A letter from Gregory I, pope (599, April)

Translated letter:

Gregory to abbess Bona Ecclesiastical service does not suffer loss if, once the truth is known, it restores property to others requesting it. And so we have learned that John, the late priest of the holy Roman church that by God’s will we have served zealously, built an oratory in a house in his possession located in this city of Rome near the baths of Agrippa and left therein certain revenues in the name of a bequest; further he established that in the oratory there would be a society of God’s servants; and in the document of his will he enjoined our predecessor of holy memory Pelagius that all these things should be carried out. But because he was seized by death he did not succeed in fulfilling this, and because the house itself with its garden is held by agents of our church, consideration of justice powerfully urges us to fulfill the judgment of this sort of pious disposition. But since, due to difficult times, a new society of God’s servants could not be brought there, we have decided to establish there at least a society of women. Therefore we have both provided to consecrate solemnly that place and, because your monastery where you were previously had faced danger of downfall, to install you there, God willing, with your congregation, so that according to the will of the deceased, the congregation, serving the Lord our redeemer, could dwell in the monastery of the above-noted house and you could avoid imminent danger. Moreover, considering the will of the abovesaid priest, we have established that the monastery remain there forever and that the same house entirely with its garden and property specified below that was left by the testator belong to it with right of property; that is the Magulian holding with its additions on the Numentana way at approximately the eleventh mile, a cellar/inn [tabernam] in this city that is located near the Palatine(?)1 and a storehouse [salgamum] located before the house of the abovenoted monastery. Accordingly since these things have been granted and arranged, may your love diligently take pains both that with beneficial zeal God’s praises be celebrated there most devotedly, as customary, and that the above-noted property in (the monastery’s) possession not go to ruin for any reason due to your neglect. Further, we have determined that not only you but also those who will succeed in your place should no less demonstrate this attention regarding the aforesaid monastery and the property specified above.2

Original letter:

GREGORIUS BONAE ABBATISSAE. Ecclesiastica damnum non sentit utilitas, si res aliis competentibus cognita veritatc restituat. Cognovimus itaque Iohannem quondam presbyterum sanctae Romanae cui Deo auctore deservimus ecclesiae in domo iuris sui posita in hac urbe Roma iuxta thermas Agrippianas oratorium construxisse atque illic quosdam reditus legati titulo reliquisse; in quo etiam oratorio servorum Dei congregationem esse constituit; et haec omnia ut debuissent impleri, testamenti sui pagina sanctae memoriae Pelagio decessori nostro mandaverat. Sed quia morte occupatus hoc non occurrit implere ct domus ipsa cum horto suo ab actoribus nostrae ecclesiae detinetur, iustitiae nos ratio vehementer invitat huiusmodi piae dispositions arbitrium adimplere. Sed quoniam illic pro difficultate temporis nova servorum Dei congregatio adhiberi non potuit, feminarum saltem ibi congregationem constituendam esse decrevimus atque ideo et locum ipsum sollemniter dedicare et, quia monasterium tuum, ubi prius fuisti, in ruinae erat periculo constitutum, te illic cum congregatione tua constituere Deo annuentc prospeximus, quatenus et in suprascriptae domus monasterio iuxta voluntatem defuncti Domino redemptori nostro serviens habitare congregatio debuisset et inminens potuisses periculum evitare. Praeterea considerantes ante dicti presbyteri voluntatem perpetuo illic tempore monasterium esse atque ad id eandem domum in integro cum horto suo et rebus inferius designatis, quae a testatore relictae sunt, proprietatis iure constituimus pertinere; id est massam Magulianensem cum appendicibus suis via Numentana miliario plus minus XI, tabernam in hac urbe, quae est posita iuxta Pallacenis, et salgamum positum ante domum suprascripti monasterii. His igitur ita concessis atque dispositis dilectio tua diligenter invigilet, ut et Dei illic laudes salubri studio devotissime, ut moris est, celebrentur et suprascriptae res ad ius ipsius pertinentes nulla te neglegente occasione depereant. Hanc enim sollicitudinem non solum te, sed etiam eas quae loco tuo successerint in praedicto monasterio et rebus superius designatis constituimus nihilominus exhibere.

Historical context:

The pope gives the abbess, whose monastery has been destroyed, an oratory built by a deceased priest who had always intended it for a community of religious.

Scholarly notes:

1 This text gives Pallacenis; an alternate MS reading is Palatinus. 2 Ashleigh Imus provided this translation.

Printed source:

Gregorii I Papae Registum Epistolarum, ed. Paulus Ewald and Ludovicus Hartmann (Berlin: Weidmann, 1887-91, repr. 1978), 9.138.

Date:

599, April