Letter 13013: The church of Saint Martin, which your community has served with devotion, has suffered at the hands of those with...

When the hearts of catholic kings, which are to be stirred up by pontifical admonitions to those things, are so kindled with ardent desire by the prevenient grace of God that those things are even sought of their own accord by them, they are to be granted with a spirit as eager and joyful as that with which those very things which they desire would have had to be asked of them, had they been unwilling to do them. Accordingly, in conformity with the written request of our sons, the most excellent kings Brunhild and her grandson Theoderic, to the church of Saint Martin, which was built in the suburb of the city of Autun by Syagrius, bishop of revered memory, and by our aforesaid most excellent daughter the queen, over which church you are known to preside, we grant, concede, and confirm privileges of this kind by the decree of our present authority, establishing that no one of the kings, no one of the prelates, no one endowed with any rank whatever, nor any other person, shall, under the pretext of any cause or occasion whatever, diminish or carry off any of those things which have already been given to that same church by our above-written most excellent sons, or which in the future shall be conferred upon it from their own property by any others whomsoever; nor apply such things to his own uses, nor grant them to others as though for pious causes as an excuse for his own avarice; but all things which have been offered there, or which shall happen to be offered, we will to be possessed both by you and by those who shall succeed in your office and place, from the present time, unimpaired and without any disturbance, yet in every way to be of profit to the uses of those for whose support and governance they have been granted. Likewise we establish that, when the presbyter of the aforesaid church dies, no other person shall be ordained there by any cunning of fraudulent intrusion, save him whom the king of that same province, with the consent of the clergy, according to the fear of God, shall have chosen and judged fit to be ordained. This too we append to the present chapter, that we may shut out the occasion of avarice: that none of the kings, none of the priests, nor any other person, whether by himself or through a substituted person, shall dare to receive anything, in gold or in any other kind of advantage whatever, in connection with the ordination of that same presbyter or in any matters whatever pertaining to that church; nor shall that same presbyter presume to give anything for the sake of his ordination, lest by this occasion those things which are offered by the faithful to pious places, or have already been offered, be consumed. And since many occasions are sought out there, as is said, by wicked men for the deception of religious persons, we decree that the presbyter of the aforesaid church is by no means to be deprived and deposed, unless the cause of a crime specially demands it. Wherefore it is necessary that, if any complaint of this kind shall arise against him, the bishop of the city of Autun shall not examine the case alone, but, having taken to himself six other fellow-bishops, shall investigate it with this subtle inquiry, so that, with all judging in concord, the censure of canonical strictness may be able either to strike the guilty man or to absolve the innocent one. All these things, therefore, which the page of this our precept and decree contains, we decree to be observed in perpetuity both by you and by all who shall succeed in the order and place in which you are, or by those whom it may concern. But if any of the kings, of the priests, of the judges, and of secular persons, recognizing this page of our constitution, shall attempt to come against it, let him be deprived of the dignity of his power and honor, and let him know that he stands guilty before the divine judgment for the iniquity committed; and unless he either restores those things which have been wrongly carried off by him, or weeps over the unlawful deeds with worthy penance, let him become a stranger to the most sacred body and blood of God our Lord and Redeemer Jesus Christ, and in the eternal examination let him be subject to strict vengeance. But to all who keep what is just toward that same place, may there be the peace of our Lord Jesus Christ, so that both here they may receive the fruit of good action, and before the strict judge may find the rewards of eternal peace.

