Letter 9089: I need you to go to Maria, the wife of the cleric Pardus, and explain to her the situation regarding the inheritance...
The bearers of the present letter, Stopaulus and Marcellus, freedmen of the late Domitiolus the bodyguard [excubitor], have complained to us, asserting that the two ounces [unciae, twelfth shares] of his estate, which their master had bequeathed to those same freedmen of his through the document of his testament, have not yet been made good to them by his heir and daughter Maria, the wife of Pardus the cleric. And that she may be able to put off the legacy itself, they make known that intimidation regarding their status is being inflicted upon them by that same heir. And since the things that have been left can be fulfilled through your insistence, we therefore command you by this authority to admonish the aforesaid Maria, so that she may not defer to fulfill the will of her father and originator [of the bequest], and that it be your concern that they ought not to be subjected to any losses contrary to reason. But if perchance she should strive to defend herself from this payment by some excuse, it is fitting that you investigate the case subtly with the most holy Gospels set in the midst, and thus settle what the order of justice and of the law shall counsel, and consign what has been settled to effect, so that this complaint may not come back to us anew. But since we have learned that the aforesaid testator bequeathed two ounces of his estate to the church of Saint George, where he wished to be buried, let it be your care to claim those same two ounces by all means for the aforesaid place, if they have nevertheless not yet been made good, so that the intention of the pious will may by all means be brought to effect even against the heir's will, and that you not allow the things that have been reported to be deferred any further in this matter. For it is sacrilege and contrary to the laws if anyone should attempt, by the zeal of a depraved will, to retain for his own profit that which is left to venerable places.
AI-assisted translation - This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed.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
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.
Revision history
- 2026-05-27v2.2.34-import
Initial corpus import from modern gregory great retranslated v1.
Fields: letter text, metadata, source links. Source: https://archive.org/details/gregoriiipapaer00churgoog
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