Manuel I Komnenos, Emperor of Constantinople

^A There are indeed few inhabitants throughout the city, and they are enemies of the Latins, who will never secure a secret peace with them, and even if they promise it, they will not observe it. For this city was once most beautiful, an academy of wisdom and honesty, but now, having reached the ignorance and hardness of an ancient opinion, they have cleaved to the sin of gluttony, and have fallen into such luxury, due to the abundance of fish [(73)] and meat, that a fourth part of it has fallen into the disease of leprosy, and they have abandoned the doctrine of Joannes Chrysostom, Damascenus, and other holy Fathers. Toward the north [[septentrionem]], by one mile, Pera [(74)], the most beautiful city of the Genoese, is separated from the city by the bay. For there are eighteen miles from that place as far as the Pontic Sea, or Euxine, to the north at the mouth, very narrow, with danger today to entering ships, with which, after we have told of the city, we shall return to the Aegean Sea to the island of Stalimini.

[From the notes of Du Cange] [(73)] On the abundance of fish. Busbecq: The fishing in these places is most abundant in mackerel, pelamyds, mullets, sea bream, and swordfish, in which the Greeks engage themselves especially, more than the Turks; although neither do the latter disdain the fish set upon the table, etc. [(74)] Pera. We treat of Pera copiously in *Historia Gallo-Byzantina*, lib. v, n. 32; and in the notes to Villehardouin, n. 83.

ANNO DOMINI MCLXXX.

NOVEL CONSTITUTIONS OF EMPEROR MANUEL COMNENUS

1.

GOLDEN BULL CONCERNING THE IMMUNITY OF THE CLERGY [(1)]

Balsamon, or his scholiast, on the second Council of Nicaea, chapter four: The ever-memorable among emperors, the lord Manuel Comnenus, by a golden bull issued in the month of February of the 7th indiction of the year 6605 [(2)], bestowed upon all priests and public tax-collectors residing anywhere in the lands of Romania not only an exemption [(exkouseia)] from every public molestation, but also immunity from the yoke-tax. And after some time, he granted them, along with the *dochos*, an exemption from taxes. He also granted this favor of exemption from public molestations to priests residing on all personal ecclesiastical and monastic properties; except that he restricted the number of public priests by a census, because of the *dochos* of their permitted yields, so that these might not increase in the future, while he did not deem it necessary to record the other personal priests at all, because no *dochos* of any kind ought to be rendered on their account.

But when, after some years, certain public priests began to exceed the number of the registered yields, as has been said, and were drawn into the payment of freight charges and other public molestations, our powerful and holy emperor was reminded by the most holy patriarch, the lord Lucas, and it was discussed according to imperial command whether such public priests were also helped by the aforementioned golden bull to be exempted for the time being from public molestations. It was decided synodically that such priests should have exemption from the molestations for the time being. For the holy synod said that even from the preface, and indeed from the exemption of all personal priests, even those not registered, it stands manifest that the imperial benefaction extended to all priests. And they said it was unjust and foreign to the imperial benefaction that those who contribute nothing to the public treasury should be exempt for the honor of the priesthood, while the others, being public tax-collectors, should be molested and have no succor from the priesthood, but be held accountable like the laity. And read the synodical note issued on account of this in the month of July of the 1st indiction of the year 6605.

σημείωμα.

II. GOLDEN BULL CONCERNING THE PROTECTION OF MONASTERIES

III. GOLDEN BULL GRANTED TO THE VENETIANS

If someone, wishing to provide stronger fortifications for cities, devises second towers, and adds walls to walls for guards, and opposes the assaults of adversaries with strength; but also, despite the heavy accumulation of gold, does not refuse to put it down, and does not grow weary of taking a long time for the perfection of firmness, and many other things for the increase and defense of the city ^A. But we, also, having the Imperial principality girded by God, and holding the power and might and treasuries of wealth, where it is seen and the work calls for it, shall we not bestow more abundantly upon friends and servants and the faithful, and freely, and affirm word with word, and give a hand to minister with a stylus to this firmness, and add wall to wall, so that we may add to and confirm the fortress once possessed by them? And where this is of the Imperial mind and will, we shall not therefore close the gates to them, nor will we shut our ears, but we shall look upon them and fulfill their petition. What need is there for the prolixity of words? To the Venetians, indeed, a chrysobull ^B was made by the Emperors, a memorable grandfather of my Empire, bestowing upon them diverse gifts; but later, another was made by the Emperors, to the thrice-blessed, most beloved lord and father of my Empire, bestowing and adding the same things, which they then requested for the sake of restoration, and both certainly convenanted with their Empire for service and fidelity, and for Romania, to preserve pure love and affection for them. It is necessary, therefore, to renew both to them, as they have them in their own words, by the present word of our Empire, which we shall altogether collect and wall around like a city situated in the summits of the present chrysobull. The memorable chrysobull of the lord Emperor, lord and father of my Empire, has it ^C thus:

It is customary for older faith and benevolence to cover and erase later malevolence, the lords and friends being conquered by the memory of the previous goodness of their subjects and friends; as it happened now also in the case of the Venetians. For my Empire, remembering their ancient benevolence and faith, which they always [showed toward me] and demonstrated with respect to Romania, showing themselves with their whole soul against the dangers for Romania, and with vigor having fought undoubtingly against the enemies who had then led an army against it, did not heed what had been done badly by them shortly before, and accepted their conversion, and showed them a cheerful face, and receiving them into their arms, and consequently held them worthy of such indulgence ^D that they would no longer be subject to any injury whatsoever regarding those things by which they had offended my Empire and Romania (through diabolical violence, as it seems), but would have perpetual indulgence from my Empire, which has been given by the present chrysobull, as they promised again with their whole soul to fight for Romania and under all my Christian Imperial order, at the same time also by fulfilling certain services of their own, suitable by writing and oath, to serve my Empire and Romania, just as the symphony of their envoys treats of these things more broadly. But since they sought before the fact that their chrysobull from the blessed lord and father of my Empire be corrected again and given to them, as those who had already fallen from it on account of the faults that had occurred, my Empire heard them all, and ordered that this, nevertheless, be written and placed here, having it thus:

And what ever is their exchange 18 for pure friendship and faith? Truly, what [is the reward] for friends and ministers, for exposing themselves to dangers for friends and lords who seek it, shall one render of equal weight, and especially when they have come spontaneously for these during the conflicts which have come in battles against the enemies? Our endeavor of will, placing this great matter, finds nothing worthy of remuneration. But it returns 19 as much as time gives, and what is pleasant to friends and ministers. Moreover, those things which are returned as rewards of faith and pure service are, by our zealous will and spontaneous mind, less and fewer, but not ignoble ones, nor unworthy of friends and servants. But what does the reward mean to me? Those things which are of the faithful Venetians, no one among all has been ignorant; and in what manner they came with built, multi-carrying ships to Epidamnus, which we call Dyrrachium;

and how they presented before us countless men who were fighting on ships; and how they overcame the hostile fleet by their own might, losing men together with them; and that they now also continue to assist us; and other things which were done by the sea-faring men—that is, men laboring on the sea—and which all have known to be correct, even if we do not speak of them? Whence also, in remuneration for such services of theirs, my Imperial Majesty has willed, through this present chrysobull document, that they receive annually, in the time of the customary *roga*, twenty pounds, and that these be distributed to their own churches according to their wish. Moreover, he honored their noble Duke with the most venerable title of *protosebastos*, along with his own most full *roga*. Yet he did not determine the honor in the person of him [the Duke himself], but that it be unceasing and perpetual, and through successions, until the end of the days, should be transmitted to the Dukes in the city. He also honored their Patriarch—the *hypertimos*, that is, the super-honorable—with a *roga* of twenty pounds. And this honor, indeed, he transmitted through succession to those who shall be Patriarchs thereafter, so that this also might be unceasing and perpetual, and not for his person alone. Furthermore, my Imperial Majesty has ordained that the most holy church of the holy apostle and evangelist Mark, which is in Venice, shall receive three *nomismata* per year from each of those holding shops of the Amalfitans in the great city and in all Romania, who are under the power of his patriciate. To this he adds and grants to them the shops which are in the *embolus* of Peramma with their lofts, which have an entrance and an exit in total, which proceeds from the Jewish quarter as far as Viglan, both those which are inhabited and those which are not, and in which Venetians and Greeks stay, as in shops; and the three maritime *scalae* which are terminated in the aforementioned space. He also grants the bakery of the holy Akindynos—that is, the mill—which is at the side of his church, which pertains to the house of Peirios, and has a pension of twenty Byzantine coins. Similarly, he also gives the church of the holy apostle Andrew which is in Dyrrachium, with the Imperial pensions existing there, except for the *aphesis* deposited therein, which must be given for the *chelandia*. He further granted them to trade in all parts of Romania in all types of goods, namely around great Laodicea, Antioch, and Munitum, Adalia, Tarsus, Attalia, Strovilos, Chion, Theologos, Phocia, Dyrrachium, Aulon, Coryphus, Bondica, Methone, Corone, Nauplion, Corinth, Thebes, Athens, Euripus, Demetrias, Thessalonica, Chrysopolis, Peritheorion, Abydos, Redestos, Adrianopolis, Aprus, Heraclea, Selymbria, and through it all [to] Megalopolis, and simply through all parts under the power of our pious clemency, without them providing at all for any private transaction anything at all for the sake of commerce or of any other condition, which is brought to the public, for the sake of the *xilalumin*, *limenatikon*, *portatikon*, *kaniskion*, *exapholeos*, *archontikion*, and other tributes of those things which must be traded. For in all places of trade, permission is given to them by my Imperial Majesty to be superior even to those very demands. They shall be exempt from the *eparchos paraphalassites*, from the lordly *eleoparochos*, from the *commerkiarii*, from the *chartularioi*, from the *hippologoi*, and from all to whom such things pertain, with no one of those who are in the places, whether among the leaders or those carrying out common services, daring to contemn any of those things which have been defined here. For the trade of all species and things which one might mention has been conceded to them, and they shall have the power to make purchase of all things, being superior to any tax. Since my Imperial Majesty has thus dispensed, and ordains that no one resist them, as they are his upright and true servants and helpers against enemies, and promising themselves to be such until the end of the age, and that no one at all feel contrary to such men as these, nor practice any actions against them on account of the shops and *scalae* traded to them here. For whatever their legal status may be—whether ecclesiastical or private or public, or whether they belong to holy houses—this shall in no way affect these, which are now of my faithful Venetian servants of the Empire and of those who shall be in the future; since they have shown much benevolence and a right mind toward Romania and toward my Empire, and with a whole heart promise to keep these things forever, and to fight for the status of my Empire and part of the Christians, as they wish and protest. And against such men, who will contradict, or who will ever bring judgment against them? Whence neither the *secretum* of Petri or of Mireleu, nor even any private person, nor even a monastery or holy temple to whom, specifically, the granted shops and *scalae* pertain, shall move against them. They shall indeed remain silent and abiding in the dispensation and donation of my Empire. For if we do not grant to the worthy to receive voluntary [gifts], as they who have acted manfully and desire to act manfully and shall desire to do so, to whom else shall we grant them at any time? [712D cont.] Therefore, those properties given to them shall be given without subtraction and without disturbance, henceforth all and for perpetual times, according to the contents of the owed practice-tradition of them [written] by the *protoantihypatos* George and the notary of my Empire, Machitarius, which shall also be firm and stable and inviolable in all things which shall be contained in it; and this [must be] in those...

