Letter 8: to the Lord FII.IO GLORIOSISSIMO ATQUE PRAECELlentissimo childeberti regi pelagius bishop.

To the lord and most glorious and most excellent son, King Childebert, Pelagius the bishop. Though the divine mercy has bestowed many gifts upon your Highness, nevertheless, on account of the love which you sincerely show toward His Church, it has made you more illustrious than many who reign, since it is certain that, among the other cares of your kingdom, you display a particular solicitude for the tranquility of the holy Church. Since this is so, we are astonished that, as far as the report of the present bearers has disclosed to us, you allowed it to be wrongly extracted from you that you should order our brother and fellow-bishop Sapaudus, prelate of the city of Arles -- whose church is honored in the regions of Gaul with the privilege of the primacy and with the office of vicar of the Apostolic See -- to come and be judged, at the petition of a bishop ordained by Sapaudus himself, into the judgment of the bishop of the next city, a thing which is granted by no ecclesiastical law or reason; so that, while he himself complains of the trampling underfoot of the precedence of his see, the one who usurped it must necessarily be blamed for an unlawful presumption. On account of these matters, relying on the confidence of your Christian devotion, we ask with fatherly zeal that, if anything of this kind has been done, it may be quickly cut off by suitable amends, and that it not be permitted to leave behind any example of itself in the disturbance of the churches which God has entrusted to you. And in cases of this kind it befits you to display a watchful caution for the future, lest you grant anything to petitioners contrary to the ecclesiastical rules; because -- a thing which is well known to your religious mind -- royal devotion cannot rightly serve our God in any other way than if, by His providence, the integrity of the ecclesiastical orders is preserved. May our God keep your Excellency unharmed, most glorious and most excellent lord son.

DOMINO FII.IO GLORIOSISSIMO ATQUE PRAECEL- lentissimo childeberti regi pelagius episcopus. Cum celsitudini uestrae multa dona misericordia diuina contu- i Ierit, pro amore tamen quem ecclesiae eius sinceriter exhibetis, fecit uos multis regnantibus clariores,, quoniam inter alias regni uestri curas pro tranquillitate sanctae ecclesiae praecipuam sollicitudi¬ nem uos certum est exhibere. Quae cum ita sint, miramur quia, 2 [et] quantum nobis praesentium portitorum suggestio patefecit, passi estis subripi uobis, et Sapaudum fratrem et coepiscopum nostrum, 10 Arelatensis ciuitatis antistitem, cuius ecclesia in regionibus Galli¬ canis primatus priuilegio et sedis apostolicae uicibus decoratur, (1-4), d fol. 132: (1-4), e fol. 159^: (1-4), / pag. 183-184: (1-4); B fol. 71^-72: (2: mira¬ mur... occurrere), francorum scribens hinc dicit bcdef, hormisda cesario B 3 diuina] om. b 4 exhibi¬ tis ax 1 sit d 8 et] om. bcdef, superscr. B 9 subrepi et^] om. B (cf. supra 8J, ut Gundlach episcopum e 10 antistitem] ex antestitem b 2 galli-] calli- «3 Tempus conscriptionis huius epistulae statuo adtendens tantum loco quem in codd. occiipat. Ideoque facere nequeo cum J.K., t. I, p. 126, qui absque solido fundamento, ut videtur, hanc postponit ep. 9. 2 . passi estis subripi: Cf. quod hac super re dictum est in ep. 2,5-7, p. 4-5. cuius ecclesia in regionibus Gallicanis: Cf. ep. 5,6, et notulas ad ep. 5,1-2, p. 15-16 et 14. EPISTXJEA 8,1-5 ad petitionem episcopi ab ipso ordinati in iudidum sequentis ciui- tatis episcopi, quod nulla ecclesiastica lege uel ratione conceditur, iudicandum iuberetis occurrere; ut ipso de conculcato loci sui praeiudicio conquerente, illum qui usurpauit necesse sit de inlicita praesumptione culpari. Pro qmbus christianitatis vestrae confi- 3 dentia freti, paterno studio postulamus, ut, si quid tale factum est, congrua satisfactione celeriter amputetur, nec ullum sui exem¬ plum in perturbatione ecclesiarum quas uobis Deus credidit re- linquere concedatur. Et huiusmodi causis sollicitam uos in reli- 4 quo decet exhibere cautelam, ne quid contra ecclesiasticas regulas petentibus concedatis; quia, quod bene cognitum est religiosae menti uestrae, non aliter Deo nostro recte potest regalis deuotio famulari, nisi prouidentia eius ecclesiasticorum ordinum seruetur integritas. Incolumem excellentiam uestram Deus noster custo- 5 diat, domine fili gloriosissime ditque praecellentissime. petionem B 14 iuberetur ex iuberetis ut] codd.: cum Gundlach ipsos praeiudicium bd conquirente az e f, conquirent c illum] ex ille h 2 , ille c d e f illicita bcdef 16 praesumtione] ex praesumtione ai 17 est tale factum add. de d relegiosi 23 mentis e regalis] ex regulis 24 seruatur f, seruet 25 integritatem incolumen excellentia uestra ai, incolomitatem exce¬ llentiae uestrae noster] nos 26 domine] ex domne a^, domino filii ax gloriosissimae az2 (?) (\ sup. ras) atque] coni. (cf. supra titul., l.l, et epp. 6, l. 22; 7, l. 124): astg (?) axj auguste «3, ac aj. praecellentissime] excellentissime «j. PEI/AGII I PAPAE Capta occasione itineris Petri negotiatoris, suis verbis Sapaudo salutem dicit, eumque rogat, ut Se certiorem quam primum faciat quem exitum in rege, in ipso Sapaudo aliisque episcopis, eius professio adse- cuta est. Iterum illi commendat Romanos qui in Arelatem se receperunt, denique negotium in subsidium inopum Romanorum.