E06354: A letter of Pope Gregory the Great (Register 5.15) of 594, to Iohannes, bishop of Ravenna (northern Italy), refers to John's predecessors' use of the pallium outside the church of Ravenna when relics were being deposited. Written in Latin in Rome.

Pope Gregory the Great, Register of Letters 5.15


An extract from a letter that concerns the presumption and rudeness of Iohannes, and his reluctance to listen to papal correction:

Vltimum uero est, quod tamen pondere elationis primum, quia de usu pallii extra ecclesiam, quod temporibus decessorum meorum facere numquam praesumpsit, numquam a decessoribus eius praesumptum est, sicut responsales nostri testantur, excepto si reliquiae conderentur – quod tamen de reliquiis unus tantummodo potuit inueniri qui diceret.

‘But the final point, although the foremost in its degree of arrogance, concerns his use of the pallium outside his church. This is something which he never presumed to do in the times of my predecessors, and was never adopted by his predecessors, as our delegates testify, except if relics were being deposited. And where the relics were concerned, only one person could be found to confirm it.’


Text: Norberg 1982, vol. 1, 280. Translation: Martyn 2004, vol. 2, 332, lightly modified.