^A private matters where the present chrysobull of our Empire also rests, for the notice of those to whom [it pertains], and for the curbing of those who are troublesome on account of them. Let those things, therefore, which are here defined be removed, firm, incorrupt, and scorned by no one. But if anyone should perhaps scorn any of the things which are set forth in this chrysobull, let him be irremissibly extracted from the secret treasury ten pounds of gold, and let him pay fourfold the quantity of that which has been taken away from them, because the present pious chrysobull existing firm and secure, made around the month of May, of the fifth Indiction, in the year six thousand two hundred, in which our pious and God-promoted Empire also signed.

Everything, therefore, so that the present chrysobull may be firm and secure, made by the August [Emperor] in the month of the fourth Indiction of the year six thousand six hundred and thirty-four, in which our pious and God-promoted Empire also signed. And these things indeed, which were given by the laudable Emperor and grandfather of my Empire and by the thrice-blessed Emperor, lord and father of my Empire, to the most faithful Venetians to our Empire by their chrysobull; which chrysobull our pious Empire also confirms by the present chrysobull discourse, and defines that it should hold effect, just as they had this even until the migration to the Lord of the ^B laudable and thrice-blessed Emperor, lord and father of my Empire, having holy oaths, to preserve faith and service to my Empire and Romania pure, true, and correct to those very riches.

Therefore, this kind of chrysobull confirming my Empire wishes well and also to have effect, just as it was exposed from the beginning when it was given to them, so that also the solemn palace [provisions] may proceed and henceforth proceed without diminution, and the most noble Doge and the most sacred Patriarch of them may have the honors of the dignities, and they may receive not only the regular payments, but also the possession and enjoyment of the workshops and landings given and surrendered to them without abatement. Likewise, let them also have [the right] without prohibition and to trade without the *commercium* and any other giving in all the cities and regions enumerated in the aforementioned chrysobull, which are under the power of our Empire. But also that [the proceeds] from the workshops of the Amalphitans, which have been established by chrysobull to the most holy church of the Apostle and Evangelist Mark, which is in Venice, be given to it without diminution. When, however, not a few years ago it happened that those who sold wares to the Venetians in the Roman regions exacted the *commercium* from them, and this custom prevailed for many years, as has been said, the most beloved Doge and his friends the Venetians, however, asked that this ^C chapter also be corrected by my Empire, and that power and liberty be given to them and by them, my Empire fulfilled this petition also, and defines by the present chrysobull that none of those who are under the power of our Empire, [the Greeks] trading with the Venetians in all the regions of Romania, [is to] give anything for the *commercium*, or for any other exaction whatsoever, either when he sells to them or when he buys from any of them; but that they themselves be excused, just as those who trade with the *commercium* also are. Nevertheless, the Venetians also must preserve firm and incorrupt those things which were promised to my Empire by their envoys by a deed written under oath. ^D Since, however, as it was reported to my Empire by the envoys of the Venetians present in the Great City, the Venetians indeed obtained the precept of the laudable Emperor, lord and father of my Empire, granting them license also to trade unprohibitively through the islands of Cyprus and Crete and without consort [with others] wherever they are in the lands of my Empire for those things which are to be traded by them to such islands, with all kinds of goods—but it did not happen that those things which are comprehended in such a precept received effect, and because of this until now the Venetians are deprived of or lack the *philotimia*, i.e., the donation, given to them by such a precept: the Venetians have petitioned my Empire that this *philotimia* indeed, which is stated in the aforementioned precept of the laudable Emperor, lord and father of my Empire, but which did not in fact reach the Venetians, be ordered by my Empire to take effect from now on; my Empire, on account of the faith and service which they show to it and to Romania, and also promise to show henceforth, having accepted this petition of theirs, wills and defines that they trade also through the islands, namely Cyprus and Crete, and that nothing be exacted from them by anyone for this reason, but that they be preserved by the *komerkia* everywhere in the lands of my Empire according to the distinctions treated above. And that these [men] may have security in those things which are defined by the present chrysobull discourse, the present chrysobull discourse has been set forth, made in the month of October, of the eleventh Indiction, of the year six thousand six hundred and fifty-six, in which our pious and God-promoted Empire also signed.

IV. ON THE OATH OF THE JEWS.

^A A petition of a certain person who became a Christian from Judaism; containing what the oath of the Jews is like.

I, an unworthy and most humble servant of your most powerful and holy Majesty, offer my prayers to you with confidence, my holy master. I was born of Jewish parents, your servant from your subject fortress, Attalia. But by the benevolence of God, who came not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance, I came to the recognition of my sins and received holy baptism through the conversion of my soul. Then, because of the happiness of your divinely inspired rule, I also baptized my three little brothers. And, with prayers offered, a petition was presented by us to the lord and emperor of most blessed and holy memory, the father of your divinely crowned and holy Majesty, ^B that he might grant us that Jewish house of our parents and the items of little value stored within it, which were held by the Jews. And through the favor of his holy Majesty, our petition was heard. Indeed, we obtained an honorable and venerable rescript to the quaestor, that such a house should be delivered to us. And so, in accordance with this mandate, the matter succeeded. And by the help of your holy Majesty, this house was converted by us, your servants, into a holy temple, which is called the Holy Resurrection. We also established certain monks therein, who might pour out prayers on behalf of your holy Empire and for all Christians. We also appealed to the quaestor concerning our own goods, that they might be restored to us; but the Jews denied them. For which reason the quaestor enjoined us that our case should be settled by an oath of calumny and by a full oath. And I indeed, as a Christian, would provide the oath of calumny, but they the full one; yet not such as they themselves wished, ^C but such an oath as I would give them in writing. And it is indeed thus: First, that he should gird himself with a bramble, and sit upon a leather bag, and entering the sea, he should spit upon his circumcision three times, using these words: "So may Barase, Barma, Adonai, Eloi help me, who led Israel through the Red Sea with dry feet, and provided them drinkable water from a rock, and gave them manna to eat with quails, although they themselves became ungrateful, having rejected the meat of swine. By that law which Adonai promulgated; and by this spitting rejection upon the body of circumcision, and by the bramble with which my loins are girded, I do not assume the name of the Lord Sabaoth in this oath for the sake of lying. But if I swear for the sake of lying, let the children proceeding from my womb be subject to execration. I shall grope like a blind man along a wall, ^D and like one who lacks eyes, I shall stumble. Beyond all these things, may the earth open its mouth and swallow me, as it did Dathan and Abiron." And they accepted this oath willingly. Then after I had performed the oath of calumny, they refused to perform the full one; but by bringing gifts to the quaestor, they escaped.

Therefore, I supplicate and pray your divine majesty that I may obtain for the quaestor of this current time a noble and adorable rescript, by which it may be ordained that either the Jews shall perform such an oath even against their will, or they shall undoubtedly restore to us the things which we demand by right. If this is done, most sacred prince, I shall not cease for the whole of my life to offer prayers for your sacred empire, to which, as an unworthy servant, I have confidently offered these petitions.

Rescript of the Emperor

Extract Concerning the Jews

Subscription

It also had a bull hanging below, which contained letters on both sides, to this effect: "Recognize from the seal the one who wrote this. Who wishes may recognize the judge, Pecules."

V. Golden Bull Concerning Ecclesiastical Instruments (5).

Balsamon

^A one healing the things that halt, and as "a giant shall not be saved by the multitude of his strength," as sayeth the Prophet, the Psalmist, and the father of God. Perhaps [it refers to] the rights of all the churches everywhere, that is to say, of bishoprics and metropolises and of the Great Church itself. Which [document] also contains these words:

"The commander of the people chosen by God after Moses, that Jesus, who hastened to tear down the fortifications of Jericho, ordered the priests to blow the trumpet in a circle, and thus he miraculously cast down the battlements of the walls. Now, my Empire, which presides over the new people chosen by God after that prince, the savior and leader of the people—another Moses, I mean, the illustrious master and progenitor of my Empire—hastening to tear down, as if they were the walls of Jericho, the fortifications of the common enemy of the Christians, I mean the western dragon, who exercises tyranny in the land of Sicily, and from there secretly crawls against the Roman Empire—my Empire ^B stands in need, as it were through certain spiritual trumpets, of the prayers of you, the prelates, who daily appease God for us, to assist in pulling those down. But even the divine Moses himself, when he engaged in battle with Amalek, being supported on both sides by priests, thus put him to flight and conquered him. Just as he, therefore, my Empire also, needing the support of the prelates for the battle array proposed against this new Amalek, and desiring to have their prayers as a column of light ^C going before this new Israel and directing its steps, has bestowed this present Golden Bull upon the Mother of all the Churches, the new Sion, the dwelling-place of the Wisdom of God, and upon the prelates who are in all the islands, and in the East, and in the West, thereby more greatly strengthening their prayers for my Empire. For my Empire knows precisely that 'a king is not saved by much power, and a giant will not be saved by the multitude of his strength: but a horse is a mendacious thing for safety,' as it is said by the Prophet, the Psalmist, and the father of God.

Wishing, therefore, that the firmness and stability of the Church which presides over all may be preserved, as well as [that of] all the aforementioned prelates of the holy churches, wheresoever they may be; and ^D more firmly establishing the security of the titles and rights which they possess in the holding of their immovable properties; and furthermore correcting if anything perhaps halts in their rights and is lacking in sheer legality; and not only this, but also if any right ought to have followed regarding the dominion, detention, and property of such immovable assets, which perhaps has not been done before; my Empire has handed over this Golden Bull of my imperial authority to them as a healer of that which is lacking, which proves as though the right in them were perfect, and complete, and altogether unshaken. By which it confirms and makes safer whatever right belongs to the holy churches, and to the one which presides over them, in their immovable properties, of whatever kind they might be, and

^A wherever they may be situated; and what is good, it renders better by the judgment and vote of my majesty. Moreover, whatever in them—in whatever things one might say it is scrutinized—whether in the golden bulls of various emperors, or in sigilla, or in simple commands, or in rescripts, or in acts, [in any way] falters, and in some measure falls short of what is exact and of the due consequence of royal commands and laws, [my majesty] corrects; and it decrees that no prejudice should ever be brought upon the said most holy churches on account of this matter, but that what is weak and feeble in them should be most firm, and should not be assailed by any allegation of law by one who wishes to say something for the treasury (that is, for the public), as it is confirmed and strongly corroborated by this present golden bull of my majesty. And so that my majesty may recall a few things out of the many that might come to anyone’s mind: if by chance the donation of the coloni themselves should be without a certain quantity or measurement of land, or if some fertile places have been added in properties of this kind, perhaps which were not donated to them; or if they were indeed donated, but the commands concerning these [things] were not revoked; or if, in another donation assigned to them, the commands concerning what was previously defined were not revoked; or if any of the principal commands which were granted to them were not insinuated in any way; or if they were indeed insinuated in some secret, but not a competent [way]; or if the insinuations perished, but trustworthy copies of them are found; or if acts which ought to have proceeded did not proceed; or if the acts which were required did not intervene; or if the calculations of accounts which ought to have been done were not done; or perhaps for any other cause whatever that one might allege, whether in part or in whole, the rights of the often-mentioned holy churches of God and the Mother of all [churches] falter, and therefore do not have their unshakable strength, even if, explicitly, here every such cause that makes the rights falter has not been declared; or if other rights ought perhaps to have been provided to them regarding such immovable properties, since some [rights] absolutely proceeded in them (for if they possess no right at all in any of the immovable properties belonging to them, they will not be helped at all by this present golden bull)—in nothing at all shall all these things, and whatsoever other things one might take up at any time to contend on behalf of the public, ever be able to harm the most holy churches of God, and the Great Church of God’s Wisdom, and the other metropolises, archiepiscopates, and episcopates, in regard to the immovable properties which, as has been said, belong to them, by whatever rights. For if they never possessed any right at all in some of the immovable properties belonging to them, they will receive no benefit from this present golden bull, just as [they will receive none] concerning those [properties] in which the public treasury has held possession for any reasonable cause up to this day; for in all these cases strict discipline of the law shall be observed. ^D If, therefore, anyone should wish, through greed or any other [cause]

^A to scorn those things defined in this present chrysobull of my Majesty, may he first of all not behold the splendor of the holy Trinity when we stand before the fearful judgment seat; may he also fall away from the portion of the Christians, as Judas did from the twelve; and besides these things, may he draw upon himself the curse ^B of the first-born holy, just, and God-bearing Fathers who have been asleep from all ages.

