Works & Councils of Toledo 69

The Emperor Justinian Augustus to Peter, the most glorious master of our sacred offices. Concerning the administration and privileges, and other various chapters of those matters which pertain to the most holy churches and other venerable houses, we have already reduced certain points to a fixed form. But at present it has seemed good to embrace, in this law with a correction befitting us, those things which concern the most religious bishops, clergy, and monks, formerly ordained in various constitutions.

For if we are zealous that the civil laws, the power of which God in His love toward men has entrusted to our fidelity, be preserved firm and stable in all things for the security of our subjects, how much more zeal ought we to bestow upon the observance of the sacred canons and divine laws, which were defined and established for the salvation of our souls? For those who observe the sacred canons obtain the help of the Lord God; and those who transgress against these subject themselves to condemnation. But the most religious bishops, to whose fidelity is committed the inquiry and custody of the canons, will be liable to a greater condemnation, if they leave any transgression in these matters unpunished.

Since these sacred canons are not observed, we have received various complaints against clergy and monks, and against some bishops, that they do not order their life according to the sacred canons. Some are even said not to know the very prayers of the sacred oblation and of holy baptism. Revolving therefore the judgment of God in our mind, we have commanded that in each of these matters which have been reported to us, inquiry and correction proceed canonically. For if the general laws do not permit those things which are wrongly admitted by laymen to be left without inquiry and punishment, how should we endure that those things which have been ordered in a regular manner by the holy apostles and fathers for the salvation of faithful men be despised?

Besides, we have discovered that many from this cause have fallen into sins, namely that the synods of the most religious priests are not celebrated according to those things which were prescribed by the holy apostles and holy Fathers. For if this had been observed, each one, revering the rebuke he would undergo in the synod, would surely have been zealous both to learn thoroughly the sacred ministries and to live honorably, lest he be subjected to the condemnation of the sacred canons. But that too gave to very many no small occasion of offending, that bishops and presbyters, and likewise deacons and the rest of the clergy, are ordained without examination and without testimony of right faith and honesty of life.

For if those to whom the business of praying for the people is given are found unworthy of the ministry of God, how shall they be able to appease God for the offenses of the people? But that the ordinations of priests ought to be done with the utmost diligence, Gregory the Theologian, numbered among the saints, teaches us, following the holy apostles and the sacred canons. For thus he says in his great Apologetic: «But who, measuring himself by the rules and prescriptions of Paul, which he made concerning bishops and presbyters, that they should be sober, modest, not given to wine, not strikers, equipped to teach, irreproachable in all things, and having no commerce with the wicked, would not perceive that he differs much from this rectitude of the rules?» And again the same says thus:

«One must first be cleansed, then cleanse; be instructed in wisdom, and so instruct in wisdom; become light, and enlighten; draw near to God, and lead others to God; be holy, and sanctify; lead by the hand, but with hands; give counsel, but with prudence.» And again the same Gregory, numbered among the saints, writes this concerning the same in the same oration: «Who, I beseech, would fashion, as if of clay, in one and the same day, a prelate of the true ministry, who should keep his stations together with the other angels, sing praises to God together with the archangels, and discharge a priestly office together with Christ?» And by these things indeed the Theologian shows of what sort those ought to be who are promoted to the priesthood.

But concerning those who are ordained unworthily, the same says these things in the same oration: «Who, having previously brought nothing into the sacred hive of God, having previously undergone no labor toward attaining that which is beautiful, are at once designated both disciples and masters of piety, and, before they are themselves purged, they purge: yesterday plunderers of holy things, today priests; yesterday strangers to sacred things, today princes of sacred things: veterans in wickedness, recruits in piety, by the benefit of human favor, not of the Spirit.» But that the sacred canons forbid those who have taken a second wife to be clergy, Basil also, numbered among the saints, teaching, thus says: «Those who have repeated marriage, the canon has excluded from the ministry.» And these things indeed says Basil, numbered among the saints.

And so greatly did the holy Fathers exercise care for the priesthood, that those who assembled at Nicaea issued a canon to this effect: «The great synod has forbidden altogether that it be lawful for any bishop, or presbyter, or deacon, or anyone whatsoever constituted in the clergy, to have a woman dwelling with him, except a mother, or aunt, or maternal aunt, or those persons only who escape suspicion.» Following therefore those things which have been defined by the sacred canons, we make a pragmatic law, by which we sanction that, whenever it shall be needful to ordain a bishop, the clergy and the leading men of the city for which the bishop is to be ordained shall assemble together, and, the Gospels being set forth, shall make decrees concerning three persons;

and let each of them swear by the sacred oracles, and let them insert this into the decrees themselves, that it is neither for largess, nor for any promise, nor for friendship or favor, nor any other affection whatsoever, but because they know these persons to be of right and catholic faith, and of honest life, and above the thirty-fifth year of age, that they have chosen them; and that they know none of them to have either a wife or children, or a concubine, nor know them to have had or to have natural children; but if any of them previously had a wife, yet had her alone, and her neither a widow, nor one separated from a husband, nor one forbidden by the sacred canons;

but also that they have not known any of these who has been chosen by the decrees to be bound to the duties of a city council, or to be a cohortalis. Except if one bound to the duties of a city council, or a cohortalis, has, for not less than fifteen years, passed a monastic life in a monastery beyond all reproach: the observance, namely, which was previously stated by us, being kept in the decrees to be made concerning them, and in these persons; so that, of those three persons who are thus chosen by the decrees, the better may be ordained, by the choice and judgment of him who has the right of ordaining. But let the curialis or official who (as has been said) has lived fifteen years in a monastery, and is called to the episcopate, be free from his own condition:

yet so, that, freed from the curia, he may retain for himself a fourth part of his substance, the rest of his property being claimed for the curia and the public treasury according to our law. But we give license to those making the decrees, if they think any of the laymen worthy of the said election, to choose this man together with two other clerics or monks; the more so that, if a layman be thus chosen to the episcopate, he be not ordained bishop suddenly; but first let him be numbered among the clergy for not less than three months, and so, having been thoroughly taught the holy rules and the daily ministry of the church, let him be ordained bishop. For he who ought to teach others should not, after ordination, be taught by others.

