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E06395: A letter of Pope Gregory the Great (Register 9.90) of 599, to Sabinus, a subdeacon, mentions a bequest to a church in an unnamed location (but presumably near Rome or in southern Italy), dedicated to *George (soldier and martyr, S00259) by a man who wished to be buried in it. Written in Latin in Rome.

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posted on 2018-09-11, 00:00 authored by frances
Pope Gregory the Great, Register of Letters 9.90


Extract from a letter concerning a dispute over the will of the excubitor, Comitiolus:

Quia uero comperimus duas uncias substantiae suae praedictum testatorem ecclesiae sancti Georgii, ubi sepeliri uoluit.

‘But, we have also discovered that the same testator left a sixth of his fortune to the church of Saint George, where he wanted to be buried.’


Text: Norberg 1982, vol. 2, 644. Translation: Martyn 2004, vol. 2, 598.

History

Evidence ID

E06395

Saint Name

George, soldier and martyr : S00259

Saint Name in Source

Georgius

Related Saint Records

Type of Evidence

Literary - Letters

Language

  • Latin

Evidence not before

599

Evidence not after

599

Activity not before

599

Activity not after

599

Place of Evidence - Region

Rome and region

Place of Evidence - City, village, etc

Rome

Place of evidence - City name in other Language(s)

Rome Rome Rome Roma Ῥώμη Rhōmē

Major author/Major anonymous work

Gregory the Great (pope)

Cult activities - Places

Cult building - independent (church)

Cult activities - Non Liturgical Practices and Customs

Bequests, donations, gifts and offerings

Cult Activities - Protagonists in Cult and Narratives

Officials

Source

A letter transmitted as part of Gregory the Great’s Register of Letters. This letter collection, organised into fourteen books, is large and contains letters to a variety of recipients, including prominent aristocrats, members of the clergy and royalty. The issues touched on in the letters are equally varied, ranging from theological considerations to mundane administrative matters. This collection of letters, which was possibly curated by Gregory, was originally much larger. The surviving Register comprises several groups of letters which were extracted at several later moments in history, the largest of which took place in the papacy of Hadrian I (772-795).

Discussion

The letter does not indicate where this church of Saint George was situated; but it is likely to have been either in Rome, southern Italy or Sicily (since almost all Gregory's letters relate to affairs in these regions).

Bibliography

Edition: Norberg, D., S. Gregorii Magni, Registrum epistularum. 2 vols. (Corpus Christianorum Series Latina 140-140A; Turnhout: Brepols, 1982). English translation: Martyn, J.R.C., The Letters of Gregory the Great, 3 vols. (Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, 2004). Further Reading: Neil, B., and Dal Santo, M. (eds.), A Companion to Gregory the Great (Leiden: Brill, 2013).

Usage metrics

    Evidence - The Cult of Saints in Late Antiquity

    Categories

    Keywords

    S00259History

    Licence

    CC0

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