VI.

AUREA BULLA CONCERNING PLACES TO BE POSSESSED BY THE VENETIANS IN CONSTANTINOPLE (7)

VII.

AUREA BULLA CONCERNING THE POSSESSIONS OF THE GREAT CHURCH (8)

Concerning the immovables of the Great Church.

And they indeed, in the ancient and celebrated temple of the wisdom of Solomon, offered according to their strength to all [their needs]; and to this holy and most great temple also, which is under the name of the Wisdom of God—who is himself derived from Solomon and David according to his humanity—being magnificently and regally constructed, of which that former one was the prefigurement, of the New Zion, I say, the ark of sanctification, the Church of our Savior (which the Holy Spirit has truly built, a stable and immovable one, upon the rock of the apostolic commandments), many offered different gifts, which are seen in immovable properties, situated in the east and in the west, and in some of the islands. Certain ones were also acquired by it through purchase. Many of these (not to say most) were judged by those who are everywhere, by the public census recorders and those practiced in such matters, for various reasons to belong to the exchequer. ^C

1. Since, however, this has been brought to the ears of my Majesty by the report of those who manage this most great and divine temple, my power, without any delay, has granted this present Bull to this venerable residence, by which our piety purely bestows and concedes to it all things whatsoever that pertain to the exchequer from those [properties] which are possessed by it in the East and in the West, and in all the islands, in immovable possessions, as a gift of this [Majesty] and as a holy oblation, whether they be colonists, or land—for example, arable, or pasture, or planted with vines, or garden land, or whatever kind of estates these may be—or whether servants, merchants, or craftsmen act in their houses, even if fortresses have been built in some of them, or if anything else whatsoever that pertains to the exchequer is found in them. ^D

2. My Majesty also corrects, through this present pious chrysobull, whatever is found to be deficient in those rights and titles that belong to the aforementioned Great Church of God, in all such immovables, of whatever kind they may be.

And all those [properties] belonging to it in the East and in the West and in all the islands, as they are now being bestowed and handed over by my imperial majesty, ^A are to be accounted as given and granted to it by this present pious chrysobull document, as our serenity decrees and determines.

3. For this very reason, it is furthermore commanded by our imperial majesty that detailed descriptions be prepared, specifying all kinds of immovable property, the settlers and tenants placed over them, and also all the various workshops found within them, by the regional surveyors, and that these be confirmed by their signatures and handed over to the account of the most holy Great Church for its perpetual security: so that all things may be manifest and placed beyond controversy, and never in the course of time be brought into question by any of the contemporary surveyors, overseers, or equalizers, ^B or those investigating fiscal matters in any other way; the aforementioned descriptions must be registered in the appropriate secretariats for the memory of the matter in the future.

4. For it shall not be permitted to any of these persons at any time or in any way to enter upon any such immovable properties whatsoever or to bring them into dispute or any sort of inquiry. Nor shall they seek deeds regarding them, nor exact a hearth-tax, or a metreticion, or any other tax whatsoever devised for the profit of the surveyors, who are prohibited [from doing so] by the mere notification of this present Golden Bull of my imperial majesty and by the descriptions which, as established above, are to be valid.

5. Every edict already issued, whether regarding those previously designated, or regarding fragments, or regarding compassionate grants, or regarding those [properties] from humble ranks, or regarding those subject to incision, or regarding military grants affected [by them], even if compensation for these has not taken place, or regarding donations not accepted without a fixed amount, or regarding any other matter ^C whatsoever that has been proclaimed and is in any way contrary to this present chrysobull of my imperial majesty, shall be, as far as it is concerned, null and void, even if it has a clause inserted in it [stating] that it shall not be revoked, unless it be expressly specified. For my piety, being aware of all the edicts that have been issued, has deemed it superfluous to enumerate them one by one, and my majesty has determined that they should be considered ^D as having been expressly enumerated and overturned as far as the text of this Golden Bull is concerned. Nor shall any other edict that may be issued in the future prevail over this pious document; but even that, insofar as it is contrary to this present determination of my majesty, shall be rendered void and of no force, even if, to prevent its being overturned, a clause has been added (unless it be expressly specified), or any other qualification whatsoever.

6. But that all the immovable properties belonging to the most holy Great Church of God may be manifest, they are expressly written down in the present Golden Bull. They are as follows: In the theme of Thrace and Macedonia, such and such [property]. And henceforth it enumerates all the immovables. And after their enumeration, it says: The Strobilotae Jews ^A wheresoever found; and exemption for ships of thirty thousand [modii] capacity.

7. Furthermore, my imperial power decrees that the most holy Great Church and every part thereof shall possess its own rights entirely inviolate and unshaken; whereas precise deductions of boundaries were to be made by the local surveyors, as has often been stated. However, under this pretext, it shall not be permitted to the aforementioned surveyors to exact "fumarium" (hearth-tax), or "metreticon," or the provision of necessities, or to make any exaction whatsoever from any of its immovable properties; but they shall complete the aforementioned delineations of boundaries without any contribution or demand. Whoever shall dare to violate any of the things defined by the present Golden Bull of my majesty, besides incurring imperial indignation, he shall risk the penalty of thirty pounds of gold, which shall be exacted without mercy from him by the secret of the private [domain] at the suit of the most holy Great Church, since the present Golden Bull—made in the month of August, in the first indiction, in the year 6661, to which our piety-surpassing imperial authority has set its hand—is firm and secure.

VII. GOLDEN BULL GRANTED TO THE PISANS

VIII. GOLDEN BULL FOR THE CONFIRMATION OF THE CONVENTION MADE WITH THE GENOESE

IX. GOLDEN BULL CONCERNING THE POSSESSIONS OF MONASTERIES

That the immovable properties of the churches and of the monasteries which are in the city shall remain untouched by the hand of the fisc.

1. My imperial authority has deemed it fitting previously to bestow a Golden Bull upon the most holy monasteries situated in this queen of cities, and upon those situated on the western part of Stenos, as much as is on the shore and further out; likewise also upon those about the Gulf of Nicomedia, and as far as Nicomedia itself, and upon those in the islands: Oxeia, Prote, Chalce, Platea, Hagia Glykeria, Principe, Antigoni, Tragonisi, Terebinthos, St. Andreas, St. Try-

Tryphon, St. Eleutherios of the Kydon, Pelagios, Theotokos, Mesonesion, Patros, and St. Demetrios; and upon those in the suburban gates, and as far as the region of Athyras, and simply upon the monks, both men and women, practicing their ascetic life around the queen of cities. Having bestowed upon them many just privileges, and having granted them ^A firm and unshakeable possession and lordship of the immovables belonging to them by certain rights, as this Golden Bull explains at greater length. But since cavillers could not rest, but under the pretext of the fiscus [or the public treasury] brought heavy affliction upon them: my imperial majesty, wishing both to appease and render God propitious for those things in which, as a man, I have offended Him; and at the same time wishing also that the soldiers of the great Emperor, namely Christ—those who have chosen the monastic life for His sake and have put on the armor of the Spirit—should have allies and strong fellow-soldiers against enemies both visible and invisible, has willed to place upon that good foundation a roof fitting in proportion, and has for this reason issued the present Golden Bull; ^B by which it is ordained and decreed that all immovable properties which today are possessed by the aforementioned monasteries, or even by schools, and anchorite cells, or lauras, and simply by monastic dwellings, by whatever name they may be called, including tenant-farmers, self-worked lands, public markets, tributes, tax revenues, lakes, rivers, maritime rights, and, to speak once and for all, whatever right is considered in immovable property, in whatever place it may be situated, in which clearly up to this time no notation or designation has been given to them by those in that region, by the census enumerators who would prove that the fiscus has a claim upon them, shall be held by the said mansions in perpetual ownership, ^C as a gift and liberal grant of my Empire, and that they shall possess them henceforth forever, even if they have held any, or perhaps all, of these up to this time for a cause whether probable or improbable; or even without any title, or indeed by a title, which is defective, or perhaps has been falsely forged. For all things that are possessed by them in any region whatsoever, in the East and in the West, whether from the emperors who were governing at that time, whether they are from fragments, or from acts of mercy, or from lands moved by earthquake, or escheated [caducis], or from lowly daily [diariis] payments, or from resources vexed by calamity, or those which were sold by powerful men, or conversely, or from the correction of poorly executed sales; and, if in some places they were ^D ordered to be given, and in others were delivered, or were granted, but not delivered; or were delivered, but not granted; or were in any other way poorly held by them; my Empire wills that they be possessed by the said monasteries unshakably and without any dispute in eternity, as a gift of my Empire, and a pure act of liberality. For since the mere detention of the immovables is now found among them, which ought to suffice for them in place of any title, it is superfluous to investigate any others curiously. For in all things which they possess today, except for

^A those concerning which they have received adjudications from the provincial recorders in favor of the public treasury, as has been said, this present golden-sealed document of my Majesty ought to suffice, both as a donation and as a formal record, and as every other title of right, even if any government office whatsoever should claim a right over it. Nor shall the monasteries be compelled, regarding the immovable properties they now possess, to produce other ancient titles belonging to them, but using this present golden-sealed document of my Majesty in place of every title of right, they shall be contented with this alone, which, as was written before, ought to suffice for them as a donation, as a formal conveyance, and as every other title of right. But if, perhaps, as time invites, any monastery should wish to use the rights and titles it also possesses, and produces them on its own behalf, it shall not be hindered by anyone from doing so; for it shall not do this under compulsion, but if it chooses to do so of its own volition, there will be no one to prevent it. Nor shall this present golden-sealed document assist the monasteries only regarding the authentication of the land, but also regarding the coloni who are now held by them, and their self-cultivated lands, taxes, public markets, ferries, ^B lakes, rivers, maritime rights, and any other right whatsoever held by them—always excepting those for which they received adjudications in favor of the treasury, as has been frequently discussed above. And if it was ordered that some tributes, or contracts, or military obligations, or public charges, or petitions, or anything else belonging to the public treasury should be accounted or abolished, and that which was to be accounted has not yet been done, or if the title has any other defect that could be criticized, the monasteries shall be harmed by this in no way. But what need is there to speak at length, to enumerate, and to bring forward examples? My Imperial Majesty, passing over a multitude of words, so that no person crafty and guileful in such matters—by seizing upon certain words from among the causes that shake the status of immovable properties, while passing over others in silence—might take hold of the words and, in the manner of the Jews, insist upon the letter ^C and attempt to shake and harass the monasteries regarding matters not explicitly mentioned, by a universal and general ordinance my Majesty wills and decrees that everything which might at any time, now or hereafter, be contemplated by anyone as belonging to the public treasury regarding those things possessed today by the monasteries, or regarding the very seats of the monasteries themselves, shall be reckoned as having been granted to the monastery by this very document. And as soon as anyone should think or speak of this, the monastery shall immediately lay claim to it as having been granted to it today by my Majesty. For as far as concerns the immovable properties they now possess, for which the aforementioned monasteries have not received adjudications in favor of the public treasury, my Majesty wills that each one of these be reckoned as property of the treasury only in this regard, that it may not be attacked nor called into controversy by anyone. And just as the public ^D treasury is not subjected to any annoyance or business by them, so neither shall the [sacred] silentiaria, nor the monasteries, nor the remaining institutions be harassed with lawsuits by any supervisor of the public treasury, whether he brings forward a probable or an improbable cause, or of whatever nature that which he speaks may be. For whoever shall have undertaken to do this, [it will be] invalid and truly in-

insecure, and his property shall be forfeited to the public treasury without any mercy, and he himself shall be utterly infamous, as one who opposes the Emperor, who piously and religiously removes every troublesome vexation from the monasteries in those things which have been given to them by the present golden bull, and through it offers some small gift to God, in exchange for the countless benefits which he has received from His bounteous right hand.

