Let the aforesaid monks beware of the simoniac heresy, lest, being overcome by the power of kings or prelates, they receive a tyrant in the place of a pastor. This we altogether forbid to be done, and we prohibit that same abbot from presuming to give anything for the sake of his ordination, lest by this occasion those things which are offered or have been offered by the faithful to holy places be consumed. And because the fame of the religious life of the monks serving God has come to our ears—those over whom the man of venerable life Gairaldus is known to preside—favouring the just petitions of the most excellent kings Brunichildis and Theoderic, out of love for the lord Medardus, we grant so great a dignity and security of divine honour, to remain for perpetual time.
Therefore by divine authority, in the stead of the blessed Peter, prince of the apostles, with the consent of all the Roman pontiffs and the will of the whole Roman senate, at the urging of the apostolic man Anseric, bishop of the city of Soissons, and with the favourable judgment of all the bishops of Gaul, we decree that no archbishop or archdeacon shall trouble the brethren of the aforesaid basilica concerning the ordination of their abbot or the assumption of ecclesiastical grades; but according to the prerogative of that place just now recited to you, decreed in the time of our most blessed predecessor the lord Pope John and confirmed by apostolic authority, let the brethren themselves carry out the ordination of their abbot, and let them receive the dignity of ecclesiastical grades.
Let them also celebrate in that same monastery the consecrations of the fonts and the mysteries of the scrutiny. Let them also seek the blessing of the chrism and oil, of the altar, chalice, and corporal, from whatever bishop they will, lest so great an honour be interrupted by any prelate, on any occasion or plea of necessity, and lest the place of such great sublimity be cheapened—the place consecrated by the merits of holy Mary, and of the blessed Peter, and also of the protomartyr, and of the lord Medardus—which we constitute the head of the monasteries of all Gaul, and which we suffer to be subject to no one's dominion. But just as this Roman See declares its watch to the whole world, and sends new customs to all, and is free from the service of all persons,
so let the aforesaid place, with every worst custom of kings, prelates, and judges removed, exhibit to the other monasteries an example of divine religion and honesty, and enjoy over these a full liberty. Let its rectors and sons, present and to come, being placed only under the guardianship of the kings, proclaim by authority the admonition of holy Peter and of his successors, the pontiffs of this holy Roman See. And if necessity presses upon them, let them have recourse to it.
For the sake of this matter, for the brethren who are to be directed on the way of so great a journey, our daughter Queen Brunichildis has conferred, by a grant made eternally in full integrity, fifteen free manses and as many servile ones, near the end of the Alps, and has assigned many other revenues of lands for this cause, situated within the span of that same journey. And she gave the royal fiscs of Tusiacum and Mortinetum jointly for the stipends of the brethren, and thus enclosed by her grant all the estates handed over, or to be handed over, to God and to holy Medardus, so that whoever shall wish to dwell, or shall have settled, upon the lands of the lord Medardus, whether servant or free, of whomsoever he be, shall be deprived of another's dominion and be fitted to the service of the holy Mother, and shall no longer have license to return.
But if he flee, let him be reckoned as a servant of Him and of His holy Church of God. Concerning the altars also, according to the institution of the lord Pope John, we confirm by apostolic authority that whoever shall be rector of the aforesaid monastery shall furthermore be prelate of the altars, and of all the churches belonging to it, and that from thence lights shall be furnished to the chief altar of the aforesaid saints, and that hospitality to pilgrims be practised with reverence. We add also another edict: if for the cause of a capital crime an abbot is to be deposed, let him not be deposed until the deposers seek the apostolic authority, and until there be three metropolitans with their suffragans and very many abbots.
But in the council itself let the accusers each be present with three witnesses, and thus by the sifting of true judgment let them prove that they have seen, so that in the hearing of the council they may bear solemn witness. But at the last let the abbot himself render the reasons of his excuse, and make satisfaction by an oath sworn upon the sacred mysteries of the four Gospels. Then indeed, if he shall have been convicted, let him be deposed as a correction; but if not, let him be restored to his honour, and receive again the mysteries of ecclesiastical dignity, and among the sacred solemnities of the Mass perform the blessing and preaching according to the institutes of the lord Pope John, and lead the life of his conduct by better examples.
