Letter 13020: Brothers, I have appointed Bishop Venerius as visitor to your communities, and I write to ask you to receive him...

To the people of Tauriana, Turres, and Consentia [Calabrian sees]. Learning of the death of your bishop, it has been our care solemnly to delegate to our brother and fellow bishop Venerius [bishop of Ravenna] the visitation of the bereaved church. To him we have given it in charge that he should permit nothing concerning the promotions of clerics, their revenue, the church furnishings, and the ministries to be usurped by anyone. It is fitting that you obey him with unremitting exhortations; and, all commotion having been removed, with one and the same consent seek to have set over you as your priest such a man as in no respect departs from the venerable canons and may be found worthy of so great a ministry; who, when he has been requested, with the solemnity of a decree strengthened by the subscriptions of all and accompanied by the document of the visitor, may come to us to be ordained: taking care before all things that you do not presume to elect a layman, of whatever life or merit he be. And not only shall such a man by no means be advanced to the summit of the episcopate, but you yourselves are also to know that you can obtain pardon by no intercessions; rather, know without doubt that all those among you who are shown to have aspired on behalf of a lay person are to be made strangers to office and to communion. [The remainder of the manuscript consists of the critical edition's editorial apparatus: collations of manuscript variant readings for the headings and text of letters XIII, 19 and XIII, 20, and editorial footnotes. The footnotes note: of which church this bishop was, I do not know; namely the bishop of Ravenna, concerning whom compare epistle V, 51 note 5; of which church this bishop was, I do not know; concerning these matters compare the Liber Diurnus 10, 11 and the preceding epistle; the same word "oraculum" occurs in Liber Diurnus 32 and in Paulus the Deacon IV, 46, 47, 48; compare Ewald in Neues Archiv VII, 595. Letter XIII, 20 was written according to the formula concerning which compare epistle II, 40 note. Compare the following epistle, in which the bishop of Consentia is omitted; the bishop of Consentia had been Palumbus, concerning whom compare epistle VIII, 3 note 3. This material is not part of the letter itself.]

TAURIANIS, TURRIS ET CONSENTIAS. Yestri antistitis obitum cognoscentes, curae nobis fuit destitutae ecclesiae visi- tationem fratri et coepiscopo nostro Venerio* soUemniter delcgare**. Cui dedimus in XIII, 19 in titulo: sub a66r. q1 — Kaveuuatifl Bl; Raveunati q1. H* 1; Kavenuae q*.q3. *) suae om. Q*l. capitulare q*.qS. ex 8ad corr. q1; »i at Bl; ad {ovi. si) q* 1. ipsud H t. inter in peragendis q1. fueraut in fueruut corr. Bl. ^) et add. B 1. 1) protectionibus Bl. XIII, 20 in titulo: et om. H* l. ») Benerio Hl. »>) deligaro R1.q*1 — hic add.: et reliqua ut superius ad panormitauam ecclam H* 1 el cet. om. 1) Cuius ecdesiae episcopus fuerit, }%€Scio. 2) SciHcet episcopum Bavemiatem, de quo cf. ep. V, 51 n. 5. 3) Cuius ecdeaiae episcopus fuerit, nescio. 4) De his causis cf. f, Diumi 10. 11 et ep. praeced. etc. 5) Idem verhum oraculum ooct*rrit in f. Diumi 32 et apud Paxd. diac. IV, 46. 47. 48. Cf. EwaM in N. A. VII, 595. XIII, 20 scripta est secundum formulam, de r/ua cf. ep. II, 40 n. Cf. ep. sequentem, in qua episcopus Consentinus omissus est; Consentiae episcopus fuerat Palumbus, de quo cf. ep. VIII, 3 n. 3. mandatis, ut nihil de provectionibus clericorum, reditu, ornatu ministeriisque a*' quoquam usurpari^^patiatur. Cui vos adsiduis adhortationibus convenit oboedire : et remoto strepitu uno eodemque consensu talem vobis praeficiendum expetite sacerdotem, qui et a^* venerandis canonibus nulla discrepet ratione et tanto ministerio dignus valeat repperiri; qui, dum fuerit postulatus, cum sollemnitate decreti omnium subscriptionibus® roborati et visitatoris pagina prosequente ad nos veniat ordinandus: provisuri ante omnia, ne cuiuslibet vitae vel meriti' laicam personam praesumatis eligere. Et non solum ille ad episcopatus apicem nulla ratione provehatur^, verum etiam vos nullis intercessionibus veniam promereri posse cognoscite, sed omnes quos ex vobis de laica persona adspirasse constiterit, ab officio et a communione alienos faciendos procul dubio** noveritis.