2. It shall not be permitted, therefore, to any prefect of a *secretum*, ^B or a tax-assessor, or any agent in public affairs, or any other person of the fisc who handles public matters, to register the immovable properties of the monasteries, or to count hearths, or to investigate measurements of land or the quantity of tenant-farmers (*paroikoi*), or to examine what land is in excess or of higher value, or is unjustly held. But since, by the command of my Majesty, the official records (*praktika*) of the immovables and tenant-farmers currently held by the monasteries are to be made, only then shall the monastery be troubled, and that which is unjustly held be taken away, when the registrar shows ^C that the monastery occupies fields, or tenant-farmers, or any other right, beyond its rightful boundary.

For the monasteries shall not have license to increase and amplify what is held by them today, whether they be tenant-farmers, or lands, or self-worked farms (*autourgia*). Nevertheless, upon such a pretext, it shall not be permitted to any tax-collector or registrar, or to anyone else, to take any hearth-tax, or measurement-tax, or any other tax regarding registration or collection from the immovables subject to the aforementioned monasteries. For he who shall dare to do this must know that not only will he return multiple-fold whatever he may have collected, but he shall also be subjected to total confiscation of his property, and shall be infamous and stripped of his civil rights. For thus my Majesty wills that all the immovables of the stated monasteries be regarded by each of the collectors, as if they were not under his own authority and power. ^D And in the same way as collectors have no right to do or to perform anything at all in regions not subject to them, so too will the collectors of the provinces, under whom such immovables happen to be, not be deemed the collectors of the monasteries' immovables.

However, the future official records (*praktika*) and the demarcations, by those whom my Majesty shall appoint for the presentation of what is today held by the monasteries, shall be filed in the appropriate *secreta* for their information. And all the monasteries must know that if any one of them is found to have committed any fraud, or collusion, or deceit regarding the immovables held by them today, not only will it derive no benefit at all from this golden bull of my Majesty, but it shall also forfeit the right granted to the aforesaid monasteries by the other golden bull previously issued by my Majesty.

X. Golden Bull concerning the Immovable Property of Monasteries (16).

[Golden Bull] issued in the month of October in the 7th indiction of the year 6655, ordering that monasteries retain their immovable property inalienably, and judgments were rendered to them by the registrars confirming the public treasury.

XI. That the goods belonging to deceased bishops may not be plundered by tax collectors (18).

Issued in the month of September of the 4th indiction.

A matter that is committed in contempt of God and to the subversion of natural laws by those who (as they say) fear neither the voice of God nor the vengeance of men, as is likely, has seemed to my Majesty, when it reached its ears, to be altogether intolerable. Wherefore my Majesty corrects this, as being something entirely unworthy of the Christian profession. For it has been reported to it that, upon the departure from life of those who hold the pontificate anywhere in the most holy Churches of God, both before their funeral is carried out and after it has been carried out, those who exercise the stewardship of the treasury in that region, under the pretext of their death, inhumanly invade their cells and the immovable properties that are under the Churches that have fallen to them; and they carry off everything found in them among their possessions, make a general demand for such immovable properties, and otherwise entirely shatter them.

My Majesty, therefore, holding such audacity to be unbearable even to hear of, so that they may not, when damage and calamity have come upon their Churches from the death of the bishops, become creators of a much greater calamity and far more troublesome than the difficulty they already have, decrees by this present Constitution that hereafter no such thing shall be innovated by those who hold ducal magistracies, or who exercise registrations or any other rights of the treasury, against the most holy Churches or their immovable properties or the cells of the bishops at the time of their deaths; but if the bishops die having made a will, all things shall be done according to their wills and ordinances, as far as concerns what is found in their cells. If, however, they should chance to depart intestate, all things shall in that case also be done according to what is deemed right by the sacred canons and laws. Though, concerning the immovable properties of widowed Churches, it did not express even a foot [of land]; but it noted: ^{B C} Furthermore, it abolished such a golden bull and any ordinance contrary to this, that is to say, any that might come to be, and it decreed that the monasteries should use also their ancient rights. ^D Certain similar things are contained toward the end of this golden bull, which we have published as Novel VI, granted to the Great Church.

^A nor shall any of the dukes in the provinces or any other persons, as has been said, set foot at all upon the immovable property of widowed churches, nor lay claim to anything therefrom in any way; but all things shall be administered in their own right by the parties belonging to such churches, just as this has been lawfully and canonically decreed, until, that is, those who are appointed as bishops in the churches after the deceased prelates arrive in the region and take up their administration. He who acts to invalidate any of the things decreed in this present imperial ordinance of mine must know that, even if God should for the present remain silent upon such an audacious attempt of his, He is surely reserving for him the fitting punishment in the future; yet my imperial majesty shall also pursue him more bitterly in the present, subjecting him to corporal punishments, to the mutilation of his own members, to the confiscation of his property, and to long-term exile. For not only shall such a person render to the Church in full that which is removed from it by him in such a manner, but he shall also be required to pay an additional double amount to the public treasury without any mercy; and a most perfect account of this matter shall be provided at that time by the prelate to the mystikos, who is also obligated to administer both, and he will have no excuse whatever for his sin. For my imperial majesty has come in an evangelical spirit and has spoken to them through this present ordinance, which shall be recorded and deposited in the holy chartophylakion, to bear aid to the most holy churches, even if only copies of it, certified by the proper authority, are presented by the parties themselves. For these shall have the force of the originals, and shall serve those who produce them for eternal security.

[XII.]

NOVEL REGARDING DIVERS CAUSES (13).

^D Ancient wise men defined imperial rule as a certain legitimate administration, a thing indeed divine beyond any doubt. Therefore, as they believed, so also do they teach that this is a manifestation of the manifold providence of God. For if the Lord is just and has loved justice (Ps. X, 8), it is fitting that he who has attained from Him the kingdom over those on earth should himself be just, and should deem the bringing about of righteous judgments for those whom he appoints to judge to be a work worthy of his own endeavor. For what other work, I ask, could be more honorable and excellent for a king, and more useful to those who are subject to his rule? Since my imperial majesty is not ignorant of these things, it especially desired and prayed...

that no one under its dominion might suffer injury; or, if that cannot be, that those appointed by my majesty would at least not be indifferent or negligent toward those who commit unlawful acts in meting out vengeance to the oppressed. But seeing currently that many are wounded by a greedy and unjust hand, and suffer the seizure of their fields and homes and are despoiled of other things, and then knock incessantly at the doors of the courts and waste their time to no avail—and, besides the fact that they receive from them no help or aid, they are even punished worse and more bitterly with blows and scourges, and from the courts drain the very dregs of the injustice from which they hoped to obtain vengeance—and indeed, to use the words of Solomon: "I saw iniquity under the sun, a mortal man fallen into an immortal lawsuit, handing it down like some hereditary patrimony, often to the third and fourth generation, to his descendants by succession." ^B My majesty, therefore, as has been said, perceiving these things, felt pain, as was fitting, for what was happening and felt great distress in its soul, blaming the negligence of the judges and being moved with pity for the despair of those who are injured. Therefore, looking around for the correction of this evil as far as possible, and assisting those suffering the worst things as much as truly possible, it looked toward the arrangement hereinafter to be set forth.

1. That they ought to preside in court three times a week

2. Concerning advocates

^A that my rule should be offended to a great extent by the shiftiness of those who make it their pursuit—for it has often caught them in the act of embezzling the hours [of the court] and sophistically evading justice, by repeating the same legal arguments over and over, and because they remain so firmly attached to their previous claims that they do not permit the court to make progress. Therefore, it is decreed that those who exercise the office of advocate shall stand with modesty before the judge, as before, and that they shall not sit among the judges while cases are being heard, nor shall they speak at the same time as others in the course of their arguments (from which both the hearing is confused and the accurate and well-observed diagnosis of the judges is thwarted). Instead, while one party remains silent with decorum and composure, the advocate acting for them shall put forward his own case; then he shall remain quiet, and the other shall provide his counter-argument with equal liberty; and only in this way shall they speak before the judges who are adjudicating. Even if all of them are of one mind, they [the advocates] are to proceed to the presence of those being judged. But if they disagree with one another, the advocates are to remain silent once more, while the judges themselves examine the point of contention and, free from any prejudice, all come together to decide and declare what is determined by them.

If, however, not all agree, but some hold views contrary to the majority, or if the number of those holding different opinions is equal, that verdict shall prevail which the presiding officer of the court supports. ^B Those who do not conform to the regulations we have ordained concerning them, but instead bring forward the same legal arguments—which, though they are not to be received by the judges, they nevertheless persist in shamelessly—and state the very things they had already pleaded before they were sent away (sometimes word for word, and sometimes by changing the words so as to deceive, as has even happened when my own imperial majesty was judging), these shall be prevented from acting as advocates. For they ought, if they truly believe they have been wronged, to have fled to the remedy of appeal, which is reserved for such persons by the laws. It shall also be, by all means, a concern for the judges to conduct their examinations and render their decisions with great care, knowing that severe penalties—and often even the mutilation of limbs—follow upon their judgments.

Therefore, so that the courts may no longer be endless, we rekindle the law long contained in various books of the Basilica, and we wake it, as it were, from the dead, and we raise up that which has been, so to speak, condemned to total extinction; we decree according to it that criminal cases in the courts are to be finished within two years, and for financial cases, we extend the time to three years. For such an interval of time is sufficient for them, even if, perhaps, some cases are found to have a great deal of intricacy and difficulty, and do not readily admit of a solution. If, however, through the fault of the plaintiff, the time limit expires ^C without the case being resolved, then he shall be condemned, and shall also pay the costs to the defendant. But if it is the obstinacy of the defendant—while the plaintiff is vigilant and pressing—that ^D

to let the defendant bring his case before the judge to whom it is proper. But if, for any reason whatsoever, he cannot fulfill his office, he shall approach some other tribunal to obtain his right.

Moving every rope, as the saying goes, to remove the disputes which are accustomed to arise in court, it establishes these things as well; namely, that there ought to be no more than three edicts of thirty days each, when a sentence is pronounced and a hearing is held which decides controversies by oaths. However, the summonses for exacting and fulfilling oaths must indeed be three, but they shall have only fifteen days. If the oaths are not tendered and fulfilled within this time, he who was called by the posted edicts and did not exact or fulfill the oaths shall be held as condemned and a deserter of the trial.

4. On appeals. ^B Appeals also, which are made in court in this imperial city as well as in the surrounding cities, shall be concluded within a year. Whoever has been condemned by someone and has appealed shall be compelled within the space of a year to pursue and complete the appeal. If he does not do so, he shall be bound to pay what is owed by the condemnation. But if anyone has been condemned in another province and has appealed to the tribunal of my majesty, or to another civil court, he shall obtain, together with the year mentioned above, the legal time liberally granted so that, having set out for the great city, he may necessarily have until the end of the declared and judged year to both pursue and finish the appeal. Or, at the very least, he shall be compelled to be content with the prior sentence, with those things which are owed being exacted from him.