But if (as happens) in certain places three persons suitable for such an election are not found, let it be lawful for those making the decrees to make the decree concerning two or one person, all of them, however, having the testimonies stated by us. But if those who ought to elect a bishop do not make those very decrees within six months, then, at the peril of his own soul, let him whom it befits to ordain ordain a bishop, all those other things which we have aforesaid being observed. But let there first be required from him who is to be ordained, by him who ordains, a written statement with his own subscription, which shall comprise an account of his right faith.

Let him also pronounce the sacred oblation which is in the holy communion, and together with the other prayers, also those which are uttered in sacred baptism. Let him, moreover, who is ordained undergo an oath by the holy Scriptures, that neither by himself, nor through any other person, has he given, or promised, or shall hereafter give anything, either to him who ordains him, or to those who made the decrees on his behalf, or to anyone else at all, under the name of conferring the ordination upon him.

If anyone be ordained bishop against the said observance, let him both be cast out of the episcopate in every way, and also let him who has presumed to ordain thus against the rule be separated for one year from the sacred ministry, and let all his substance, which at any time or in any manner has been brought into his ownership, on account of the fault which he committed, be claimed for the ownership of the church of which he is bishop.

But if anyone institute any accusation, for whatever cause, against him who is to be ordained bishop, or presbyter, or deacon, or another cleric, or even the superior of a monastery, which could, according to the laws or canons, hinder his ordination, let such ordination be deferred, and let an examination of the accusation first be interposed, the accuser also being present and pursuing to the end those things which have been laid by him as a charge. Indeed, although the accuser absent himself, or contrive delays, nonetheless even so let him who is about to perform the ordination, within three months, hold a most exact inquiry concerning this matter.

And if indeed he find him who was called into accusation as a charge to be culpable, whether according to the sacred canons or according to our laws, let the ordination be forbidden. But if he appear innocent, let the ordination be carried out, whether the accuser be present or absent. But the accuser, whether being present he do not prove it, or abandon the accusation he instituted, if he be a cleric, let him be expelled from his own grade; if a layman, let him sustain a fitting coercion. But if anyone ordain the accused before the examination, both he who ordained and he who was ordained, each, let him be expelled from the priesthood. But above all things we sanction that this be observed, that no one be ordained bishop through the bestowal of gold or of other things.

If any such thing be committed, both those who give and those who receive, and their mediators, subject themselves to condemnation according to the divine Scriptures and the sacred canons. And therefore both he who gives and he who receives, and the one acting as mediator, shall be removed from the priesthood or clerical honor. But what was given by reason of this cause shall be claimed for that church whose priesthood he wished to purchase. If he who receives by reason of this cause, or who acted as mediator in the affair, be a layman, we command that the things given be exacted from him double, to be claimed, namely, for the church.

But not only do we order those things which have been given in this manner to be reclaimed, but also every security exposed for this in whatever manner, and the obligation of pledges and of a surety, and finally every other action of whatever kind, we sanction to be void. And besides, he who accepted the promise shall not only render back the acknowledged sum, but also as much again as is contained in the acknowledgment shall be exacted, which itself ought to be given to the church.

If, however, any of the bishops, whether before his ordination or after his ordination, shall wish to offer his own goods, or a part of them, to the church whose priesthood he undertook, not only do we not forbid this, and sanction that he be free from all condemnation and penalty of the present law, but we even judge him worthy of all praise, since this is not a purchase, but an offering. But concerning customary dues, we grant that those alone be furnished by those who are ordained bishops, which are comprised in order hereafter in the present law.

We therefore decree that the most blessed archbishops and patriarchs, that is, of elder Rome, of Constantinople, of Alexandria, of Theopolis, and of Jerusalem, if it be customary that less than twenty pounds of gold be given to bishops or clerics at their ordination, are to furnish only that which custom acknowledges. But if more than this was being given before this law, let nothing beyond twenty pounds of gold be furnished. As for metropolitans, who are ordained by their own synod or by the most blessed patriarchs, and likewise all others who are ordained either by patriarchs or by metropolitans, if indeed the church of him who is ordained has in its revenue not less than thirty pounds of gold, let them give for the enthronement fee one hundred solidi;

and to the notaries of the ordaining prelate and to the others who are in his ministry and who customarily receive such, two hundred solidi. But if the church's revenue brings in for the year less than thirty pounds of gold, yet not less than ten, let them give for the enthronement fee two hundred solidi, and to all the others who customarily receive, one hundred solidi. If it should happen that the church's revenue is less than ten, yet not less than five pounds of gold, let them give for the enthronement fee fifty solidi, and to all the others who customarily receive, seventy-five solidi. If it has in revenue less than five, yet not less than three pounds of gold, let them furnish for the enthronement fee eighteen solidi, and to all the others who customarily receive, twenty-four solidi.

If the church's revenue is found to be less than three, yet not less than two pounds, let them give for the enthronement fee three solidi, and for every other customary due, six solidi. For of a church which has in revenue less than two pounds of gold, we grant that the bishop give nothing whatever, neither for enthronement fees nor for any other custom. And these sums which we have appointed to be furnished, the chief presbyter of the ordaining bishop and the archdeacon, receiving them, shall divide among those who customarily receive from him. These things, therefore, we command to be observed in every way, lest by occasions of this kind the churches be burdened with debts and the priesthoods become venal.

