The same Augustus to John, Praetorian Prefect. With God affording us His aid, all things which we hasten to do according to God's good pleasure for the honour of the holy Catholic Church, we desire to establish by laws and to fulfil in deeds. And indeed, with His aid, we have already enacted many things which befit ecclesiastical doctrine and order; but at present, in pious deliberation, we have judged this matter to require correction, which until now was being done contrary to the fear of God.
For it has come to our knowledge that, if any betrothed man or betrothed woman, after the earnest-money (arrhae) had been given and received, should wish to dedicate himself or herself to the divine service, and to withdraw from a secular manner of life and to live the consecrated life, and to abide in the fear of God, the man indeed was compelled to forfeit that which he had given by way of earnest-money, while the betrothed woman was compelled to return double what she had received. This has seemed to our clemency to be contrary to religion. Wherefore, by the present law, to remain in force forever, we ordain: that if any betrothed man or betrothed woman should desire to despise the life of this world and to live in the manner of consecrated persons, the man indeed shall recover, without any diminution, all that he gave by way of earnest-money for the sake of the future marriage;
and the betrothed woman shall restore to the man not double (as hitherto), but only that which she had received by way of earnest-money, and shall be compelled to return nothing further except what she is proven to have received. For with regard to husbands and wives also who renounce the world, provision has already been made by us in an earlier law: that, whether the husband or the wife should withdraw from the marriage for the sake of religion and choose the solitary life, each of them shall recover his or her own property, which had been furnished by way of dowry or of ante-nuptial gift, and shall obtain from the one who chose the solitary life, by way of gain, only that which he or she would have had the right lawfully, or by agreement, to exact in the event of death. §1.
This too we judge to be worthy of correction by us: that if anyone, man or woman, placed under the power of parents, or perhaps released from this kind of authority, should choose to associate himself or herself with a monastery or the clergy, and should wish to pass the remaining time of his or her life in a consecrated manner, it shall not be lawful for the parents to draw such a one away by any means whatsoever, nor for this cause alone to repel him or her from their inheritance or succession as ungrateful; but it shall be wholly necessary for them, when they execute their last will, whether by writing or in some other lawful manner, to leave to such children a fourth part according to our laws;
but if they should wish to bestow even more upon them, this we grant to their will. But if it be shown that the parents declared their last will neither by testament nor by any other final disposition, the heirs to whom it falls by intestacy shall claim for themselves, according to our laws, the whole substance of the parents, no impediment being created against them by reason of the consecrated manner of life, whether they be called to the succession alone or together with others. §1. But we will that the benefits of this our perpetual law be obtained by those who shall have persevered in the monastery or in the clerical state.
For if any of those concerning whom we have laid down the present law shall have chosen the consecrated life, but afterwards shall have returned to a secular manner of life, we command that all their property pertain to the rights of that same church or monastery from which they withdrew. §3. These things being thus disposed, by a repeated law we command that no Jew, nor pagan, nor heretic possess Christian slaves. And if they be found in such guilt, we ordain that the slaves be free by all means, according to the tenor of our earlier laws. But at present we decree this in addition, that
if any of the aforesaid Jews, or pagans, or heretics should have slaves not yet imbued with the most holy mysteries of the Catholic faith, and the said slaves should desire to come to the orthodox faith, then, after they have been joined to the Catholic Church, they shall by the present law be set at liberty by all means; and let both the governors of the provinces and the defenders of the most sacred church, as well as the most blessed bishops, protect them, the masters receiving absolutely nothing for their price. And if perchance afterwards the masters themselves should be converted to the orthodox faith, it shall not be lawful for them to bring back into servitude those who preceded them to the orthodox faith. But if anyone should usurp such things, he shall be subject to the gravest penalties.
All these things, therefore, which our Eternity has sanctioned out of regard for piety, let all the judges, and the most religious prelates — whether of the African diocese (in which we have learned that vices of this kind are especially frequent), or of the other provinces — take diligent and most zealous care to observe. For the contemners shall be struck not only with a pecuniary fine, but also with capital punishment.