Quando ad ea quae* catholicomm regum corda pontificalibus sunt monitis provo- canda ita ardenti^ desiderio divina® praeveniente gratia succenduntur^, ut ab eis ultro poscantur®, tanto alacri et laeto sunt animo concedenda, quanto oa^ ipsa quae^ cupiunt, si nollent facere, peti debuerant. Proinde iuxta scripta^ filiomm nostromm praecellentissimoram regum Brunigildis^ ac nepotis ipsius*' Theoderici^ ecclesiae sancti Martini, quae°* in suburbano*^ civitatis Augustodonensis^ a Syagrio reverendae memoriae episcopo et praedicta excellentissima filia nostra regina constmcta^ est, cui praeesse dinosceris, huius modi privilegia praesentis^^ auctoritatis nostrae decreto indulgemus', concedimus atque firmamus statuentes nullum regum, nullum antistitum, nullum qua- cumque praeditum" dignitate vel quemquam^ alium de his quae eidem ecclesiae a supra- scriptis praecellentissimis filiis nostris^ iam donata sunt vel in futuro a^ quibusUbet aliis de proprio {uerint^ iure coUata, sub cuiuslibet causae occasionisve' specie minuere qui Bl. •) ex Ml. *) regnum Bl. ») et add. q\ ▼) in hac Bl. agere tn ras. q1; penrenire B 1. «) sunt om. q*. J) oblata q*; ablate Bl.ql. «) restituere Bl.gl, sed carr. q1. ») inlioita q*. ^) ultionis Bl. «) iuxta Bt ^) et apud om. Bt XIII, 13 tUulum om. una linea vacua relicta q*2.3. ^) ita Bl; (om. ad) ea quae q1.q*1, »ed in e& ad quae corr. q1; (om. ea) quae sdQ*2.3; (om. ad) ea queque q3. credenti Bl. o) divino BL B*l: etcetera reorum superius hac eadem indictione capite VUII de xenodoohio eiusdem civitatis Augustidu- nensis. P) constructum codd. n. 4) presenti Bl, ^) iudulgosimus q*1. ■) predictum Bl, ^) quemoumque q*1. °) regibus add. XIII, 11. 12. ▼) a om. BI.q* — post quibuslibet add. et Bl. ^) fuer Bl. «) occasionis suae Q*. Xin, 13. Cf. privilegium qtiod praecedit, quocum hoc verho tenus concordat. De Lupo, abbate 8. Martini, cf. GaU. Chrifft. IV c. 449, ubi citatur necrologiwn Martinianum fUs terbis: Idibns Octobris depositio d. Lupi abbatis. vel auferre et sive suis usibua applicare vel aliis quasi piia cauais pro suae avaritiae excusatione^ concedere, sed cuncta quac ibi oblata sunt vel» offerri contigerit, tam a te quam ab eis qui in tuo officio locoque successerint a praesenti tempore inlibata et sine inquietudine aliqua volumus* possideri, eorum tamen usibus pro quorum susten- tatione gubemationeque concessa sunt modis omnibus profutura. Item^ constituimus, ut obeunte prcsbytero praedictae ecclesiae non alius ibi qua- cunque obreptionis astutia*' ordinetur, nisi quem rex eiusdem provinciae cum consensu clericorum secundum Dei timorem elegerit ac praeviderit ordinandum "^. Hoc quoque capitulo praesonti subiungimus, ut locum avaritiae secludamus, nullum de regibus, nullum de sacerdotibus vel quemcunqe alium per se suppositamve personam de ordinatione eiusdem presbyteri vel quibuscunque causis ad ecclesiam ipsam per- tinentibus audere* in auro \eV alia qualibet specief^ commodi quicquam accipere neque eundem presbyterum ordinationis suae causa dare praesumerc, ne hac occasione ea quae a fidelibus^ piis locis offeruntur aut iam oblata sunt consumantur. Et quoniam multae occasiones in deceptione religiosarum personarum a pravis illic, ut dicitur, hominibus exquiruntur, presbytorum praedictae ecclesiae nullo modo privandum deponendumque esse^ censemus, nisi causa specialiter criminis exigente. Unde necesse est, ut, si qua contra eum huius modi querella surrexerit, non solus^ episcopus civitatis Augustodonensis^ causam examinet, sed adhibitis sibi sex aliis'" coepiscopis'* suis suptili hoc investigatione ^ perquirat, quatenus cunctis concorditer iudicantibus canonicae districtionis censura aut reum ferire aut innocentem possit absolvere. Haec igitur omnia quae huius praecepti decretique nostri pagina continet tam tibi quam cunctis qui in eo quo es ordine locoque successerint vel eis quorum interesse potuerit in perpetuum servandaP decemimus. Si quis vero regum^, sacerdotum, iudicum atque saecularium personarum hanc constitutionis nostrae paginam agnoscens contra eam venire temptaverit, potestatis honorisque sui dignitate careat reumque se divino iudicio existere de perpetrata iniquitate cognoscat et, nisi vel ca quae ab illo sunt male ablata restituerit vel digna paenitentia inlicite' acta defleverit, a sacratissimo corpore ac sanguine Dei domini redomptoris nostri lesu Christi alienus fiat atque in aetemo examine districtae ultioni'' subiaceat. Cunctis^ autem eidem loco iusta ser- vantibus sit pax Domini nostri lesu Christi, quatenus et hic fructum bonae actionis recipiant et apud districtum iudicem praemia aeternae pacis inveniant".