Letter 7024: Four Christians are currently in Jewish servitude in Gaul.

Gregory the Great (Wisigothic)Candidus, Presbyter|c. 600 AD|Pope Gregory the Great|AI-assisted
property economicsslavery captivity

Gregory to Candidus, priest.

Four Christians are currently in Jewish servitude in Gaul. They are to be ransomed and freed. Use the church's resources for this purpose; the ransom of Christians in such situations is exactly what those resources are for.

I need not explain to you why this is important. A Christian in servitude to a non-Christian master is in a spiritually and practically vulnerable position. When the church has the means to address this, it is obligated to do so.

Act promptly.
Gregory

AI-assisted translation — This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek below for scholarly use.

Latin / Greek Original

AD CANDIDUM PRESBYTERUM.

Clrislianos quatuor redimat, qui in Judeorum servitio
Narbone detinebantur.

Gregorius Candido presbytero * nostro per Gallias.

Dominicus presentium portitor lacrymabiliter no-
bis ianotuit quatuor fratres suos de captivitate a Ju-
dzis redemptos esse, alque eos nunc Narbonz ® in
eorumdem Judzorum sgervitio © detineri. Et quia
01anino grave exsecrandumque est Christianos es8e
ia $ervitie Judzorum , dilectionem tvam Sseriptis
prxsentibus adhortamur, ut cum omni $ublilitate el

s0{licitudine $tudeat perscrutari. Et si revera ila

est, atque maniſesta tibi veritate constiterit quia ne-
que ipsi unde $e redimant, neque Suprascriptus por-
titor habet, eos Studii tui sit redimere, sciens quia
quidquid in eis dederis, tuis sine dubio rationibus
imputabiture. 4 Mense Junio, indictione 45. (Cf. Joan.
Diac. l. v1, n. 44.)

Related Letters