To the monks also we set forth this sentence, that none of them be oppressed by envy or hatred of the abbot—which God forbid—nor be punished by the censure of persons from without. But if he shall have offended by the fault of a principal vice, let him be reproved privately within the cloister of that same monastery by the abbot himself and by the spiritual brethren, and let him be separated from the body of the holy congregation. But if, his contumacy persisting, he shall have been cut off, we command him that, taking letters of intercession, he enter whatever monastery he will, or for the cause of penance seek the license of this Apostolic See, and, having received letters from the lord Pope, return free to his own monastery.
All these things therefore, which are contained in the privilege of this apostolic authority and of our decree, we constitute to be observed under anathema by the rectors and sons of the aforesaid monastery, present and future, and by all the monasteries subject to or associated with that place.
But if any of the kings, prelates, judges, or of any secular persons whatsoever, shall violate the decrees of this apostolic authority and of our command, or shall contradict them, or shall hold them negligently, or shall disturb or trouble the brethren, or shall ordain otherwise, of whatsoever dignity or eminence he be, let him be deprived of his honour, and, as a depraver of the Catholic faith and a destroyer of the holy Church of God, let him be severed from the fellowship of Christianity and from the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, and, by the anathema of all the maledictions by which the unfaithful and heretics from the beginning of the world until the present have been condemned, let him be condemned with Judas the betrayer of the Lord in the lower hell, unless by worthy penance he shall have propitiated to himself the clemency of the aforesaid saints and reconciled to himself the common concord of the brethren.
I, Gregory, prelate of the holy Roman See, have subscribed to this privilege. Etherius, archbishop of Arles, subscribed. Gregory, bishop of Porto, subscribed. Andreas, bishop of Albano, subscribed. Augustine, bishop of the Canterburians, subscribed. Anastasius, bishop of Tibur, subscribed. Sergius, bishop of Praeneste, subscribed. Peter, bishop of Anagni, subscribed. Agnellus, bishop of Sutri, subscribed. Mellitus, bishop of London, subscribed. John, bishop of the Velletrians, subscribed. Tiberius, bishop of Silva Candida, subscribed. Marinianus, bishop of the Church of Ravenna, subscribed. Vitulinus, bishop of Siponto, subscribed.
John, bishop of the Syracusans, subscribed. Sabinianus, bishop of the Todians, subscribed. Eulogius, bishop of Alexandria, subscribed. Dominicus, bishop of Carthage, subscribed. Fortunatus, bishop of the Neapolitans, subscribed. John, bishop of Sorrento, subscribed. Primaevius, bishop of the Nursians, subscribed. Felix, bishop of the Portuenses, subscribed. Gloriosus, bishop of the Ostians, subscribed. Constantius, bishop of Narni, subscribed. Constantius, bishop of Milan, subscribed. Sutelius, bishop of the Bordelais, subscribed. Vitalis, bishop of the Vesontians, subscribed. Bonifacius, bishop of Piacenza, subscribed. Siagrius, bishop of the Autunois, subscribed.
Flavius, archbishop of Reims, subscribed. Anseric, bishop of Soissons, subscribed. King Theoderic subscribed. Queen Brunichildis subscribed. I, Peter, notary of the holy Roman See, subscribed and sealed. Given on the seventh day before the Kalends of June, in the year 594 from the Incarnation of the Lord, in the twelfth indiction. Our Lord Jesus Christ reigning forever, in the times of the most pious and most serene lords Maurice Tiberius and Theodosius, the Augusti, in the thirteenth year of the reign of the same lord Emperor Maurice, in the thirteenth indiction, on the fifth day of the month of July. Pope Gregory, sitting before the most holy body of blessed Peter, together with all the bishops and presbyters of the Roman Church, the deacons and the whole clergy standing by, said:
In the holy Roman Church, over which divine dispensation has willed me to preside, there has for some time arisen a custom exceedingly reprehensible, namely that certain men are chosen as cantors for the ministry of the sacred altar, and, being constituted in the order of the diaconate, devote themselves to the modulation of the voice, whom it would have befitted rather to be free for the office of preaching and the practice of almsgiving. Whence it very often comes to pass that, while a bland voice is sought for the sacred ministry, a fitting life is neglected in the seeking, and the cantor-minister provokes God by his morals, while he delights the people by his voice. In which matter, by the present decree, I ordain that in this See the ministers of the sacred altar ought not to sing, and that they discharge only the office of the Gospel reading amid the solemnities of the Mass.
