From: Pope Pelagius II, bishop of Rome
To: Aunarius, Bishop of Auxerre
Date: ~585 AD
Context: Pope Pelagius II [reigned 579-590, predecessor of Gregory the Great], letter 2; writing to a Frankish bishop commending the orthodox faith of the Frankish kings and urging them not to make alliances with the Lombards.
Pelagius, bishop of the city of Rome, to his most beloved brother Aunarius.
I write to commend to you the orthodox faith of the Frankish kings, and to urge you to use your influence with them on a matter of the gravest practical importance.
The Lombards who occupy much of Italy are not merely a military threat to the remaining Roman territories there; they are a disruption to the whole order of Christian life in the peninsula. The churches in Lombard-controlled territory suffer; the episcopal structure is damaged; the pastoral care of the population is compromised. This affects not only the Italian church but the church throughout the West.
The Frankish kings have the capacity to intervene effectively against the Lombard threat. I know that political considerations — treaties, alliances, the complex relationships of the Frankish nobility — make this difficult. But I ask you, as a bishop who has the ear of the Frankish court, to press on those who govern the kingdom the importance of not entering into agreements with the Lombards that would effectively guarantee their position in Italy.
Please also convey to the kings, with the relics I am sending, my paternal affection and the blessing of the apostolic see.
Pelagius, bishop of Rome
Context:Pope Pelagius II [reigned 579-590, predecessor of Gregory the Great], letter 2; writing to a Frankish bishop commending the orthodox faith of the Frankish kings and urging them not to make alliances with the Lombards.
Pelagius, bishop of the city of Rome, to his most beloved brother Aunarius.
I write to commend to you the orthodox faith of the Frankish kings, and to urge you to use your influence with them on a matter of the gravest practical importance.
The Lombards who occupy much of Italy are not merely a military threat to the remaining Roman territories there; they are a disruption to the whole order of Christian life in the peninsula. The churches in Lombard-controlled territory suffer; the episcopal structure is damaged; the pastoral care of the population is compromised. This affects not only the Italian church but the church throughout the West.
The Frankish kings have the capacity to intervene effectively against the Lombard threat. I know that political considerations — treaties, alliances, the complex relationships of the Frankish nobility — make this difficult. But I ask you, as a bishop who has the ear of the Frankish court, to press on those who govern the kingdom the importance of not entering into agreements with the Lombards that would effectively guarantee their position in Italy.
Please also convey to the kings, with the relics I am sending, my paternal affection and the blessing of the apostolic see.
Pelagius, bishop of Rome
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.