano iure, vos sanctis moribus oboedite.