5. On provincials. Besides these things, let this also be added. Certain provincials, coming both to the imperial city and to other places where my majesty resides, institute legal proceedings on account of some dispute, or having suffered unjust extortions or other injuries from collectors, or from provincials (that is, soldiers), or certain others. Wherefore we decree that petitions ^C offered in such trials shall have a space of eight days, with the one who administers justice in such cases being absolutely obliged to hasten to resolve them by a summary path, so that those provincials may not be compelled, by reason of delay and the passage of time and the lack of funds, to consider the flight and avoidance of the courts as more valuable than the pursuit of the same.

6. On antichresis. Furthermore, let this also be legislated. The wickedness, or rather the craftiness, of many subjects distorts the novella which established the law concerning the right of pre-emption, in that they commit fraud under the pretext of antichresis. Wherefore...

^A that property in land, in which another has the right of pre-emption, should not be taken by some through antichresis; and by this reasoning they try to exclude him who ought to have been preferred, as if, forsooth, the land in which the right of pre-emption exists were to return to the owner once the loan had been repaid and discharged. And in this way they circumvent the person entitled to pre-emption, and the provisions of the novella remain ineffective, as the land remains with the one who has supposedly taken it by way of antichresis. Often, moreover, they do another devious thing; for perverse men are so constituted by nature that they contrive machinations and weave deceits even in plain matters, and invent whatever can be said to the injury or even complete destruction of truth and justice. ^B What then is this? When land is to be alienated in which someone has proximity or a share, the owners sell the remaining part to whomever they wish, while keeping back that part of the land being sold which is adjacent to the neighbor who has the right of pre-emption; and from this the right of pre-emption is lost, seeing that the part that is adjacent has not been sold. And it happens that the provisions of the new legislation are circumvented, as the intent of the law is violated, while the words are perhaps kept. For he commits fraud, says the jurisconsult, who does what the law indeed did not forbid, yet does not wish to have done. My majesty, therefore, having detected such impostures, nipping the schemes of those wise in malice, decrees that the right of pre-emption shall have a place also in cases of antichresis, and that those things which were decreed regarding donations in that novella which we previously mentioned shall be valid. ^C Likewise, the right of neighborhood or proximity shall be granted, even if someone has sold a part of the land in which another has the right of pre-emption, but has left behind some very small part unsold, which perhaps is adjacent to the neighbor’s house or field, in which that proximity consists. Nor should such impostures be stronger than the truth, or that constitution which determined matters pertaining to these things remain without force, overcome and circumvented by the wickedness of men.

7. Regarding curators, that is, administrators. In addition to these things, we also join this decree to what has been written above. Many men in their final testaments leave behind curators, that is, administrators, from among those appointed by them, and entrust to them the management and administration of their affairs, ^D writing Christ as heir, that sweet, world-saving affair and name. And they seem to do this when they command their wealth to be distributed to the poor; for when he who begs receives something, Christ himself stands by and reaches out his hollow hand with him. For "inasmuch," he says, "as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me." We command, therefore, that as often as such procuratorial administrations arise, and likewise the distribution

^A that, when such administrative duties concerning estates and allocations for pious causes are concerned, and those tending to the spiritual economy and the maintenance and support of orphans, minors, and the poor, there should be no room in these matters for judicial delays and the subsequent dragging out of time. For from this it happens that a fraud is committed upon the souls of the departed, and the laws which were enacted for the public good and utility are twisted into something contrary. For my imperial majesty does not deem it just that the order and procedure which prevails in other courts should be used in these cases; but that the disputes of such matters should be settled immediately, not by filing a formal petition, but by giving notice of the matter at most within three or four days. Since if no judicial delay is admitted, an examination of the legal rights competent to each party shall be instituted, and both parties shall be summoned without any procrastination, and it shall be required of them to put forward what they think makes for their own case. Thus, in a very short time, perhaps extending to one or two months, as it shall seem fit to the judge, the matter brought into controversy shall be resolved in a convenient manner: the laws, of course, retaining their place and stability, which ordain that successors should not be dragged into court immediately after the death of the deceased, but after a lapse of certain days; just as those things pertaining to this are more broadly enacted in the ^B Basilics. But if an executor is seen turning to delays, and is caught acting improperly in such matters, resorting to procrastinations and not doing what the testator commanded, he shall be removed from the executorship of the deceased's affairs and from their administration; which shall then be entrusted to those whom the emperor shall appoint: or if the emperor is perhaps absent, the prefect of the city, together with the steward of the most holy Church, shall dispense and administer that matter; and they shall give notice of what they have done in such cases to the emperor, or to the most holy patriarch of the day, if it should happen that the emperor is traveling abroad and the will of the deceased has not been fulfilled according to his command.

8. Regarding the exaction of penalties. Since the penalties also, which are inserted in documents by the agreement of the contracting parties for the sake of security and the observance of the pacts entered into, are written so that he who renders the contract void may be held to them, but now this very thing ^C has gone entirely into disuse, because judges have been eager to show kindness where they ought not, and have behaved softly and remissly in the calamities of others: out of emulation for what is good and for the vindication of those affected by injuries, we decree that these too must be exacted from the transgressor according to the force of the laws, and further, also the fruits, and everything that matters, and whatever else is of such a kind in accordance with legal enactments. Furthermore, also those things which are [done] by force, or fear, or robbery, or by those otherwise sinning with weapons or ^D

^A that those things taken away, with the legal penalty, be restored, so that by the exaction of all these things, those given over to avarice might be restrained, and the common people might not be prone to malice, seeing that wickedness goes unpunished and no execution of law takes place regarding these matters. For my majesty desires, if it were possible, to reform all things for the better; but since this is laborious, or rather—to speak the truth—impossible, my majesty must correct those things that are done and perpetrated wrongly, in so far as it is possible, by new imperial constitutions and the coercion resulting from them.

9. Concerning the distribution of judges and advocates. Since my majesty has already determined above that civil judges should be distributed, and that those who are to appear before them should be assigned to each tribunal, it is likewise necessary that the advocates also be distributed. The most venerable Augustus and Grand Drungary, and the most illustrious men, the protoasecretis and the dicaiodotes ^B, shall take care in concert to make this distribution equally among each of the four tribunals, namely: that of the Grand Drungary, the president of the public tribunals, the protoasecretis, and the dicaiodotes; so that in this way every one of these tribunals may exercise its own jurisdiction without hindrance, as my majesty has ordained.

It was issued in the month of March, in the 14th indiction, by red letters written by the imperial and divine hand, and [contained] the usual double-sided imperial bull. And this was also added: "Through the logothete of the drome, Michael of the Hagiotheodorites." ^C The year is 6674. It was released in the month of June, in the 14th indiction, year 6674. This imperial decree was also recorded in various administrative and ecclesiastical registers.

XIII.

NOVELLA CONCERNING HOLIDAYS

Of the Emperor, Lord Manuel Comnenus, regarding the days of the whole year: which of these are holidays, which are partially holidays, and which are workdays.

The purpose for mankind in celebrating festivals is primarily the worship of God; for we know that God is worshiped by nothing so much ^D as by mercy and benevolence toward those who, like us, are participants in the same leavened bread, being brought forth by the Creator and Molder of our nature. He himself bears witness to this word through the Prophet, speaking: "I desire mercy and not sacrifice." From this it is clear and indisputable that to show mercy is better than observing a feast, and is far more pleasing to God and more acceptable than any first-fruits, libations, victims, and burnt offerings. But one form of mercy is suitable for one person, and another for another; and from this...

^A et in medicines adjusted to the nature of diseases, the same is wont to occur. Thus, for those who have been wounded against the law, and upon whom a harsh hand has inflicted blows, the best medicine is that the injury of the evil unjustly inflicted be repaired. But how shall Justice, and Law, her associate, descend into the arena with hope of victory against injustice and iniquity—where the tribunal is almost always closed to them and bars their approach, as if the feast days were being observed more holily thereby? For it either ulcerates the wounds of the sick, increasing the chill and the pains, or it favors those who embrace injustice, filling up the leisure of the holidays. Indeed, having heard the song of King David, our ancestor, who joins mercy with judgment, we see that God takes less pleasure in hymns, songs, and divine worship itself, such as is publicly celebrated on feast days. We should consider this, and also that ^B word in the Gospel which the Savior of the world pronounces against the hypocritical Pharisees and ourselves, who, under the guise of duly observing the feasts, hide our internal malice, wrongly setting judgment and mercy side by side. To this is added that, religiously revering the prophecy of Habakkuk regarding feast days—such as you indeed celebrate—by evading them and abhorring your assemblies, I have changed the roles to be played. For if the Savior commands that a herd fallen into a pit on the Sabbath day should be pulled out thence, and by no means delivered to death according to the rigor of the law, how much more will it be right, even on feast days, by whatever means, to draw back into the light from the abyss a man, who is far superior to a beast, who is endowed with reason, and who bears before him the image of God, into which wickedness and crime have cast him down? And if Christ himself, opening the grape of the shadowy law, and revealing the husk, the ear, and the grain of truth, performed miracles on the Sabbath, healing the sick, curing those vexed by diseases, and restoring health to all—why should we ourselves not also abstain from injuries? Why should we not avenge the innocent, and restrain the guilty from doing evil? ^C But since I indeed have known the deep roots of injustice and avarice, and have known many men who bring their perversity of character into the light openly, and no longer dissemble their malice, but rather, without fear, commit nefarious crimes, I am offended that they thus wrap themselves in the guise of the most honorable things, presenting a specious virtue before them. For they have arrived at such a degree of simulation that they do not blush to give the appearance of virtue to crimes and wickedness, and to commend vices by the deceptions of false eloquence. How many of such criminal men have cultivated justice and a love and investigation of truth? How, then, will he be able to cultivate justice and God who, after the miracles performed by God himself, expects other miracles to be performed by servants subject to God? How could God have wished us to be irrigated in the abyss of his miracles, if all the days of the year are somehow full of miracles, while we, through our own sloth, close the doors of the tribunal and, as advocates of evil causes, think that we are celebrating the feasts by doing these things? God forbid!

^D His imperial majesty has provided for these things because countless absurdities arise daily from the idleness of the courts: greed, rapine, desire for revenge, and all other things that follow upon these. For this reason, God does not accept the offering of gifts, nor does He allow the one who offers them even to touch the sacred precincts until he has been reconciled to his enemy and, having made peace with his neighbor knocking at the door, he then offers his fruit. When, therefore, will they put an end to their disputes? When will the light of peace dispel the deep gloom of enmity in their hearts? When will errors and insoluble problems recede? When will the laws shine forth in clear light?

From this root, two further offshoots of evil spring up. For those who pursue someone with ill will either dread the fire of the immaculate mysteries, as if they were to be utterly consumed by it, and do not dare to partake, being struck by their conscience, and thus both soul and body remain deprived of sanctification, and they are deprived of the priceless and incorruptible pearl for the sake of a thing most trifling and corruptible and often worth nothing; or, in the manner of insolent dogs, they fall indecently upon the mystical table and, according to the great Apostle, eat and drink judgment unto themselves. Do you see to what misery men who are condemned by wrongly used time are thrust? Do you see the danger that hangs over their heads? My imperial authority, therefore, well knows that God is served through judgment, and that in Pharisaic hypocrisy, which pretends to mercy, judgment is proposed; the same authority communicates the fire of zeal to its inward parts, even though it is insolently provoked. For while barbarian nations, who do not have the written law, repair this defect by the help of nature alone and do not cause delay in lawsuits, we, doing the opposite, do not convert those who should be as types and examples to us unto our own benefit.

My imperial authority, therefore, not holding these things to be tolerable, and having thought much about the matter, communicates these things to my most holy lord and ecumenical patriarch and to the holy and divine council.