Assuredly, if anyone presumes in any manner to take anything beyond the amount defined by us, under the name of enthronement fees or customary dues, we command that whatever excess he has received be recovered threefold from his goods for the church of him who gave it. And these things, then, have been said concerning the ordination of bishops. After ordination, however, we command that bishops be free both from servile and from registered-tenant condition, unless one has been ordained who is a decurion or a member of a cohort contrary to the aforesaid observance. For such men we command to be removed from the episcopate and restored to their curia or cohort, lest from such a condition any reproach arise to the priesthood.

But those who, before this our law, are found to have been ordained bishops from the curial condition, we decree indeed that they be free from such a condition, but that they assign the lawful portion from their goods to the curia and the public treasury. This, to be sure, in such a way that the rights of the church suffer no detriment in the property which, acquired in addition after the episcopate, we have appointed to belong to their church. But if it happen that he who is ordained bishop is under the power of his father, by the very ordination let him become legally independent. Furthermore, we grant that the most God-loving bishops and monks shall by no law be made guardians or curators of any person whatsoever.

But as for presbyters, deacons, and subdeacons, if by the right and law of kinship they are summoned to guardianship or curatorship, we grant that they undertake such a charge, provided, however, that within four months to be reckoned from the time they were summoned, they declare in writing before the competent judge that they have undertaken that charge of their own free will. And if (as is likely) any of them has done this, let him suffer no prejudice thereby with respect to any other guardianship or curatorship.

But we do not grant that a bishop, or a steward, or a cleric or monk of any rank, be a receiver or collector of public contributions, or a lessee of revenues or of others' possessions, or a curator of a household, or a dispenser, or a procurator of a lawsuit, or a surety in these matters, whether he undertake it in his own name or in that of the church or monastery, lest by this cause harm be inflicted on the sacred buildings and the divine ministries be hindered.

Moreover, if any possessions are found to lie adjacent to churches or monasteries, and the dispensers of the venerable houses wish to take them on lease or in emphyteusis, then if all the clerics and monks consent and declare concerning matters of this kind, either in the instrument itself or under the drawing up of records, that this is being done for the benefit of the venerable houses, we grant that they proceed with such a lease or emphyteusis. And to the most holy churches themselves and to the other venerable houses we grant license to conclude leases and emphyteuses among themselves;

and likewise we grant to the clerics that they lease and manage the possessions of their own churches, yet by the judgment of the bishop and the steward, with the exception of those persons whom by another law we have forbidden to do this. If anyone does anything contrary to the aforesaid: if indeed he be a bishop, we decree that all his property which, from whatsoever cause or person, whether before the episcopate or after the episcopate, has come to him, be claimed for his church.

But if it be stewards or other clerics who have offended in this, let a monetary penalty be exacted from them, such as their bishop shall approve, to be claimed for the church; while those who entrusted to them the leasing of revenues or of any possession, or the receiving and discharging of public tributes, or the curatorship of their household, or who accepted them as sureties in the aforementioned matters, shall have no action against the church, or the monastery, or its property, or its dispensers, or even against those persons whose good faith they followed, or their resources, or their sureties.

Nay rather, if any loss accrue to the public treasury, those who entrusted to the aforesaid persons the receiving of public contributions or revenues, or their leasing or discharge, or who accepted them as sureties, shall be compelled to make restitution of this very loss from their own substance. Furthermore, it shall be lawful for none of the magistrates to compel the most God-loving bishops to come forward in court for the sake of giving testimony; but let the judge send to them so that, from among the persons appearing before himself, the bishop may state what he knows, with the holy Gospels set before him, as befits priests. Nor do we grant that a bishop be brought against his will, or be made to appear without an imperial order, before a civil or military magistrate for any pecuniary or criminal cause;

but the magistrate who shall presume to give such a command, whether in writing or without writing, after the stripping of his belt of office shall pay a penalty of twenty pounds of gold, to be given to the church whose bishop was brought forth or ordered to appear; and likewise the officer who executes it, after the stripping of his belt, shall both be subjected to torments and be sent into exile. Moreover, we forbid the most God-loving bishops to desert their own churches and set out for other provinces. But even if some necessity of acting in this way arise, let them not do it otherwise than with letters from their most blessed patriarch or metropolitan, or, that is to say, by imperial command;

with this proviso, to be sure, that not even those bishops who are established under the most blessed archbishop and patriarch of Constantinople may, without his mandate or our command, come to the royal city. But if in such a manner a bishop journeys to any place whatever, let him not leave his church for more than one year. And the bishops who come (as has been said) to the royal city, of whatever diocese they may be, before all things let them approach the most blessed archbishop and patriarch of Constantinople, and thus through him let them enter into our serenity.

But those who, contrary to our ordinance, either journey abroad or tarry elsewhere outside their own church beyond the prescribed term of one year, to these first of all let no expenses be supplied by the stewards of their church; next, let them be summoned by the letters of the priests under whom they are reckoned, that they may return to their own churches. If they delay to return, let them be summoned according to the sacred canons. And unless within the time prescribed by the priests they return to their own churches, these men indeed are to be driven from the episcopate, and others, better men, are to be ordained in their place according to the tenor of the present law. This same rule shall hold also in the case of clerics, of whatever rank or ministry they may be.

But because what has been said by the sacred canons concerning the synods of the most holy bishops, which ought to be held in each province, has hitherto not been observed, it has become most necessary to bring this back again to its right course. And indeed the holy apostles and Fathers defined that twice each year synods of the most religious priests or bishops should be held in every province, and that whatever sprang up should be examined and amended with suitable correction: that is, the one on the fourth day of holy Pentecost, the other in the month of September.