But the Psalms and the remaining lessons I judge should be performed by subdeacons, or, if necessity should require, by those of the minor orders. But if anyone shall attempt to come against this my decree, let him be anathema. And all answered: Let him be anathema. A shamefaced custom has, in a time of indiscretion, grown up, that laymen, boys and seculars, wait upon the pontiffs of this See in the secret services of the bedchamber; whereas, since the life of the pastor ought always to be in example to the disciples, very often the clerics know not what the life of their pontiff is in secret, which nevertheless, as has been said, boys and seculars know.
Concerning which matter, by the present decree I ordain that certain men chosen from the clerics or even from the monks wait upon the ministry of the pontifical bedchamber, so that he who is in the place of governance may have such witnesses as may see his life in his secret converse, and from constant beholding may take an example of advancement. A new custom, and exceedingly reprehensible, has broken out in this Church, namely that when the rectors of the patrimony suspect that urban or rustic estates can pertain to its right, they stamp titles upon them after the manner of the fisc, and that which they judge to pertain to the poor they defend not by judgment but by hands. And whereas through His preachers the Truth says: 「Nothing through contention」 (Philippians
II, 3), they even transgress beyond the very evil of quarrelsome contention; and whatever thing is judged able to pertain to the Church is held by force. Accordingly, by the present decree I ordain that if any of the ecclesiastics shall ever, of his own accord, presume to place titles amid litigation upon a rustic or urban estate, let him be anathema. And all answered: Let him be anathema. But he who presides over the Church, if he himself shall have commanded this to be done, or, though it was done without his command, shall have neglected to punish it with worthy chastisement, let him be anathema. And all answered: Let him be anathema.
Just as the minds of the faithful venerate our unworthiness out of reverence for the blessed apostle Peter, so it behoves our infirmity always to acknowledge itself, and to decline the burdens of veneration lavished upon it. For out of the love of the faithful a custom has broken out for the rectors of this See beyond their merit, that when their bodies are borne to be buried, the people cover these with dalmatics, and rend those same dalmatics to be divided among themselves out of reverence for holiness; and whereas there are present many veils from the sacred bodies of the apostles and martyrs, that which is reserved for great reverence is taken from the body of sinners: concerning which matter, by the present decree I ordain that the bier on which the body of the Roman pontiff is borne to burial be veiled with no covering.
The care of which my decree I judge that the presbyters and deacons of this See should bear. But if any of them shall have neglected to attend to these things in their order, let him be anathema. And all answered: Let him be anathema. Following the ancient rule of the Fathers, I ordain that nothing whatsoever is ever to be accepted for ordinations, neither for the giving of the pallium, nor for the delivery of the charters, nor for that appellation which a new pretence, through ambition, has invented—of the 「pastellus」 (fee). For since the pontiff lays his hand upon the bishop being ordained, the minister reads the Gospel lesson, and the notary writes the letter of his confirmation, just as it does not befit the pontiff to sell the hand which he lays on,
so the minister or notary ought not to sell his voice or his pen in his ordination. But for the ordination, or the pallium, or the charters, or the fee, I forbid that anything at all be given by the same person who is to be ordained or has been ordained. If from the aforesaid things anyone shall perhaps presume to exact or to offer any advantage under such an appellation, he shall lie subject to guilt in the strict examination of the Almighty. But he who has been ordained, if, neither by agreement, nor exacted, nor asked, after receiving the charters and the pallium, shall wish to give anything to any of the clergy merely for the sake of gratitude, we in no way forbid this to be accepted, because his oblation brings in no stain of fault, seeing that it did not proceed from the ambition of the receiver.