And indeed, my Sovereignty, finding that their Honors think in harmony regarding this, and understanding that the saints who are honored on days of rest ^A are considered to be held in dishonor rather than honor—from which it is entirely in danger that justice will be unsettled—decides these things, attributing to the celebrations of the holy festivals the honor that is their due, and distributing to the defense of the wronged what is appropriate: so that, as the Apostle says, death may not be wrought from that which is good, that there may not be greater breaking and destruction of the wronged, and that the dignity of rest and cease from labor might not make that which is honorable into something actually productive of injustice.

1. We decree, therefore, those days to be non-juridical which we shall explicitly enumerate in the present constitution. And for some of them, there is to be complete cessation from work, so that no court of justice may be held during their entire duration, unless perhaps the Sovereignty, by way of dispensation or necessity (which the varied and sudden turns of affairs often ^B rashly dictate), should wish to convene a court even on those days; but for others, there is to be a cessation from the courts in part, so that they might be exercised from the morning until the time of the sacred service, so that it may be allowed for the judges to attend to prayer and the glorification of the Divine, and, after the sacred rite, to take care of justice and to assist those who have suffered wrong according to the strength of the laws. Those, however, who are permitted in this way to judge after the divine liturgy shall make mention of the time at which the notes are made in the records produced by them. And indeed, first we must deal with those that are completely non-juridical.

Therefore, the eighth day of the month of September, the birthday ^C of the all-immaculate Mistress and Mother of God, shall be non-juridical. Likewise also the 14th, honored by the Exaltation of the life-giving Cross; and the 26th, because of the translation of the apostle and evangelist John the Theologian. The 6th of October, because the memory of the holy apostle Thomas is celebrated on it. The 9th, because of the apostle James of Alphaeus, and the 10th, because of the apostle and evangelist Luke. ^D The 13th of the month of November, because the memory of Chrysostom is celebrated on it. The 14th, because the apostle Philip is celebrated on it. The 16th, because the evangelist and apostle Matthew is honored. The 21st, because the Entry of the Mother of God into the temple is celebrated on this day; and the 30th, because it is the feast of the apostle Andrew. The 9th of December, as the Conception of the all-holy Mother of our God is celebrated on it. The 20th up to and including the 6th of January, as the Nativity and the Baptism of our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ are celebrated on these days with festivity. The 18th of January, because of the divine Fathers and teachers, Athanasius and Cyril. The 25th of the same

month, because of the memory of the great Father, Gregory the Theologian. February 2nd, because the meeting of the Savior occurred; and the 3rd, ^A because of the celebration of the memory of Symeon, who received Christ.

March 25th, because of the joyful message brought to the Mother of God. Also, the Paschal days, from the very resurrection of Lazarus until the eighth day after holy Pascha.

April 25th, because of the apostle and evangelist Mark; and the 30th, because of the apostle James, brother of that theologian and evangelist.

May 8th, because of the memory of the evangelist John the Theologian. The 10th, because of the memory of the apostle Simon the Zealot. The 21st, because of the memory of the holy and apostolic-equal great kings, Constantine and Helena. The 26th, because of the memory of Jude, the apostle of Alphaeus.

June 11th, because of the apostle Bartholomew. The 19th, because of the apostle Jude, also called Thaddaeus, and Lebbaeus, and James. The 24th, ^B because of the Nativity of the Forerunner. The 29th, because of the feast of the leaders of the apostles, Peter and Paul; and the 30th, because of the feast of the twelve.

July 25th, because of the Dormition of Saint Anne, the mother of the Mother of God.

August 6th, because of the Transfiguration of our Savior Jesus Christ. The 9th, because of the memory of the holy apostle Matthias. The 15th, because of the most glorious translation of the holy Mother of God. And the 20th, because of the memory of the holy apostle Thaddaeus. And the 24th, because of the memory of the apostle Bartholomew. And the 29th, ^C because of the beheading of the venerable Forerunner.

Among these shall be counted as entirely non-juridical days both the midpoints of the forty-day fast and of Pentecost, and the Ascension of the Savior, and all the days of the year named after the Lord, such that on these days every approach to the tribunal is closed, and none of those who preside over judgment may conduct any business pertaining to jurisdiction.

As for the days, however, on which the tribunal has a partial vacation, and which are not completely non-juridical (as we have said before), they shall be these. ^D

September 6th, because then the miracle of the supreme commander Michael, which occurred at Chonae, is prodigiously commemorated.

October 23rd, because we observe the memory of James, the brother of the Lord. And the 26th, because a feast is held for the great martyr and myrrh-streaming Demetrius.

November 1st, because of the festival of Cosmas and Damian, the miracle-working unmercenaries who long ago performed medicine freely. The 8th, because the assembly of the bodiless ones is celebrated. And the 28th, because of the solemnity of the holy martyr Stephen the Younger.

December 4th, because of the noble martyr Barbara.

And the 6th, because of the famous in miracles and myrrh-flowing Nicholas. ^B

January 10th, because of the divine Gregory of Nyssa; and the 16th, because of the veneration of the precious chains of the chief of the Apostles, Peter; and the 19th, because of the translation of the precious body of Gregory the Theologian; and the 27th, because of the translation of the venerable relics of Chrysostom.

February 7th, because of the illustrious martyr and general Theodore; and the 17th, because of the victor in struggles, Theodore the Tyro.

March 9th, because the memory of the forty holy martyrs of Christ is then celebrated.

April 23rd, set aside in honor of the great martyr George.

May 2nd, because of that great Athanasius.

June 8th, because of the great martyr and general Theodore; and the 9th, because of our holy Father Cyril, pontiff of Alexandria; and the 27th, because of the holy and wonder-working Samson.

July 1st, because on this day we celebrate the memory of the holy wonder-workers who lacked silver; and the 2nd, because we make mention of the deposition of the precious garment of the Theotokos; and the 8th, because we celebrate the great martyr Procopius; and the 11th, because we celebrate the beautiful martyr Euphemia; and the 20th, in honor of the prophet Elijah; and the 27th, because there is a feast for the victor in struggles and author of miracles, the merciful John.

August 31st, because of the deposition of the precious belt of the immaculate Theotokos. ^C

These are the days that are in part non-juridical, in part juridical. However, as for those days that are exempt from work on account of a royal birth or an accession, my Majesty includes these among the juridical days; beginning this present sanction from myself, and by those things which I myself do, instructing others. For the discourse of the present constitution, however much it may incline those who pay attention to it, does not urge them on as much as the deed of my Majesty itself. For those very days on which my Majesty was brought into this light, and on which by the providence of God I was heralded as emperor, my Majesty decrees to be juridical, and that there shall be no suspension of the courts on them. Certainly, however, all the days of the year, apart from those written above, shall be juridical, and on them both trials ^D and executions consistent with judicial sentences shall take place and be carried out. Moreover, I am persuaded that this present constitution of my Majesty is also pleasing to God. For when Jesus rebukes the Pharisees, He preferred justice even to mercy.

Given in the month of March, indiction XIV, in letters of red inscribed by the emperor's hand. With a wax seal, double-sided, by the logothete of the drome, the Agatheodorite M...

released in the month of June, indiction XIV, in the year 6674. [XIV]

Novella Constitution Concerning Homicide (24).

^A New Constitution of our most pious and Christ-loving, most powerful and most holy emperor, born in the purple, lord Manuel Comnenus, concerning those who commit voluntary homicide.

^B The father of wickedness, the originator of the race, laid the foundations of malice through envy and murder. For as he is the enemy of life, he brought forth murder and showed himself an adversary to the Demiurge and Creator of men. For God strives to preserve His creature and lead it to perfection; the devil, however, never ceases to strive to destroy it. Therefore, through envy, he brought forth this pernicious and most evil weed among the first brothers, and by committing murder, he set himself against the Creator. But behold, there is a penalty immediately following, sent by God the avenger, which demands a sevenfold penalty for the crime, as is evident from the words: "Every one that killeth Cain, shall be punished sevenfold"; for thus by commanding, God made provision so that no one might later commit murder. And this is indeed what regards Cain. But as for Lamech, who also was a murderer, the avenger did not demand only a sevenfold penalty, but seventy times seven. Furthermore, to Ahab and his companions, after they had meditated upon the unjust murder of Naboth and dared to carry it out, it was said: "Thou hast slain, thou hast taken possession"; and: "In this place, where dogs licked the blood of Naboth, they shall lick thy blood also, and the dogs shall eat Jezabel in the field of Israel." But let the few things taken from the Old Testament suffice. When, however, moved by the new grace, the ungrateful and hard-hearted Israelites rushed to murder, we hear the Savior threatening with death by the sword the one who had taken up the sword. But even the old and political law bars the murderer from the sacred enclosures and has consistently closed the temple of mercy and humanity to them, judging it to be unlawful that he who carries hands contaminated by blood should be exempted from the judgment and punishment imposed by the laws. These precepts are in every way established in accordance with the Mosaic law, which decrees that the murderer not be apprehended before the altar. ^C That the crime of homicide is heinous and abominable has been sufficiently demonstrated by divine and human laws. But the Lord and Porphyrogenitus Constantine decreed that whosoever is guilty of this crime and takes refuge in the Great Church of God, having voluntarily killed someone, shall be punished with perpetual exile, and is absolutely forbidden to return to the land which has drunk the blood of the innocent. Those, moreover, who are guilty of premeditating fratricide, in addition to perpetual exile, were to be reckoned among the shorn monks, with whom they were to spend their whole life

^A after having also undergone other punishments (regarding which the new constitutions released on these matters more fully determine), having decreed nothing regarding those who do not flee to the holy Great Church, as he wished the civil laws to be observed regarding them without change, and for punishment to be inflicted upon the murderers as the legislation of these [laws] commands. Such a new constitution, therefore, has become a pretext for the most wicked and accursed of men to commit murders with great freedom, and, having seized upon any passing pretext, to work such wickedness and flee to the Church, and, having procured a letter of indulgence, to return home. Thence, the majority did not hesitate to dare [these crimes] a second, a third, and even more times, because of the slack and despised—for I would hardly call it compassionate—nature of the former cooling measure; for compassion is for those who suffer harm, not for those who do the acting, and it is rightly both given and called [compassion]; but in the case of those who do evil, it ought not to be granted indiscriminately. And it also happened, perforce, that a part of this legislation—I speak of the perpetual exile—was reduced to complete uselessness. For there is currently no word of perpetual exile, but all the murderers fearlessly wander about again in the very places where they have committed their wickedness. For formerly, those who were sent ^B into the themes, whether invested with civil authority or clad in military rank, when a murder had been dared, each one would hasten and race ahead of the other, eager to seize the murderer and conduct an execution upon him according to the legal succession, and by the punishment for this to restrain those of the like mind; but now those in command in the themes, as my Majesty learns, having perfectly neglected the good and what tends toward the salvation of men, and making as the one and only conclusion of their entire activity money-making and base greed and gaping for coin, not only do they not investigate—when a murder occurs in the territory they govern—those who have committed such a terrible transgression, but, what is worse than this, some of them even hide those who have already been caught and seized by them, and secretly convey them into the Great Church. And as to what is done with them after they have run to the holy Church of God, my Majesty does not know precisely; but it hears things that are not good, and simply this is the result overall: that in every place under the Roman Empire, murders are dared daily without fear. When, therefore, my Majesty reflects upon how, among nations whom neither divine law has restrained nor the threat of future and terrible punishment has deterred from doing evil to each other, such sins are done rarely and only after a long time, while in our own land they are committed almost daily, with what heavy grief is it filled! ^C And what a cause of dejection this too becomes, together with the others, for my Majesty, concerning those who now...

observe with indifference the performance of justice, and possess no zeal for that which is good and for virtue? Having examined all these things, my Majesty has also weighed the fact that the aforesaid imperial decree is in certain respects contrary to canonical ordinances and otherwise invalidated; and I have taken care, so far as circumstances allow, to restrain the pollution of murder and to rectify what is dead.

