Letter 9019: I would have you know that we have arranged for you to be put under the care of our guardian (defensoris). And accordingly we order you to obey him without any reluctance in what he may see fit to do, and enjoin on you to be done, for the advantage of the Church. We have given him such power as to enable him to inflict strict punishment on those...
Gregory to the tenant farmers [coloni] of the Syracusan patrimony.
I want you to know that I have placed you under the care of our defensor [church legal officer, Romanus]. Obey him without resistance in whatever he sees fit to do or instructs you to do for the benefit of the Church. I have given him sufficient authority to impose strict punishment on anyone who proves disobedient or defiant.
I have also charged him to act promptly in recovering to the Church's jurisdiction any slaves who have gone into hiding outside their assigned areas, and to address any boundary violations. But know this as well: he has been warned, under penalty, that he must never presume to commit any wrong or seizure against what belongs to others, under any excuse whatsoever.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.
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