But since through negligence of this kind we have found many entangled in various sins, we command that in every way one synod be held in each province every year, either in the month of July or in September, and that there assemble in one place, in the presence of the most blessed patriarchs, those who are ordained by them and have no right to ordain other bishops; and in the presence of the most religious metropolitans of each province, those who are ordained by them:

so that the more the causes that have been stirred up, and those which are denounced by some, whether on occasion of the faith, or of canonical questions, or of the administration of ecclesiastical affairs, or concerning bishops, or presbyters, or deacons, or other clerics, or concerning the heads of monasteries, or monks, or concerning a blameworthy life, or other matters that require correction, may be agitated, so much the more fittingly may they be examined, and correction be applied to them such as accords with the sacred canons and our laws. But let not only these matters be sought out in the synods to be held every year:

but also as often as anyone—whether of the priests, or of the clerics, or of the heads of monasteries, or of the monks—is accused, whether concerning the faith, or concerning a base life, or because he has done something contrary to the sacred canons. And if indeed he who is accused be a bishop, let his metropolitan examine the things that are brought forward; but if it be a metropolitan, let the most blessed archbishop under whom he is reckoned do so; if a presbyter, or deacon, or other cleric, or head of a monastery, or monk, let the most religious bishop under whom these are reckoned examine the things laid in accusation. And when the truth has been proved, let each one, according to the measure of his offense, be subjected to canonical censures by the judgment of him who undertakes the examination of the cause.

And let all these things obtain not only in those bishops and clerics, and likewise heads of monasteries, who shall be ordained hereafter, but also in those who now exist, if anyone (as it is permitted to surmise) be accused of certain causes forbidden by the sacred canons and our laws. For when these things are thus observed, the laity also will attain great progress toward the right faith and an honorable life, and amendment unto the better. To this we add a command, that all bishops alike and presbyters celebrate the sacred oblation, and the prayers used in holy baptism, not in a low manner, but with a clear voice that may be heard by the faithful people, so that thereby the souls of the hearers may be roused to greater devotion in giving forth the praises of the Lord God.

For thus also the divine Apostle teaches, saying in the first Epistle to the Corinthians: 'For indeed if you bless only in the spirit, how shall he who fills the place of the unlearned say the Amen to your thanksgiving to God, seeing that he does not perceive what you say? You indeed give thanks well, but the other is not edified.' And again in the Epistle to the Romans he says thus: 'For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, but with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.' For these causes, therefore, it is fitting that, among the other prayers and those things which are said in the holy oblation, the words to our Lord Jesus Christ our God, together with the Father and the Holy Spirit, be uttered with a clear voice by the most religious bishops and presbyters:

the most religious priests being aware that, if they neglect any of these things, they will both render an account of them at the terrible judgment of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ, and we, learning of these matters, will not rest content nor leave them unpunished. And we command also the governors of the provinces, if they see any of the things ordained by us being negligently handled, first indeed to urge the metropolitans and other bishops to hold the aforesaid synods, and to fulfill all the things which by the present law we have prescribed to be done through the synods.

But if they see them causing delay and performing these things too sluggishly, then by a report let them make us more certain concerning the matter, so that the more a fitting correction may proceed from us against those who delay to hold the synods: both the governors themselves and the cohorts that obey them being aware that, if they observe these things too little, they will be subjected to the extreme penalties. Moreover, we forbid the most religious bishops and presbyters, and likewise deacons, and subdeacons, and readers, and any other cleric whatsoever appointed in any venerable order and rank, to play at the gaming-board, or to associate themselves with those using such gaming, or to be spectators, or to approach any spectacle whatsoever for the sake of watching.

But if any of them offends in this, we command that for three years he be barred from all sacred ministry and be sent into a monastery. But if in the meantime he shows a fitting penitence for his error, let it be in the power of the priest under whom he is placed both to lessen the time and to restore him again to his own ministry: the most religious bishops likewise, who ought to punish these things, being aware that if, having learned of any such thing, they do not punish it, they themselves shall render an account to God for this cause. Yet no bishop is to be compelled against his will to dismiss from his own clergy any cleric whatsoever appointed under him.

But we forbid all bishops and presbyters to separate anyone from holy communion before the cause is shown for which the ecclesiastical canons command this to be done. But if anyone, contrary to this, separate someone from holy communion, then he indeed who was unjustly separated from communion, the separation being annulled by a higher priest, shall be held worthy of holy communion. But he who has dared to separate someone unjustly from holy communion shall in every way be separated from communion by the priest under whom he is placed, for however long a time shall seem good to him, so that what he unjustly did to another, he himself may justly endure.

Nor is it lawful for anyone to strike a bishop with his own hands, since this is alien to priests. Assuredly, if any bishop, when according to the ecclesiastical canons he has been cast out of the priesthood, dares to enter the city from which he was cast out, or to leave the place in which he was ordered to dwell, we command that he be handed over to a monastery established in another province, so that, dwelling in the monastery, he may amend the offenses he committed in the priesthood.

But we grant that clerics be ordained not otherwise than if they know letters, and are of right faith and honorable life, and have neither had nor have a concubine or natural children, but are such as either lead a celibate life, or have had or have a lawful wife—and that one only and his first—neither a widow, nor one separated from her husband by divorce, nor otherwise forbidden by laws or sacred canons. But we do not grant that a presbyter be made who is younger than thirty-five years. Nor again a deacon or subdeacon younger than twenty-five; nor likewise a reader younger than eighteen years. But a deaconess is not to be ordained in the holy Church who is younger than forty years, or has come to a second marriage.

Moreover, if at the time of ordination an accuser arises against a cleric of whatsoever order or rank, saying that he is unworthy of ordination, let the ordination itself be deferred, and let all things proceed, both in the examination and in the censures, which indeed we have decreed above in the ordinations of bishops. But if he who is to be ordained a deacon does not have (as has been said above) a wife joined to him, he is not to be ordained otherwise than if, being first questioned by him who ordains him, he professes that he can after ordination live chastely even without a lawful wife: it being not permitted to him who ordains, at the time of ordination, to allow the deacon to take a wife after ordination.

