Letter 9089
Gregory the Great (Wisigothic)→Unknown|gregory great
From: Pope Gregory I
To: Savanius, Subdeacon
Date: ~599 AD
Context: Gregory orders Savanius to instruct Maria, wife of Pardus the cleric, about money owed from her father's estate
I need you to go to Maria, the wife of the cleric Pardus, and explain to her the situation regarding the inheritance from her deceased father's estate. Certain sums — ounces of gold specified in the original testament — are properly owed and must be handled correctly. Make sure she understands both what she is entitled to and what obligations may attach to those funds. This kind of estate matter tends to generate confusion and dispute when not addressed clearly at the outset. Handle it with care, keep me informed if complications arise.
Latores praesentium Stopaulus* Btque Marcellus, liberti quondam Oomitioli'* ex-
cubitoris, queBti nobis sunt asBerenteB duaB substantiae" suae uncias, quas libertis Buia
isdem dominuB eorum per paginam testamenti^ sui legaverat, ab herede filiaque* ipsius
Marin uxore Pardi clerici necdum sibi' esse completas^. Ut'' et legatum' ipsum dif-
ferre valeat, ab eadem herede^ ipsius status sui sibi fieri terrorem iuBinuant. Et quo-
niam ea quae relicta Bunt tua instantia poatuknt adimpleri, idcirco hac tibi auctoritate
praecipimus, ut praedictam Mariam commoneas, quatenus voluntatem patris auctorisque
sui implere non differat, studiique tui sit, ut nullis contra rationem diBpendiis debeant
subiacere. Quod si forte ab hac se solutione aliqua nititur excUBatione defendere,
mediia sacroBanctis evangeliis causam suptiliter perscrutari et ita quae iustitiae ac legis
ordo suaserit definire te convenit atquc definita effectui mancipare, ut haec ad nos
denuo querella non redeat. Quta vero comperimus duas uncias subatantiae suae prae-
dictum testatorem ecclesiae sancti Georgii', ubi Bepeliri" voluit, legaviese, curae tuae
sif easdem duaa uncias, si necdunt tamen completae erunt, praedicto loco modis om-
nibuB vindicare, ut piae voluntatis iutentio etiam invita herede" ad effectum per omnia
perducatur nec hac in re amplius differri quae relata aunt patiaris. Nam sacrilegium''
et contra leges est, ai quis quod yenerabilibus locis relinquitur pravac voluntatis studtis''
suia temptaverit compendiis retinere.
◆
From: Pope Gregory I
To: Savanius, Subdeacon
Date: ~599 AD
Context: Gregory orders Savanius to instruct Maria, wife of Pardus the cleric, about money owed from her father's estate
I need you to go to Maria, the wife of the cleric Pardus, and explain to her the situation regarding the inheritance from her deceased father's estate. Certain sums — ounces of gold specified in the original testament — are properly owed and must be handled correctly. Make sure she understands both what she is entitled to and what obligations may attach to those funds. This kind of estate matter tends to generate confusion and dispute when not addressed clearly at the outset. Handle it with care, keep me informed if complications arise.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.