Letter 12009: The case of Paulinus, bishop of Tegesis, has been brought to my attention, and I write to you as the provincial...

As much joy as it is to us to learn that our brothers are fittingly solicitous toward their sons with fatherly affection, so much do we reckon it for sorrow when neither reverence for the other brothers nor consideration of the priesthood prevails to restrain them from unlawful acts. How grave and harsh, therefore, is the complaint of the clergy of our brother Paulinus, bishop of the city of Tegesis, and of those who are placed in the sacred order, against him, it is not in doubt that it has become clear to your fraternity, since what has reached us at a distance could not lie hidden from you nearby. And since it must be very greatly guarded against, lest this matter, of which they complain in vain that he goes beyond bounds against himself in bodily injury, should either be permissibly presumed upon or, by dissimulation, become worse, manifest excesses must always be repressed with canonical moderation, in such a way that one and the same act may be both the correction of past things and a rule for things to come. Accordingly, together with our most beloved common brother Bishop Columbus, or with the other priests whom you foresee fit, it behooves you to scrutinize the case by subtle investigation between our above-written brother and his clergy. And if the complaint of the petitioners stands upon the truth, then correct this by regular amendment, in such a way that he may both acknowledge how great an evil it is that he has done and learn for the future not to go beyond the bounds of his office. And do not allow the order of your place, as is said, to be set aside by him, lest his contempt make for danger to himself and for fault to you. For whatever is committed by a lesser person reflects upon the person placed in the higher position, unless it be carefully looked into. But that matter, in which this same brother of ours Paulinus is reported to confer ecclesiastical orders for a reward, must be inquired into by you more subtly and altogether strictly. And if it shall have become clear that it is so, which we do not wish, then let your zeal, for God's sake, kindle itself to avenge this, in such a way that the man who ordains may have his avarice turned to punishment, and that the unlawful ordination, being void of effect, may not enjoy the gratification of his ambition. In which matter we exhort and admonish you all, that your fraternity should strive to be solicitous, to the end that, before the wickedness of the simoniac heresy should there grow strong through the fault of one man, it may be cut off at the root by the scythe of your sentence, the deed being accomplished from the work of the council. For whoever shall not have burned vehemently, from consideration of his office, to amend this crime, let him not doubt that he has a share with the very man from whom this expiation-demanding outrage first took its beginning. And therefore this, as we have said, must be done watchfully and zealously, so that they may neither pollute nor destroy your council, which up to now has been preserved, by God's keeping, without depraved repute of this kind, by this venomous crime. Besides, we have instructed Hilarus, our notary, that, if the matter requires it, he should not delay to be present with you. Therefore, if it shall be necessary, indicate to him by your letters that he ought to come to you, so that you may be able, with God's help, to resolve all these things together with him in a wholesome manner.

Quanto laetitiae nobis est fratres nostros cognoscere erga filios suos patema cari- tate decenter esse sollicitos, tanto tristitiae deputamus, quando eos ab inlicitis nec aliorum fratrum reverentia nec sacerdotii praevalet^ consideratio temperare. Quam^ igitur gravis et aspera adversus fratrem nostrum Paulinum Tegesis® civitatis episcopum^ clericorum eius ® vel eorum qui in sacro sunt ordine positi querella sit, fratemitati tuae liquere non dubium est, quia latere te in vicina' non potuit, quod ad nos in longinquo pervenit. Et quoniam valde cavendum est, ne hoc, quod eum frustra in se corporali iniuria queruntur excedere, aut licite praesumatur^ aut fiat dissimulatione deterius, sic^ manifesti excessus canonica semper moderatione premendi sunt, ut una res et praeteri- torum correctio et esse possit regula futurorum. Proinde simul* cum dilectissimo com- muni fratre Columbo episcopo^ vel aliis sacerdotibus quos praevideris inter^ supra- scriptum fratrem nostrum et clericos ipsius causam suptili investigatione rimari te con- venit. £t si supplicantium querella veritate subsistit, ita hoc regulari emendatione corrigite, ut et\ quam sit malum quod fecit, agnoscat et officii sui discat de cetero terminos non exire. Nec loci tui, sicut dicitur, ab eo postponi ordinem patiaris, ne illi despectus suus ad periculum et tibi faciat™ ad culpam. Nam ad personam in priori loco positam respicit, quicquid a minore committitur, nisi soUicite cognoscatur". IUud autem, quod isdem frater noster Paulinus ecclesiasticos ordines dare sub praemio perhibetur, suptilius a vobis et omnino districte quaerendum est. Et si ita, quod non optamus, esse claruerit, sic ad ulciscendum^ hoc vestcr^ se propter Deum zelus accendat, ut et ordinanti avaritia sua convertatur ad poenam et inlicita ordinatio effectu carens ambitionis suae desiderio non fruatur. In qua re hortamur*» atque prae «) de Rl. ▼) tn Hilario eorr. q1; Ilylaro q*1. ^) autem om. Ji2. «) agitationi q*1. XII, 9 in titiUo: de symoniaca rubro add. in marg. Rl. •) praeyaleat q*.q1; praevalet R. >>) quaudo R 1. c) ,7« q*.q1; Tegis Rl; Tegetig R2. ex corr. Rl. •) et Rl. 0 ex vicino corr. Rl. S) presumamur q1. *>) si Rl. ^) in siniul Rl. ^) in Rl; in te l) et om. Rl. n») fiat, ut videtur, R2.q*2.S. ^) cognoscatug q1. o) adolesoeudu Rl. p) vester om., lac. 7 litt. R 1. q) vob, ut videtur, add. R2.q*2.3. 4) De HHaro cf. ep. I, 73 n. 2. 6) Cf. ep. seq. in f. XII, 9. Cf. ep. praeced., cui haec stmma affiniUUe cmiunda est. — De Victore cf. ep. IV,35n. XII, 3 n. 4. 1) Cf ep. praeced. omnibiui ammonemus , ut ita' fraternitas vestra studeat esse sollieita, quatenus, prius- quam unius yitio simoniaeae illic hereseos nequitia eonyalescat', sententiae yestrae {alce^ facto ex^ opere concilio radicitus amputetur. Nam quisquis ad hoc facinus emendandum^ of&cii sui consideratione vehementer non arserit^, cum ipso se' habere non dubitet portionem, a quo prius hoc piaculare^ flagitium sumpsit exordium. Et ideo id', sicut diximus, yigilanter atque studiose agendum est, ut concilium yestrum, quod* nunc usque sine huius modi praya opinione Deo custodiente seryatum est, huius Bceleris^ yenenati nec*' polluere possint nec perdere. Praeterea Hilaro cartulario nostro praecepimus^, ut, si res exegerit, interesse* yobiscum non diiFerat. Unde, si necesse fuerit, yestris illi, ut ad yos yenire debeat, epistolis indicate, quatenus haec omnia una cum eo salubriter Deo possitis adiuyante dirimere^