But if this be done, the bishop who permitted it is to be cast out of the episcopate. But if after ordination a presbyter, or deacon, or subdeacon takes a wife, let him be cast out of the clergy and handed over, with his goods, to the curia of the city in which he was a cleric. Likewise, if a reader takes a second wife, or even a first, but a widow, or one separated from her husband by divorce, or one forbidden by laws or by sacred canons, let him advance no further to another ecclesiastical rank. And if in any manner he be promoted to a higher rank, let him be cast down from it and restored to the former. Nor let members of cohorts or decurions become clerics, lest from this any reproach be brought upon the venerable house.

But if such persons be enrolled among the clerics, just as though the ordination had not taken place, they are restored to their own condition—except (if one may be permitted to surmise) if any of them has spent a monastic life of not less than fifteen years. For such men we command to be ordained, the lawful portion, of course, to be assigned by the decurion to the curia and the commonwealth. But once admitted into the clergy, let them maintain a life becoming a monk to the very end.

For if, after attaining the honor of the clergy, any of them takes a wife, or keeps a concubine, let him be returned to the curia, or cohort, or condition to which he was liable—unless indeed he has been admitted into that ecclesiastical rank in which one who is appointed is not forbidden by the sacred canons and laws to take a wife. And we decree that these same things hold good also in all other monks who are transferred from a monastery to any ecclesiastical rank whatever, even if they were liable to no condition. And generally we promulgate this: that it be lawful for no one appointed in any ecclesiastical rank whatsoever to depart from it and become a layman:

those who act thus being aware that they will be deprived both of the belt of office (if any has been assigned to them) or of their dignity, or of their military service, and will be handed over to the cohort of their city. But those who, before this our law, were ordained clerics from the curial condition, let them fulfill their patrimonial duties through substitute persons, while remaining free from personal services. Nor do we grant that a cleric of any rank give anything to him by whom he is ordained, or to any other person whatsoever, but only that he furnish the customary dues, to be received according to custom by those who are in the ministry of the ordaining prelate, which dues, however, shall not exceed the daily allowance of one year. Assuredly, in the most holy church...

in which he is appointed, that he may fulfill the divine ministry, let him give absolutely not even the least thing to his colleagues for his enrollment, nor on this account let him be defrauded of his allowances or of the other distributions. Nor let the keeper of a poorhouse, or the keeper of an orphanage, or the keeper of a hospital, or the dispenser of any other venerable house, who handles any ecclesiastical responsibility, give anything to him by whom he is promoted, or to any other person whatsoever, for the dispensation entrusted to him.

But whoever, contrary to these things which we have ordained, either gives anything, or receives it, or becomes a go-between, shall be stripped of the priesthood, or of the clergy, or of whatever administration entrusted to him, the things that have been given being claimed for the venerable house whose ordination, or responsibility, or dispensation such a person has received. If he who received it, or acted as go-between, be a layman, what was given shall be exacted twofold, and shall be furnished to the venerable house in which he received the ordination, or responsibility, or dispensation.

But if any cleric of whatsoever rank, or dispenser of any venerable house, whether before ordination or before the dispensation or responsibility of any kind entrusted to him, or afterward, wishes to offer something of his own property to the church in which he is ordained, or to the place whose dispensation or responsibility he undertakes, not only do we not forbid this to be done, but we even exhort them to do such things for the salvation of their soul. For we forbid only those things to be given which are furnished to certain particular persons, not those which are offered to the holy churches or to other venerable places. If a slave, with his master knowing and not objecting, is enrolled in the clergy, by the very enrollment let him be free and freeborn.

For if the ordination be performed without the master's knowledge, let the master have license, within the space of a year—and that one year only—to prove his ownership and to recover his slave. But if the slave, whether with the master's knowledge or without it (as we have said), having been made free by enrollment in the clergy, abandons the ecclesiastical ministry and passes over to a secular life, let him be handed over into servitude to his master.

But registered tenants we grant may be made clerics, against the will of their masters, only on those estates of which they are registered tenants, yet on this condition: that, having been made clerics, they nonetheless fulfill the husbandry imposed upon them. If anyone builds an oratory and wishes clerics to be promoted in it, whether he himself or his heirs supply the means to the clerics and nominate worthy men, let those nominated be ordained. But if the sacred canons forbid those chosen by them to be ordained as unworthy, then let the most holy bishop of the place take care to promote those whom he judges more excellent.

And we decree that the most reverend clerics attend to their own churches, and fulfill all the ecclesiastical ministry befitting them, the most religious bishop of each city, as well as the ecclesiastics who hold primacy in each rank, requiring this of them, and bringing those who do not observe these things under canonical censure. For indeed it is fitting that henceforth the ordinations of the most reverend clerics be not made lavishly. For as to what has obtained up to now—although it ought to have been amended—nevertheless on account of the time we let it pass. But for the future we decree that this be not done rashly, nor turn to the detriment of the most holy churches.

What therefore ought to be done in cases of this kind concerning the most holy church of this our royal city, and the most holy churches under it, and likewise the others placed here, these things we have comprised in a special law. But in all provincial places we decree that, if indeed he who from the beginning instituted and built the church defined the number of those to be ordained—of course adapting the expenses also to that number—let no one be ordained into that church before their number has been reduced to the figure defined at the beginning.

But if this has not been done, and the city church itself supplies provisions for itself and for the other churches, then let it not rashly increase the number of clerics there, nor, on account of certain affections of mind perhaps, or favor, burden it with the expenses arising therefrom. For such things are neither consonant with piety, nor worthy of a priest, but rather let him make outlays according to his means from those things which the Lord God shall have given, or at least let him observe the ancient custom, innovating nothing at all. Whence it is fitting that the most God-loving patriarchs and metropolitans bestow their providence upon this matter, and both leave those clerics who now exist in that form in which they are, and also measure the resources of each church among themselves.

