E06418: A letter of Pope Gregory the Great (Register 11.16) of 600, to John, sub-deacon of Ravenna, mentions an oath taken before the body of *Peter (the Apostle, S00036) in Rome. Written in Latin in Rome.

Pope Gregory the Great, Register of Letters 11.16


Extract from a letter dealing with a case in which a banker, Iohannes, had stood as a guarantor for a palace official called Importunus:

Sed quia quibusdam erat suspicio, quod praedicto Importuno non simpliciter sed compendii causa fideiussor accesserit, ad sacratissimum corpus beati Petri apostolorum principis districta omnino sacramenta, quantum nobis renuntiatum, praebuit non solum nullum se ab eo ex toto commodum recepisse uerum etiam nec aliquid habuisse promissum sed ei, ut ceteris, simpliciter accessisse.

‘Some people suspected that he had guaranteed the aforesaid Importunus as his surety not honestly, but for the sake of a profit, but Iohannes in fact provided strict oaths before the most holy body of Saint Peter, prince of the apostles, that he had not only received no payment from him at all, but also had nothing promised to him, but had guaranteed him honestly as he had guaranteed others.’


Text: Norberg 1982, vol. 2, 885. Translation: Martyn 2004, vol. 3, 752.