Letter 12010
Gregory the Great (Wisigothic)→Unknown|gregory great
From: Gregory the Great, Pope, in Rome
To: Fantinus, defender [in Sicily]
Date: ~602 AD
Context: Gregory instructs Fantinus to insist that the heirs of Isidorus build a hospice, or else to do it himself at their expense.
Gregory to Fantinus, defender.
The heirs of Isidorus committed to build a hospice [xenodochium — a house for the care of pilgrims and the poor]. They have apparently not done so.
Insist that they fulfill this commitment. If they continue to resist, build the hospice yourself using the resources of the inheritance that should have funded it — and charge the cost to them.
The heirs of those who make charitable commitments are bound by those commitments. The church will not allow such obligations to simply lapse because the person who made them has died.
Gregory
AD FANTINUM DEFENSOREM.
Isidori heeredibus inslet ut xenodochium construant, aut
jam constructo (ribuant legatum.
Gregorius Fantino defensori.
Ea que fienda mandat piz voluntatis intentio, ut
ad effectum valeant pervenire, curz debet sacerdo-
talis existere. Proinde experientie tuz precipimus
ut hzredibus Isidori, illustris memoriz viri, assidue
et ſortjus debeat jimminere, ut xenodochium quod
Panormitana fieri civitate conslituit, sine aliqua dif-
ficultate, secundum ea que sunt disposita implere
ſestinent, ne $i amplius hoc adhuc negligendum pu-
taverint, tam nostram quam Dei iram de legibus
venientem, quam hujusmodi dispositionem implere
diferentes merentur, incurrant. Syvero eputata in
eorum xenodochio, quod fiendum est, quantitas vide-
tur forte non posse suſficere, locus in quo xenodo-
chium ipsum ſuerat constituendum, vel quidquid ibi
relictum est, xenodochio sancti Theodori, quod in
predicta civilale a Petro quondam conslitutum est,
applicetur, quatenus et heredes a s0llicitudine vel
labore constituendi xenodochii valeant exvui, et volun-
tas defuncti salubriter sumat effectum, dum etsi in
- Joeo alio, ipsi tamen rei quidquid- a testatore depu-
tatum est erogetur. Ita ergo experientia tua. $0llici-
tudinem gerat, ut unum e duobus sine aliqua debeat
fieri tardilate.
◆
From: Gregory the Great, Pope, in Rome
To: Fantinus, defender [in Sicily]
Date: ~602 AD
Context: Gregory instructs Fantinus to insist that the heirs of Isidorus build a hospice, or else to do it himself at their expense.
Gregory to Fantinus, defender.
The heirs of Isidorus committed to build a hospice [xenodochium — a house for the care of pilgrims and the poor]. They have apparently not done so.
Insist that they fulfill this commitment. If they continue to resist, build the hospice yourself using the resources of the inheritance that should have funded it — and charge the cost to them.
The heirs of those who make charitable commitments are bound by those commitments. The church will not allow such obligations to simply lapse because the person who made them has died.
Gregory
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.