The Presbyters Project

Chapter 14

Ut nullus praesul vel ecclesiae vel monasterii servum aut originarium, nolentibus dominis, sub nomine religioso defendat: honoris et communionis periculum subiturus, quisquis hoc perpetrare tentaverit.

14. Generalis etiam querelae vitanda praesumptio est, qua propemodum causantur universi, passim servos et originarios, dominorum iura possessionumque fugientes, sub religiosae conversationis obtentu vel ad monasteria sese conferre, vel ad ecclesiasticum famulatum conniventibus quoque praesulibus indifferenter admitti. Quae modis omnibus est amovenda pernicies, ne per Christiani nominis institutum aut aliena pervadi, aut publica videatur disciplina subverti: praecipue quum nec ipsam ministerii clericalis hac obligatione fuscari conveniat dignitatem, cogaturque pro statu militantium sibi conditioneque iurgari, aut videri, quod absit, obnoxia. Quibus sollicita competenter interdictione prohibitis, quisquis episcopus, presbyter aut diaconus, vel eorum qui monasteriis praeesse noscuntur, huiusmodi personas apud se tenentes non restituendas patronis, aut deinceps vel ecclesiasticae servituti vel religiosis congregationibus putaverint applicandas, nisi voluntate forsitan dominorum sub scripturae testimonio primitus absolutas aut legitima transactione concessas, periculum se honoris proprii non ambigant communionisque subituros, si super hac re cuiusquam verax nos querela pulsaverit. "Magnis quippe studiis" secundum beatum apostolum "praecavendum est, ne fides et disciplina Domini blasphemetur".

(ed. Thiel 1868: 360-361.370-371)

Chapter 14

That no superiors should protect the slave or originarius of a church or monastery in the name of religion if the owners are unwilling: whoever has attempted to do this will put his position and his communion in danger.

14. There is also a general agreement that the quarrel should be avoided. But the quarrel is caused by all those who under the guise of a religious way of life either accept themselves to the monasteries or admitted to the ecclesiastical servitude with the connivance of their superiors those slaves and originarii, who are fleeing the lawful possession of their owners. This source of harm must be removed by all means, lest either alien ideas spread under the name of Christian institution or public discipline be undermined; especially since it is not appropriate for the dignity of the clerical ministry itself to be blackened by this entanglement and forced by the status and condition of those fighting with it to be blamed, or (heaven forgive!) regarded as liable. When these things have properly been forbidden through a punctilious interdict, any bishop, presbyter, or deacon, or responsible for a monastery, who are keeping people of this kind with them and not returning them to their patrons, or who have considered that these people should be directed to the service of the church or to religious congregations (except perhaps by the written document from the owners attesting that they have been previously absolved or that they left by a legal transaction) should be in no doubt that they are endangering their own position and communion, if a truthful complaint from somebody should arraign us about this matter. Indeed it should be guarded against with great effort, according to the blessed apostle, "lest the faith and discipline of the Lord be defamed" [1 Tim 6.1].

(trans. Neil - Allen 2014: 144.151, slightly altered)

Discussion:

Letter 14 of Pope Gelasius, written on 11 March 494, was addressed to the bishops of Lucania and Bruttium (i.e. nowadays Calabria) and Sicily. They were under Gelasius' direct metropolitan jurisdiction. The long letter is a "decretal" and contains mainly various norms regulating the rights and obligation of clergy.

This chapter is interesting for us mainly because it shows presbyters (and deacons) being in charge of lower ecclesiastical staff. However, it cannot be excluded that the fugitives described in the letter could arrive at higher orders, too.

Place of event:

Region

Rome
Italy south of Rome and Sicily

City

Rome

About the source:

Author: Gelasius I
Title: Epistulae, Letters
Origin: Rome (Rome)
Denomination: Catholic/Nicene/Chalcedonian

Gelasius I was the bishop of Rome between AD 492 and 496.

Edition:

Thiel A. ed., Epistulae Romanorum pontificum genuinae et quae ad eos scriptae sunt a S. Hilario usque ad Pelagium II, 1, Braunsberg 1868, 287-510.

Translation:

B. Neil, P. Allen edd., The Letters of Gelasius I (492-496): Pastor and Micro-Manager of the Church of Rome, Turnhout 2014.

Bibliography:

B. Neil, P. Allen edd., The Letters of Gelasius I (492-496): Pastor and Micro-Manager of the Church of Rome, Turnhout 2014.

Categories:

Social origin or status - Slaves

Described by a title - Presbyter/πρεσβύτερος

Private law - Secular

Economic status and activity - Slave ownership

Relation with - Slave/Servant

Ecclesiastical administration

Equal prerogatives of presbyters and bishops

Equal prerogatives of presbyters and deacons

Pastoral activity - Granting asylum

Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL: S. Adamiak, Presbyters in the Late Antique West, ER1885, http://www.presbytersproject.ihuw.pl/index.php?id=6&SourceID=1885