And thus let the most religious patriarchs themselves bring the churches placed under them into order, and let the metropolitans, admonished concerning this by the most religious patriarchs, both do the same, and bring all the other bishops appointed under them to this measuring out, so that they may the more take pains not to celebrate ordinations of clerics beyond the measure of the revenue. For we know how many most holy churches have been oppressed by want because of this boundless excess of those to be ordained and of expense, and that some of them, though with difficulty, we have nevertheless preserved; but some still lie burdened, unable to lift themselves out of so great a straitness of affairs.

Wherefore the most holy patriarchs and the metropolitans, and likewise the rest of the bishops most beloved of God, shall exercise foresight in this matter, so that, being instructed concerning those things which have been done by them, we may embrace them, since they will have shown that the law contained in bare letters is carried out by the very deeds. As for presbyters and deacons, and likewise subdeacons, and readers, and singers, all of whom we call clerics, we decree that whatever property has in any manner devolved into their ownership they may hold under their own authority, after the likeness of military peculium, so that they may both give it away and dispose of it by will, even though they are under the authority of their parents; yet on this condition, that their children, or, if these do not survive, their parents, shall receive the lawful portion.

As for the most reverend presbyters and deacons, if they are caught having given false testimony in a matter concerning money, it shall suffice that, in place of torments, they be separated from the sacred ministry for three years and handed over to monasteries. But in criminal cases, if anyone has given false testimony, we command that, stripped of his clerical dignity, he be subjected to the lawful penalties. As for the others, who are numbered among the lower ecclesiastical orders, if they are caught having given false testimony in any matter whatsoever, whether criminal or pecuniary, they shall not only be cast out from the clergy and the ecclesiastical order, but shall also be subjected to torments.

If anyone has any action against any cleric, or monk, or deaconess, or female monastic, or ascetic woman, let him first inform the most religious bishop concerning that matter, to whom each of these is subject. Let this bishop adjudicate the affair between them. And indeed, if both parties acquiesce in the judgments, we order that, through the magistrate of the place, they be carried into full execution. But if either of the litigants contradicts the judgments within ten days, then let the magistrate of the place examine the affair. And if he finds that the judgment was rightly rendered, let him confirm it by his own sentence as well, and deliver the things adjudged to execution; nor shall it be lawful for him who has been defeated to appeal again in a matter of this kind.

But if the magistrate's sentence is contrary to those things which have been adjudged by the bishops most beloved of God, then there shall be place for an appeal against the magistrate's sentence, and it shall be referred and prosecuted according to the order of the laws. Moreover, if a bishop, by imperial command or by judicial mandate, judges between any persons whatsoever, the appeal is referred to the imperial majesty, or to him who delegated the case.

But if a crime is charged against any of the aforesaid most reverend persons, if indeed someone has been accused before a bishop, and the bishop has been able to discover the truth, let him depose this man from his honor or rank according to the ecclesiastical canons, and then let the competent judge apprehend him, and examine the case according to the laws, and impose an end upon it. But if the accuser first approaches the civil judge, and the crime can be proven by lawful disputation, then let the records of the proceedings be made known to the bishop of the place. And if from these it becomes evident that he has committed the crimes laid against him, then let his bishop separate him from the honor or rank which he holds according to the canons, while the judge inflicts upon him the punishment befitting under the laws.

But if the bishop should think that the proceedings were not justly established, then it shall be lawful for him to interpose delay in stripping the accused person of honor or rank, yet so that that person be placed under lawful surety, and thus the case be referred to us both by the bishop and by the judge, so that we, taking cognizance of it, may command what seems good to us. Certainly, if anyone for a pecuniary cause has any action against any one of the aforesaid persons, and the bishop defers to judge between them, the plaintiff shall have license to approach the civil judge; yet so that the accused person be in no way compelled to give a surety, but only to set forth a confession without oath, together with the pledging of his own goods.

If for a criminal cause an accusation is brought against any of the aforesaid persons, the person who is accused shall be placed under lawful surety. If it be an ecclesiastical matter, let the civil magistrates have no part in that dispute, but let the most religious bishops put an end to the affair according to the sacred canons. Moreover, if any most religious bishops of the same synod have any controversy among themselves, whether concerning ecclesiastical law or concerning certain other matters, let their metropolitan first adjudicate the matter together with two other bishops of the holy synod. And unless both parties abide by the judgments, then let the most blessed patriarch of that diocese grant them a hearing;

and let him determine those things which accord with the ecclesiastical canons and the laws, neither party being able to contradict his sentence. But also, if by a cleric, or by any other person, an interpellation is made against a bishop on any cause whatsoever, let the most religious metropolitan first adjudicate the affair according to the sacred canons and our laws. If anyone protests against the judgments, let the cause be referred to the most blessed archbishop and patriarch of that diocese, and let him put an end to it according to the canons and the laws. But if an interpellation of this kind proceeds against the metropolitan, whether from a bishop, or from a cleric, or from any other person, let the most blessed patriarch of that diocese in like manner adjudicate the affair.

Finally, for whatever causes bishops are convened, whether before their own metropolitan, or before the patriarch, or before any other judges whatsoever, no surety or confession concerning the suit shall be exacted from them; yet so that they themselves also strive to clear themselves of the accusations brought against them. But the stewards (oeconomi), or managers of poorhouses, or of guest-houses, or of hospitals, and dispensers of other venerable houses, and likewise all other clerics, we command that, for the administrations entrusted to them, they answer before their own bishop, to whom they are subject, and render the accounts of their administration, and that whatever they have been proven to owe be exacted from them, to be restored to that venerable house to which a debt shall have appeared from the administration.

If they think themselves aggrieved in the exaction, let the metropolitan examine the affair. If it be the metropolitan who has examined causes of this kind against any of the aforesaid persons, and has chosen the debt, and he from whom it was exacted thinks himself aggrieved, let the most blessed patriarch of that diocese adjudicate the affair. For we do not grant to the aforesaid persons that, concerning the said causes, they should flee from their own bishops before the examination and the exaction of the debt, and betake themselves to other tribunals. But if anyone of the ecclesiastics, to whom some administration of this kind has been entrusted, should die before the accounts have been set forth and the debts paid, we command that his heirs likewise be liable both for rendering accounts and for the exactions.