1. It is ordered, therefore, to all judges in the provinces, and to the military forces within them, and to their generals, that wherever a voluntary murder is committed and some such thing is dared by anyone, all must immediately be stirred up to apprehend the murderer and send him in chains to the imperial surveillance, or if this is away, to the Prefect of the God-guarded Great City, so that he may be brought into public custody and bear both corporal and property punishments, as well as others, in accordance with the laws and the power of the new decrees. Let all these people know that if it is discovered that anyone could have apprehended the murderer but did not do so, he shall be condemned exactly as if he had committed a crime of treason. But if, by chance, someone should escape safely and take refuge in the most holy Great Church of God, after the ecclesiastical penalties have proceeded against him in accordance with the observance of the law: if the Prince is in the imperial city, he shall be sent by him to the province which the Prince decides, so that he may spend there the entire time of his life, and not flee from there to return to the place where he committed the pollution of murder. But if, by chance, the Prince is away, he shall be deported by the Prefect (as has been stated) to some more remote region, and there he shall pass the remainder of his life.

2. If, however, anyone should commit murder not only voluntarily, but also with premeditation, he shall not be compelled to be tonsured according to the aforementioned imperial decree. For if the canonical precision does not immediately admit to the tonsure someone who is voluntarily pressing toward it, but having allotted him sufficient time, and throughout that time having explored the mind of the man, whether it is steadfast or inconstant—if indeed it finds him persisting in his original purpose and diligently preparing himself for the monastic life and the mortification of the body, then at length it offers him the completion and perfection of the noble work once he has been admitted to the monastic life and state: how would it not be irrational and dissonant with spiritual laws for someone to be tonsured by compulsion, and that a murderer, whom God has deserted to such a degree that he has even defiled his hands with fraternal blood? For there is fear, lest entering this angelic life with a resistant mind, and having taken it up by force, he uses the reverend habit for mockery. For men of a lighter sort are naturally inclined, when once they have become demented, to set about the foulest and most reckless crimes with boldness. Wherefore...

^A instead of tonsure, my Majesty ordains that he who has committed a premeditated, voluntary murder shall dwell in prison for the whole time of his life, and shall never be brought forth from thence, not even by imperial command, which might perhaps be elicited through the forgetfulness of the prince. As for their property, let it be disposed of as the aforementioned emperor ordained.

3. Since, however, most of those who commit murders with premeditation and deliberation, and then flee to the most holy Major Church of God, do not confess the murder as it was actually committed by them, but rather for their own benefit, hiding the truth; my Majesty commands that a letter from the most holy patriarch for the time being be written, containing the penalty, to the bishop of the region and the clergy subject to him, and indeed also to the judge of the *thema*. And as he learns from their reply how the murder actually occurred, so let him effect the execution; and do not let the one who commits murder with premeditation, by means of his false confession, suffer the same punishments and penalties as the one who has fallen into such a crime by chance and unexpectedly.

4. If, however, any of the murderers, having taken refuge in the most holy ^B Major Church, and having been condemned to perpetual exile, or to be in chains and shut up in prison for the whole of his life, be found walking about freely in the place where he perpetrated the murder, he shall be bound by the regional magistrate and sent to my Majesty; and whatever goods are found to be his at that time, they shall be a gain to the magistrate and to the one who denounced the murderer, to be divided equally between them. It shall also be entirely the care of the judges in the most holy Major Church ^C in such cases to punish murderous crimes with the fitting canonical severity, and not rashly to shorten the times, nor to show themselves lenient to a greater extent than is right, where this ought not to happen. Moreover, copies of this present constitution of my Majesty, signed by the prefects of the tribunals and sent to the churches in the regions, shall be deposited there, so that all may have knowledge of what has been decreed, and may act as is contained therein.

5. If, however, the perpetrator of a premeditated murder should of his own accord seek the tonsure, he shall not be admitted into the order of monks rashly, but with much precision and investigation, being examined for the sufficient time according to the canonical regulations. ^D Even against his will, he shall be forced to remain in the monastery for the whole time of his life, never being permitted to depart from it. The monastery, moreover, must in any case be in another province, and not in that land which, having gaped wide, received the blood of the one killed.

Given in the month of April, in the 14th indiction, by the royal hand.

^A with the seal of the logothete of the drome, Michael of the Holy Theodore, affixed to the house. Externally on the binding it read: Given in the month of July, indiction 14, year 6674, in the house of the annuarian secretary, the grand drungary, and in the secret archives, in the month of August, indiction 14.

XV. ON A MARRIAGE CONTRACTED IN THE SEVENTH DEGREE OF CONSANGUINITY

VII. ^B Imperial edict, which dissolves and rescinds a marriage contract of the seventh degree of consanguinity, and forbids it to be done if it has not yet been done.

My most holy lord and ecumenical patriarch, together with the assembly of the pontiffs of Christ, being even now solicitous for the observance of the divine and sacred canons, and retaining the custom received in synodal acts concerning common matters of referring to our pious imperial majesty those things which have been decided and decreed by them, have wisely deliberated upon those matters which were called into synodal discussion; namely, whether those who are related in the seventh degree of blood, being not unaware of the closeness of kin, but yet not curiously consulting the Church concerning a future contract, and thus entering into a marriage, should remain indissoluble but be subjected to penalties, or whether rather the guilty parties of such an act ought to be separated from ^C one another. And so they have brought to our authority the decree published concerning this question, preserving intact the right owed to our majesty, as to a prince knowledgeable in government; and they deemed that our majesty itself should also be asked whether the things decreed met with its approval. For they clearly perceived this to be necessary in the first place, and that most rightly, and for a truly just cause. They themselves, therefore, absolutely prohibited a matrimonial union from this degree, and decreed that it is by no means to be permitted. And not only if the matter is referred to the consultation of the Church, but even if the union should be brought into effect before such an interrogation, it is to be dissolved and rescinded, as one that strikes against both nature and divine law. Excepted, however, are those marriages which had been contracted from this degree before that time. And not only that, but also that if any should dare to act contrary to this synodal sanction, they are to be punished with the penalty of divorce and segregation. Likewise, that those who have consented to them ought to experience the canonic severity. Furthermore, that priests who have initiated such nuptials with sacred prayers are to be removed from office. And since many marriages are often contracted with persons of the imperial lineage, and with others most noble, ^D

and those conspicuous in dignity, and likewise with persons from ^A foreign regions, over whom kings and princes preside, coming to this queen of cities, [matters] which are not accustomed to be performed at all without the order of our imperial power, it was most just that our majesty should also be informed of those things which had been decreed by the synod concerning this necessary question, lest perhaps through forgetfulness some illicit contract of this kind, and one not corresponding to the sacred canons and the edicts of the laws, should occur, and that too in this very city, which presides over all others on account of the imperial mitre and diadem, and is governed entirely by laws, and is set forth as a kind of common example of the correct observance of laws for all.

Truly, our majesty also approves this synodical answer, or more truly speaking, this determination, concerning the question asked, as being set forth in a manner consistent with the sacred canons and the apostolic laws, by our own decree, and we determine that it shall prevail henceforth and remain fixed and unchangeable for all time, embracing the same opinion in the solution of the proposed question as my most holy master and ecumenical patriarch and the holy and divine synod. For if certain marriages are prohibited by the laws on account of affinity, for the sake of decency, that is, and so that the names may not be confounded: how much more ^B must this be done freely here, where foulness itself coincides with the confusion of names, and also the most absurd commingling and confusion of related blood. Why, I beseech you, for those who otherwise are joined to each other from near and by reason of blood, is there need of another commingling and union? For truly, the bond and coupling of marriages should be arranged for those whose original source of blood is recognized as having been multiple times divided and separated, being already removed further to the eighth degree, and therefore increasing its distance all the more. Thus, therefore, our pious majesty, assenting to the synodical decree concerning the aforementioned question, has promulgated this present most equitable sanction, which ought to be stored and placed in the sacred repository of that Great Church of God, and become known to all public archives, and retain inviolable authority for all eternity ^C.

Given in the month of April, in the 14th indiction, in the red letters of our holy emperor. And there was present the customary wax seal. And that, through the logothete of the drome, Michael Hagiotheodorites. And that, Deposited in those two great secretariats, in the month of May ^D.

XVI. EDICT ON THE CONTROVERSY CONCERNING TO WHAT EXTENT THE FATHER IS GREATER THAN CHRIST (29)

^A Manuel, faithful in Christ God, king, Porphyrogenitus, Most Pious Emperor of the Romans, Ever-Sebastos, Augustus, Isauricus, Cilician, Armenian, Dalmaticus, Hungarian, Bosnian, Croatian, Lazicus, Iberian, Bulgarian, Servian, Zecchicus, Chazaricus, Gothic, directed by God, heir to the crown of the great Constantine, and in spirit possessing all his rights, although some have defected from our empire; to all our Christ-loving people of our queen of cities guarded by God, and to all the inhabitants of the lands, both continental and maritime, subject to our imperial power.

If Christ declares blessed Peter, the most eminent of the apostles, because he surpassed all in the fervor of his love, and because he testified that He is Christ, the Son of the living God, having been taught the mystery concerning Him by God the Father; what else could be more blessed and more pleasing to the Lord than to hold fast to the orthodox religion of the apostolic Church and not be overcome by the gates of Hades? Which gates indeed must be considered to be those men who do not enter into its hall through Christ, who is the door that is never closed, but is always open to all who approach. Upon this most sincere piety towards God, our God-given royalty, establishing its own foundation as if upon an immovable rock, and zealously striving to build upon it all its subjects, continuously manifests a myriad of cares for this matter.

For we know accurately that, even if God has granted us to rule over things on earth, yet He is our Emperor; and just as we deem it necessary to demand sincere faith from our subjects, so we are rightly compelled to offer to God, who has granted us to reign, an unshakable faith; and we believe it is right to obey Solomon, who assigns an appropriate time for each thing. Hence, even the peaceful Christ once said most opportunely: "I have not come to bring peace upon the earth, but a sword" (Matt. x, 34). And neither can our serenity maintain peace and remain quiet when we perceive an army opposing the laws of God; but we snatch up the sword of the spirit, which separates the worse from the better, holding before us the divine words, and through them we separate from the Church every spurious dogma. But sometimes, with the same Christ in due time, He gives His own peace, and commands us to preserve peace, and calls those who are peaceful blessed; we then return the rational sword—which has already pierced the hearts of those who contradict—to its sheath, and

having already laid bare the insecure reasonings of those who oppose, we clear away the partition of hostility and tear down the middle wall of contradiction; and, as the Song says, ^A *set in order love* towards those who have until now contended.

1. Thus, then, our pious majesty began to look into the matters that have lately arisen. For there was a search concerning a saying in the holy scriptural Gospel of our true God and Savior Jesus Christ, which He addressed to His disciples on the night of the Passion, saying that He was going to the Father, as if they ought rather to rejoice at this, because He says, *I go to the Father, for the Father is greater than I* ^B. The question, however, turned on how, or in what sense, the Father is to be understood as greater than Christ who is speaking. Truly, like that Mosaic rod, this doubt was on the point of nearly dividing in two the sea of God's Church, into which the fishers of men, casting the nets of their discourse, gathered the portion of the Gentiles; so that it seemed a wall stood on the right and a wall on the left, as everyone argued with one another about the interpretation of this saying.

