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Register of the Letters of Pope Gregory I, Volume II

Gregorii I Papae Registrum Epistolarum, Tomus II

1899·Latin·662 pages PDF (52MB) Source

The Registrum Epistolarum of Gregory I (Gregory the Great, r. 590–604) is the largest surviving corpus of late antique papal correspondence, comprising some 854 letters organized into fourteen books by indiction year. This volume (Tomus II, Libri VIII–XIV) contains letters from the eighth through fourteenth indiction years of Gregory's pontificate (597–604). Books VIII–IX were edited by Paulus Ewald; Books X–XIV and the critical apparatus (preface and indices) were completed after Ewald's death by Ludovicus M. Hartmann. The edition is part of the Monumenta Germaniae Historica (Epistolae, Tomus II) and remains the standard critical text.

Author

Gregory I

Gregory I

Gregorius I

540–604

Readings

Gregory to Victor, Primate of Numidia

Gregorius Victori episcopo Numidiae primati

In this letter of March 602, Gregory writes to Victor, primate of Numidia, about grave complaints lodged by the clergy of Paulinus, bishop of Tegesis, concerning both his personal conduct and the charge that he has been conferring ecclesiastical orders for payment. Gregory instructs Victor to conduct a careful investigation together with his fellow bishop Columbo and other priests, correcting Paulinus according to canon law should the complaints be verified and ensuring that his own primatial authority is not slighted. Gregory is particularly urgent about the simony charge, warning that if confirmed it must be punished and the illicit ordinations voided of all benefit to those who sought them; the letter concludes by directing Victor to summon Gregory's chartulary Hilary if needed to help resolve the matter.

Gregory I Gregory I·602·Latin·Liber XII, Epistula IX·p. 356–357