If any bishop or cleric from any province whatsoever is found at Constantinople, and someone wishes to bring an action against him, then indeed, if the joinder of issue concerning that controversy has been made in the province, let the suit be completed there. But if the suit has not yet begun, let him answer those who convene him only before the most glorious praetorian prefects of the East, or the sacred judges who have been deputed by us.

But the most reverend apocrisiarii (representatives) of any most holy Church whatsoever, who reside in the royal city, or are sent by their bishops to the most blessed patriarchs or metropolitans, shall sustain no action or exaction either on behalf of their bishops, or on behalf of the business of their Church, or for a debt public or private, unless they have a mandate from their bishops or stewards to convene certain persons. For then we give license only to those who are convened by them, that, if they have any action against the Church or the bishop, they may bring it against them.

But also, if they have rendered themselves liable concerning certain matters or actions during the time in which they are discharging the office of representation and legation, let them also accept those actions which are brought on account of these. Likewise, if bishops or clerics travel abroad on behalf of their city for the sake of a legation, or of ordaining a bishop, in the royal city, or in any place whatsoever, we command that they sustain no trouble or disquiet from any person, license remaining to those who think they have them liable, after they have returned to the province, of convening them; no prejudice being generated for those who think they have them liable, with regard to the prescription of long time, on account of that time which they have spent in such a journey.

If at any time a cause should arise on account of which a summons or execution is to be brought against a cleric, or a monk, or a female monastic, or an ascetic woman of any monastery whatsoever—and especially of women—for any pecuniary cause whatsoever, whether public or private, we command that the summons or execution be carried out without insult and with the honor that is fitting; yet so that no female monastic or ascetic woman be dragged out of the monastery, but that a proctor be appointed by them, who shall answer concerning that affair. But for monks it shall be lawful to conduct their own causes or those of the monastery, whether by themselves or through a proctor.

Let the judge or executor who shall have transgressed in these matters know that he will both be stripped of his belt of office, and that through the most magnificent count of the privy estate a penalty of five pounds of gold will be exacted from him—the executor, namely, being about both to undergo these things and torments, and to be sent into exile. The most religious bishops of the places are to exercise foresight that nothing contrary to these be done; or if anything be transgressed, that the aforesaid vengeance proceed. But if the magistrate defers to impose the punishment, let the bishop refer that matter to our knowledge.

As for fees (sportulae), we grant that no person who is reckoned in any ecclesiastical order whatsoever, and moreover neither a deaconess, nor a monk, nor an ascetic woman, nor a female monastic, in any criminal or pecuniary cause, of whatever amount it may be, whether summoned by a cleric or by anyone enrolled in the military service, shall pay—whether in the royal city or in the provinces in which they dwell—beyond four siliquae. But if any executor sent by our command, or by the magistrate, or by the most blessed patriarch into other provinces, brings a summons to any of the aforesaid persons, let no more than one solidus be taken.

But if it should happen that in one and the same cause many of the aforesaid persons are summoned, we ordain that the fees be taken on behalf of all for one person only. But let the bishop sustain no aggression or disquiet for the affairs of his Church. Nor shall fees be exacted from him, even if he be summoned in the name of his own property—the actions, namely, which are brought against the Church, being undertaken by the stewards, or by those to whom that business has been committed. But whoever shall have presumed to exact fees contrary to these provisions, let him be compelled to restore double of what he received to the person from whom it was exacted. And if indeed he holds military service, let him also lose his belt; if he be a cleric, let him be cast out of the clergy.

Indeed to presbyters, and deacons, and subdeacons, and all others who are placed in the clergy, who according to the sacred canons do not have wives, we also forbid, in accordance with the tenor of the sacred canons, that they keep any woman taken into their house, with the exception, however, of a mother, and a daughter, and a sister, and other persons who escape all suspicion.

But if anyone, contrary to this observance, has kept in his house a woman who could induce suspicion against him, and, once and again admonished either by his own bishop or by his colleagues not to dwell with such a woman, has refused to cast her out of his house, or, on an accuser arising, has been proven to consort dishonorably with such a woman, then let his bishop cast him out of the clergy according to the ecclesiastical canons, to be handed over to the curia of that city in which he was a cleric. But we do not allow a bishop to keep any woman at all, or to dwell with her. But if he be proven to have observed this too little, let him be deposed from the episcopate. For he himself demonstrates himself unworthy of the episcopate.

We also allow a deaconess on no account to dwell with a man from whom suspicion of a dishonorable life can arise. But if she does not observe this, let the priest to whom she is subject admonish her, that by all means she cast such a man out of her house. If she defers to do this, let her, despoiled of the ecclesiastical ministry and of her allowances, be handed over to a monastery, and there pass all the time of her life until the end—her goods, if she have children, being divided between her and them according to the number of persons, so that the monastery receive the portion which befalls the woman herself, and support her. If she have no children, let all her substance be divided in equal portions between the monastery into which she is cast and the church in which she was first ordained.

If anyone, while the divine mysteries or other sacred ministries are being celebrated, having entered the holy church, shall have offered any insult to the bishop, or to the clerics, or to other ministers of the church, we command that he undergo torments and be sent into exile. But if he shall have disturbed the divine mysteries themselves, or the sacred ministries, or prohibited them from being celebrated, let him be smitten with capital punishment. The same is to be observed also in public supplications (processions) at which bishops or clerics are present, namely, that if he merely committed an insult, he be handed over to torments and exile; if he broke up the public supplication, let him sustain the peril of his head. And these things we command to be avenged, not only by the civil, but also by the military magistrates.