We have known many of the ecclesiastical or secular household to hasten to the service of Almighty God, so that, being free from human servitude, they may be able to converse more familiarly in the divine service within monasteries: whom, if we dismiss indiscriminately, we furnish to all an occasion of fleeing the dominion of ecclesiastical law. But if we incautiously hold back those hastening from the service of Almighty God, we are found to deny certain things to Him who gave all things. Whence it is necessary that whosoever, from the servitude of ecclesiastical or secular soldiery, desires to be converted to the service of God, be first proved for some space of time as constituted in the habit;
and if his morals and his conduct give testimony to his good desire, let him be permitted, without retraction, to serve the Almighty Lord in the monastery, so that he may depart free from human servitude who seeks a stricter servitude in the divine service. Gregory, by the grace of God bishop, subscribed to these decrees. Marinianus, bishop of the city of Ravenna, subscribed. Paul, bishop of the city of Nepi. John, bishop of the city of Sorrento. Gratianus of the city of Nomentum. John, bishop of the city of Faterna. Agnellus, bishop of the city of Terracina. Romanus, bishop of the city of Blera. Dominicus, bishop of the city of Centumcellae. Pelagius, bishop of the city of Anagni.
Felix, bishop of the city of Porto. John, bishop of the city of Velletri. Candidus, bishop of the city of Foligno. Luminosus, bishop of the city of Ferentino. Baldinius, bishop of the city of Roselle. Secundinus, bishop of the city of Tauromenium. Martianus, bishop of the city of Ferentum. Honobonus, bishop of the city of Albano. Dominicus, bishop of the city of Otricoli. Constantius, bishop of the city of Narni. Fortunatus, bishop of the city of Naples. Anastasius, bishop of the city of Tibur. Proculus, bishop of the city of Praeneste. Laurentius, presbyter of Saint Sylvester, subscribed. John, presbyter of Saint Vitalis. Speciosus, presbyter of Saint Clement.
Deusdedit, presbyter of Saints John and Paul. Andromachus, presbyter of the Apostles. Graeseus, presbyter of Saint Laurence. Rusticus, presbyter of Saint Susanna. Vibilus, presbyter of Saint Marcellus. Peter, presbyter of Saints Julius and Callistus. Spectatus, presbyter of Saint Vitalis. Stephen, presbyter of Saint Mark. Felix, presbyter of Saint Sixtus. Peter, presbyter of Saint Balbina. Justus, presbyter of Saints Nereus and Achilleus. Speciosus, presbyter of Saint Damasus. Maurus, presbyter of Saint Prisca. Placitus, presbyter of Saint Sabina. Victor of Saint Cecilia. John of Saint Chrysogonus. Aventius of Saint Praxedis. Andreas of Saint Mark. John of Saints John and Paul. Agapitus of the Apostles. Felix of Saint Sabina.
Bonus of Saint Eusebius. Bassus of Saint Prudens. John of Saint Sylvester. Albinus of Saints Marcellinus and Peter. Antonius of Saint Balbina. Candidus of Saint Clement. Romanus of Saint Marcellus. Leo of Saint Damasus. Aventius of Saint Cyriacus. Fortunatus of the Four Holy Crowned Ones. Gregory, by the grace of God bishop, subscribed to these decrees, and the bishops and presbyters, to the number of fifty-eight, confirmed them. Gregory, the most holy apostolic Pope, sitting in synod before the body of the most blessed Peter, said:
Hence, grieving and groaning exceedingly, I say this: that I hear certain persons appointed among the Christians in the regions of the West acting rashly against the Catholic faith and against the statutes of the Fathers, so that they presume to take consecrated women as wives, and join themselves in marriage to their kinswomen. This it is fitting to cut away with the spiritual sword, and, if it please your holiness, to tear out by the very root, lest the crop of the good husbandman, mingled with the bristling tares of the wicked, be defiled. The most holy bishops and venerable presbyters replied: Truly we recognize that the heart of your apostolate has been kindled by the grace of the Holy Spirit, that you may wipe away the squalor of so great a misery from the minds of the faithful.