But to all laymen we forbid that they conduct public supplications without the most religious bishops and the most reverend clerics who are under them. For how can there be a public supplication in which the priests are not present, who perform the solemn prayers? But also the venerable crosses, with which the priests enter in the supplications, are to be laid up nowhere else than in venerable places; and if at any time use shall require it for celebrating the supplications, then only those who are accustomed by usage to carry them shall take up these crosses themselves, and shall celebrate the supplications together with the bishops and clerics—the most holy bishops of the places, together with the clerics themselves, and likewise the magistrates of the places, keeping watch over these things.

But if anyone, in this chapter of our present law, either shall have transgressed its force, or shall not have avenged it, he shall sustain the aforesaid penalties. It remains for us to prescribe a fixed formula also concerning the venerable monasteries and the most reverend monks.

This therefore must be said before all else: that throughout all ages, and everywhere in the lands of our empire, if ever anyone should wish to build a venerable monastery, let there be no license for him to act before he summons the bishop of the place, most beloved of God, who shall both stretch out his hands to heaven and consecrate the place to God by his prayer, the sign of our salvation being fixed in it (we mean, namely, that adorable and truly precious Cross), and so let a beginning be given to the building, when he has laid that splendid and fitting foundation. And let this indeed be the beginning of the pious construction of venerable monasteries.

But we command that the abbot or archimandrite, who exist in the several monasteries, be created not in all things according to the ranks of the monks, but according to the deeds of their life; and moreover, him whom all the monks who are of better repute shall have chosen—with the holy Gospels set forth, affirming that they have chosen him not through friendship or any other favor whatsoever, but because they have known him both upright in faith, and honorable in life, and worthy in administration, and because he can usefully preserve the knowledge of the monks and the whole discipline of the monastery—the most religious bishop under whom the monastery is established shall by all means promote as superior him who has been chosen in that manner.

And all these things, which have been arranged by us concerning the promotion of superiors, we command likewise to be valid in the venerable monasteries and convents of women. Moreover, if anyone should wish to come to the monastic life, we command that, if indeed it is established concerning him that he is subject to no servile condition, the superior of the monastery give him the habit when it shall seem good to him. If it is not established concerning him to what condition he is subject, let him not take up the monastic habit within three years, but within the aforesaid time let the superior of the monastery make trial, in case he should wish to draw back his foot.

And if within the three years someone should emerge who says that this man is either his slave, or his tenant farmer, or his bound colonus, and that he entered the monastery either fleeing the labor of farming, or having stolen something, or on account of some crime, and these things shall have been proven, let him be restored to his master together with the things which he shall have been proven to have brought into the monastery—pledge having first been given and received that he shall suffer nothing evil from his master.

If no one within the three years has moved an action or controversy against any of the aforesaid persons, the superior of the monastery, after the lapse of the triennium, shall then give him the habit, if he shall have judged a man of this kind worthy; nor shall anyone afterward make any business for him concerning his status and condition, so long, however, as he remains in the monastery. But the things which he shall be seen to have brought into the monastery shall be restored to the master who proves it. But if any of the aforesaid persons abandons the monastery and passes over to the secular life, wandering either in the cities or through the fields, let him be rendered back to his own fortune and condition.

Furthermore, in all monasteries which are indeed called coenobia, we command that, according to the monastic prescriptions and formulas, all dwell in one house, all be fed in common, all sleep separately in one house in a like manner, so that each in turn may afford to the other a testimony of honorable conversation; unless, however, certain of them, either on account of long conversation in the monastery, wishing to live in quiet, or for the sake of old age and the infirmity of the body, dwell in remote cells established within the monastery—and let this be done with the knowledge and will of the abbot. All these things are to be preserved with regard to the monasteries and convents of women as well.

In no place of our commonwealth do we allow that monks and female monastics dwell together in one monastery, and that there be (as they are called) double monasteries. But if anywhere such a monastery be found, we command that the men be separated from the women, and that these indeed, as the weaker, remain in that monastery in which they are, but that the men build themselves another monastery. But if there exist several monasteries of this kind, and it is not necessary to build new monasteries, let the most religious bishop of the place take care to gather the monks with the monks, the women with the women, separately in various monasteries. But those things which they hold in common among themselves, let these be divided in proportion to how much right belongs to each.

But to the women, whomever they themselves shall have chosen—whether a presbyter or a deacon—to answer on their behalf, or to convey the holy Communion to them, let the most religious bishop, under whom they are, assign him as if by drawn lots, if he shall have known him to be of right faith and honorable life. But if he who has been chosen by them be not a presbyter or a deacon, but the bishop judges him worthy of such a ministry, ordination having been imposed upon him by which he shall be seen to be worthy, let the bishop assign him to the office (as has been said) of answering on behalf of the monastery; yet so that neither he who in that manner has been chosen for those things which are to be answered on behalf of the women shall remain in the monastery.

If anyone, under the condition of marriage or of children to be received, or for the sake of a dowry or a nuptial gift, either shall have given or shall have bequeathed to his children, or to any other person, either an inheritance or a legacy; or if at the outset he leaves it to them purely, and afterward burdens them under some one of the aforesaid conditions by way of substitution or restitution—we command that, if males or females who are subject to such conditions enter a monastery, or become clerics, deaconesses, or ascetic women, conditions of this kind be invalid and held as unwritten.

But both clerics and deaconesses of the churches shall enjoy this benefit, if they neither persist in those conditions to the end of their life, nor consume or leave the things given or bequeathed under that condition for pious uses. For in the case of persons who enter a monastery or convent, and abandon a chaste manner of life of this kind, we command that the things which were given or bequeathed under that condition, together with the rest of their substance, belong to the monastery or convent in which they were at the outset when they entered. If, however, the substitution or restitution be made under the aforesaid conditions for the redemption of captives or the support of the poor, we do not allow this to be excluded by any of the aforesaid modes.