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Posthancomniumconsonamresponsionem, Gregoriusapostolicuspapaantecorpusmemo: atumvenerabileChristiapostolorumprincipis, inferendosententiamdixit: I. Siquiapresbyteruminconjugiumduxerit, anathemasit. II. Siquispreshy!erveldiaconusduxerituxoremananemasit. III. Siquismonacham, quamDelancillamappellanL, inconjugiumrluleril, anathemasit. IV. Siquiscommatremspiritatemduxeritinconjugium. aNathemasit, v. Siquisfratrisuxoremduxeritinconjugium, anathemasiLVI. SiquisneptemduxeritincopjughUD, analbemasit. VII. Siquisnovercamautnurumsuamduxeritinconjugium, anathemasil. VIII. Siquisconsobrinamduieriti4conjugium, anathemasit.. IX.
After this response, unanimous from all, Gregory the apostolic pope, before the aforesaid venerable body of the prince of Christ's apostles, pronouncing sentence, said: I. If anyone shall take a presbyter into marriage, let him be anathema. II. If any presbyter or deacon shall take a wife, let him be anathema. III. If anyone shall take into marriage a nun, whom they call the handmaid of God, let him be anathema. IV. If anyone shall take into marriage his spiritual co-mother, let him be anathema. V. If anyone shall take into marriage his brother's wife, let him be anathema. VI. If anyone shall take his niece into marriage, let him be anathema. VII. If anyone shall take his stepmother or his daughter-in-law into marriage, let him be anathema. VIII. If anyone shall take his cousin into marriage, let him be anathema. IX.
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Siquisdepropriacognatione, inquacognatashabuit, duxeritinusorem, anathemasit. x. Siquisvirginemrapueritvetfuratus-fueriteam, cumsibiconsentieutibusanathema. sit. X!. SiquisvirginemquamsibinondesponsaveritrapueritTetfuratusfuerititiuxorem, URacumsibifaventibusanathemasit. XM. Siquishariolos, aruspicesvetincantatoresobservaverit, autfilateriis [Fortephylacteriis] ususfuerit, anathemasit. XIII. Siquisin. quamlibetpartempraeceptaanteemissaapostolicaeEcclesiædecamerisetlocisciiversistemeraverit, etnuninomnibusobservaverit, anathemasit. XIV. Siquishomicidiumfecerit, agatpœnitentiam. decemannis, xv.
If anyone shall take as a wife a woman of his own kindred, in which he has blood-relations, let him be anathema. X. If anyone shall seize a virgin or carry her off by stealth, let him, together with those who consented with him, be anathema. XI. If anyone shall seize or carry off by stealth as a wife a virgin whom he has not betrothed to himself, let him, together with those who abetted him, be anathema. XII. If anyone shall consult soothsayers, augurs, or enchanters, or shall make use of phylacteries, let him be anathema. XIII. If anyone shall in any respect violate the precepts previously issued by the apostolic Church concerning chambers and various places, and shall not observe them in all things, let him be anathema. XIV. If anyone shall commit homicide, let him do penance for ten years. XV.
If anyone shall persist in his crime, let him be anathema. XVI. If any of the clergy shall let loose his tonsure, let him be anathema. XVII. And they all answered to each of the chapters, three times: Let him be anathema. I, Gregory, of the holy Catholic and apostolic Roman Church, have subscribed to this constitution promulgated by you. Agnellus, bishop of the city of Ferentum, has subscribed to this constitution promulgated by us. And the rest subscribed. Farewell, etc. Gregory the bishop, servant of the servants of God, to all bishops. How necessary it is to look to the tranquillity of monasteries and to provide for their perpetual security, the office we formerly discharged in the governance of a monastery instructs us.
And because we have learned that in very many monasteries the monks have suffered many injuries and grievous burdens from the prelates, it behooves that the provision of your fraternity should so dispose of their tranquillity for the future by a wholesome ordinance, that those who dwell there in the service of God, with His grace also aiding them, may persevere with a free mind. But lest, out of that custom which most of all needs correcting, anyone should presume to inflict any molestation upon the monks, it is necessary that these things which we have taken care to enumerate below should be so guarded by the bishop through the zeal of your fraternity, that from them no occasion of further disquiet to be inflicted may be found.
We therefore forbid, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by the authority of blessed Peter the prince of the apostles, in whose stead we preside over this Church, we prohibit that any of the bishops or of secular persons should henceforth presume in any manner or on any occasion whatsoever to retain, or to practice any frauds or intrusions concerning the revenues, goods, or charters of monasteries, or concerning the cells or estates which pertain to them. If perchance any suit should arise between land coming into the possession of their Churches and of the monasteries, and it could not be settled peaceably, let it be concluded, of voluntary accord, before chosen abbots and other fathers who fear the Lord, by means of the most holy Gospels. (See Book VIII, letter
5.) Moreover, when the abbot of any congregation is deceased, let no stranger be chosen, but one from the same congregation, whom the concordant society of the brethren shall have chosen for itself by its own free will; and let him who has been elected be ordained without any fraud or venality. But if they cannot find a suitable person among themselves, let them carefully see to obtaining one to be ordained in like manner from other monasteries. Nor, when the abbot is appointed, let any person whatsoever be set over him on any occasion, unless perchance (which God forbid) crimes exist which the sacred canons are shown to punish. Likewise it must be guarded that, against the abbot's will, monks should not be taken thence to ordain other monasteries, or for sacred orders, or the office of the clericate.
We also altogether forbid that the inventories of the goods and charters of a monastery should be made by the bishop as ecclesiastical matters; but if ever occasion requires, let the abbot of the place, together with other brethren, make an account of the goods found, and let matters be concluded by their counsel and judgment without prejudice. Likewise, when the abbot dies, let the bishop in no wise involve himself in describing and providing for the acquired goods of the monastery, or in seeking out things to be acquired.
We also altogether prohibit public Masses to be celebrated by him in the monastery, lest in the retreats of God's servants and their dwelling-places any occasion of popular assembly be afforded, or a new entrance of women be made, which is by no means expedient for their souls; nor let him dare there to set up a chair, or to have any power whatsoever of commanding, nor of making any ordinance however trifling, unless he be requested by the abbot of the place; so that the monks may ever remain under the power of their abbots, and let him keep no monk in any church without the testimony or concession of the abbot, nor promote him to any honor.
This page of our writings, therefore, we decree shall be kept firm and inviolate by all bishops for all future time, so that they may be content, with the Lord's help, only with their own Church, and that monasteries may in no way be subject to ecclesiastical conditions or exactions, or to any secular services whatsoever, nor be enslaved to any canonical claims, but, all vexations and burdens being removed, may perform the divine work with the utmost devotion of soul. All the bishops, presbyters, and deacons said in reply:
We rejoice together in the liberty of the monks, and we confirm what your Beatitude has now decreed concerning these matters. I, Gregory, bishop of the Catholic and apostolic Roman Church, have subscribed to this constitution promulgated by us. Agnellus, bishop of the holy Church of Ferentum, have subscribed to this constitution promulgated by you. John, the humble bishop of Velletri, have subscribed to this constitution promulgated by you. And thus all the other bishops, twenty in number; fourteen presbyters, and four deacons, on the Nones of April, in the fourth indiction (elsewhere, the third). End of the Council. In this council was condemned Andrew, a Greek man living under the monastic habit near the basilica of Saint Paul, being detected as an impostor and forger.
Concerning this matter Gregory writes more fully in Book IX, letter 69 (now letter 74 of Book XI), to Eusebius bishop of Thessalonica. Maximus, a usurper, was raised up in Dalmatia by the soldiers against the wish of the lord pope Gregory, through the eleventh indiction, and continued in contumacy and presumption for seven years. After this, after the chastisement and scourgings of the most blessed and apostolic pope Gregory, having wandered from the Dalmatias, he came to the city of Ravenna to the most blessed archbishop Marinianus, and cast himself down within the city in the middle of the pavement, crying out and saying: I have sinned against God and against the most blessed pope Gregory.
And when penance had been performed for three hours, there came running the exarch Callinicus, Castorius the chartulary of the Roman Church, together with archbishop Marinianus; and being raised up, he began to perform a fuller penance before them. Then Marinianus led him to the holy body of blessed Apollinaris, and he swore, concerning all the things which had been said against him touching adulteries or the simoniac schism, that he was not implicated in them. Then Castorius the chartulary, returning, brought with him the deacon of the same Maximus, Stephen by name, the relator of all the things which had been made satisfaction for by Maximus. Then the most blessed pope Gregory, moved to mercy, dispatched the pallium for the confirmation of the same bishop, that is, on the seventh Kalends of September, in the second indiction.