2. For some, abusing certain passages of Scripture, restricted the interpretation of this saying ^C to the sole fact that the Father is the cause of the timeless and supreme generation of the only-begotten Son of God; and they would not allow this saying to be understood of Christ as He was incarnate, as if some new conjunction of Christ’s natures—outside the ecclesiastical tradition—were being forged, and as if it were feared to contemplate the unity of the Person and the unconfused mixture of the natures united in Christ in an inconvertible way—and from this, that we were in danger of appearing to renew the blasphemies of the Monophysites.

Others, however, imagined that the Father was said to be greater than the Son according to the sole principle of the emptying ^D and condescension, so that the saying corresponded entirely to the Person of the Only-Begotten according to His divine nature. For He, who was without flesh, emptied Himself and entered the chaste womb of the Theotokos, yet without leaving the bosom of the Father, being wholly undivided from the Begetter.

Others asserted that this was said by the Lord in the person of the common human nature, so that they almost made the sojourn of Christ with the flesh on earth seem phantastical. Yet others referred this saying of the Lord to the flesh; but they did so through a mental abstraction, by which they thought of the flesh as detached from the very divinity that assumed it, just as if it were the hypostasis of the flesh of each one of us, with which there is no union of divinity whatever; for servitude and ignorance are ascribed to the flesh, when we distinguish the visible object from the thought by a simple fancy, as the wise Damascene says. For certainly

according to the identity of the hypostasis and the indivisible union, it shall be called neither servile nor ignorant; and thus these were shown to be in disagreement with them. ^A

3. Those, on the other hand, who stood in opposition to these, knew indeed that this utterance of the Lord had been interpreted by some of the inspired Fathers and teachers of God’s Church ^B as referring to the Father insofar as He is the cause of the incomprehensible first birth. Yet, they said, when it was necessary to answer those who were prattling and abusing the term "greater" in every way to claim that the Father differs substantially from the Son, and were inventing a lesser degree of nature and diversity in both states, they were not attributing the meaning of this expression to that reasoning alone. For when they were not debating and contending against such adversaries, but were teaching doctrine concerning the state of the incarnate Word and the natural properties and differences, then they attributed to each of the natures its proper utterances, assigning the most sublime and exalted ones to the divinity of Christ, as being perfect God, and applying the more humble and lowly ones to the humanity in the same Christ, as having become perfect man. And our Majesty also agreed with their opinion, following the doctrine of the holy luminaries of the Church. ^C

4. Here was the standing of those disagreeing with one another. But our Majesty, having been given and directed by the right hand from above, did not overlook the new and precious Israel of God being thus harassed by the prince of Egyptian malice; nor did it allow the vine transplanted from the nations and now in leaf to be beaten and broken like hail by the corruptions of absurd doctrines, so that its deformity and barrenness would have to be lamented by the Vinedresser. And although we are oppressed by countless flooding waves of worldly cares and by beasts of the marsh, and in like manner are compelled to resist sea-monsters which from both sea and land gape to tear apart the most beautiful body of the Roman Empire; nevertheless, setting these aside, we occupy ourselves entirely ^D with recalling the concord of the dissenting members of the Church; and we harbor the greatest concern for uncovering the orthodox meaning regarding the matter in question. For we trust that the concord of these things will be the beginning of the peaceful state of our dominion.

5. Therefore, having summoned the most holy and ecumenical patriarch, together with the other most holy patriarchs, namely, of the great city of God, Antioch, and of holy Sion, the city of Jerusalem; as well as the divine and sacred synod of the bishops of Christ that was dwelling at that time in the Queen of Cities, and having brought together the authorities of the God-bearing Fathers who had interpreted that utterance, we took care...

^A that they should be set forth and examined with precise scrutiny. And so, those points which were tested by the fire of the Word were found to be like refined gold, having nothing of base metal in them, contrary to what some had previously thought. The arguments of those contradicting and the discordant voices were dissolved, and the body of the Church, which was in danger of being torn asunder, was joined and fitted together to the one Head of all, Christ; and the brothers who had been adopted from the same font of regeneration coalesced in brotherly concord and sameness of mind.

Hence it was also defined how this saying of the Lord is to be understood, according to the most religious and sacred decrees of the ancient synods. For it was decreed that this saying should be understood and proclaimed according to the various other interpretations issued by the holy Fathers; and at the same time, according to the human, created, circumscribed, and passible nature of Christ, in which the same Christ underwent suffering, and according to the other properties of this nature; so that thereby the true humanity of the Lord, that is, the incarnation, might be preserved, and the distinction of the natures in one person, with their unmixed properties, might be retained. In this most religious volume, our Majesty also signed with our own hand in purple letters, speaking ^B word for word as follows:

6. I follow the opinions of the holy patriarchs and of the divine and sacred synod, and I say that the flesh of the Lord, by the power of the union, has been exalted and placed above all honor (so that by this excellent bond it has become God-bearing), ^C and as having become, by reason of the supreme union, [God-like], it is honored and worshipped with the Word of God who assumed it—being immutable, unchangeable, unconfused, and intransmutable—remaining inseparable and indivisible by reason of the hypostatic union, in one worship; and it is seated upon the royal and divine throne at the right hand of the Father, as having been enriched with the splendor of the Godhead, while the properties of the natures are preserved. And thus the Lord Jesus Christ, one of the indivisible Trinity even after the incarnation, being but one person in his indivisible union, yet twofold and composite in his unmixed natures, has gathered into one and brought back the Church which was in danger of being divided by discord and submerged in the water of contradiction; and as Mediator between God and men, he has reconciled all things in himself.^D

7. But since the father of wickedness, dwelling in the shadows of his snares and never ceasing to tempt the human race, has now again made an assault with his wonted impudence and placed stumbling blocks along the paths; the One who established the earth of the Church on a firm foundation once again looked down from heaven upon it; and a synodical inquiry was again held concerning the aforementioned dogmas, and a new document was issued by those who were under suspicion, because they were ordered to inform the Church of their own conscience; to which document each of them subscribed with his own hand, subjecting to anathema those who held views contrary to the statements already set forth by our Majesty, and not also [from the holy]

patriarchs and this holy and divine synod, from the time that they received [their] authority, and intending to think thus throughout their lives. Furthermore, we also place under the sentence of anathema those who accommodate this saying solely to the [divine] kenosis or to a division according to simple mental apprehension, at such a time when the flesh of the Lord is conceived and judged as not having been united to the divinity in itself (according to which manner it is also called a servant and ignorant). Moreover, we also anathema-tize those who say that this saying was uttered by the Lord insofar as He was bearing the person of the common nature of men, such as when He cried out, hanging on the cross, that He was forsaken by the Father; which the divine Fathers understand as having been said in the person of the common nature of men—for that [nature] was indeed forsaken, having become subject to sins; but not Christ Himself, who ^B did not commit sin, nor was guile found in His mouth. Regarding such a document, a synodical letter also went forth, setting forth clearly what had been concluded.

8. 8. And now, behold, like the bride of the Song of Songs, the Church of Christ, displaying her spiritual joy, says: "The winter," she says, "is past," through which the love of many grew cold; "the rain is gone,"—that is, the violent onsets of opposing controversies—"the flowers of truth have appeared on the earth." For she heard the voice of the Bridegroom, that His voice is sweet. For the voice of the Lord, concerning which the inquiry existed, being confirmed by the correct words of the heralds of truth, was restored to its own children to be preached with piety. And behold, now the clouds have passed from the ^C brilliant light of the true Light, which has loosened and scattered the darkness of ignorance; and the cause of the stumbling-block has been removed, and it has been set aside from our paths; and our feet stand in the breadth of the truth, and he who was watching the heel of the heart has been trampled underfoot; and the Church has become one, glorifying the Lord in common.

9. Therefore our Majesty, now also confirming the things determined by the most holy patriarchs and this assembled holy and divine synod, and wishing for them to remain most firmly, sets forth the present pious edict, by which it is commanded to all those under the Roman rule to hold to this orthodox opinion. But if anyone is discovered thinking the contrary to these things, and treating this present [pious] writing of ours as fallacious, if he is a bishop, or a cleric, or a monk, we decree that such a person be subjected to the penalty of deposition; but if he is of those in positions of dignity and of the ^D more perfect, we will that he be subject to confiscation of property and the removal of his dignity; if he has been constituted from the class of private citizens, he is to be condemned to exile from this Queen of cities and from every city simply, and above all [these], to be subjected to the severity of the holy and divine canons.

In the month of April, indiction 14, of the year 6674.

GOLDEN BULL CONFIRMING THE CONVENTION WITH THE GENOESE

^A Since the most venerable Archbishop of the city of Genoa and the most wise Consuls and the entire Commune of the same city, sending to my Empire their wise envoy Amicus de Murta, gave him the power to treat and to enter into a convention with my Empire on whatever matters they might desire, and since he, arriving at my Empire and treating sufficiently of these affairs, has made this convention which is shown here, and has confirmed it by oath, which is also as follows word for word:

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, amen. I, Amicus de Murta, citizen of Genoa, legate from the Archbishop of the city of Genoa and from the Consuls and from the entire Commune of the city of Genoa, receiving power and being enjoined by them so that whatever I shall swear and agree on behalf of Genoa with the most holy and most excellent Emperor of the Romans, Porphyrogenitus, Lord Manuel Comnenus, will be firm and ratified by them: this present convention I make and swear, by the will of the Archbishop and the Consuls and the entire Commune of the city of Genoa, to the most holy Lord Emperor, Porphyrogenitus, Lord Manuel Comnenus, and to all the heirs and successors of his Empire and to Romania, as shall be signified.

^B Since from today and henceforth forever, as long as the world shall stand, there shall be no Genoese against his Empire or against his heirs and successors or against Romania or against any land of his Empire which he now holds or which he may hereafter acquire, God helping him, neither by counsel nor by money nor by the same fleet (by naval exercise) nor in any other way, nor shall the Genoese do this, nor shall they combine on any just or unjust occasion with any man, crowned or uncrowned, whoever he may be or whoever he shall be, Christian or pagan, man or woman, whoever he may be able to die or live; just as it has been treated concerning the chapter of the crowned person in the court of the Lord Emperor, and it has been understood and interpreted to me and confirmed by me for the honor and profit of his Empire and Romania, just as I ought to interpret this to the Genoese so that even henceforth this chapter may be thus understood and observed.

^C And never shall the Genoese cause damage to any land of the Emperor and to his person or to those of his heirs and successors. Nor shall they cause diminution of his empire or of his honor, nor shall they seek it by themselves or otherwise, but especially if they learn of anything of such a kind in the territory of Genoa, they ought to thwart it. And if an assault or siege has been made by anyone against any land of the Emperor, the Genoese who are found in those lands must, in good faith and without deceit or fraud, defend those lands and guard them to the honor of the Lord Emperor and of his heirs. If, however, any enemy of any party should at any time arrive, Christian or Saracen or pagan, towards any parts of the Emperor, up to the number of one hundred galleys or more, all the Genoese who are then found in the lands of Romania must enter into the galleys of the Lord Emperor with the customary pay of the court of the Lord Emperor which he is accustomed to give to the Latins, and go against the aforementioned fleet with the galleys of the Greeks, and they shall not return until that service is completed and the Greek galleys return either to Constantinople or to another land of the Lord Emperor. Nevertheless, when the aforesaid Genoese must be moved, they shall have permission to leave in the custody of the ships and their goods twenty men whom they may prefer or choose. In their own galleys, however, the Genoese shall go, as many as they are able to arm. If, however, the Genoese in any land of the Lord Emperor are not able to arm even one galley, all shall enter into it and the number of the galley shall be sufficiently filled by other people.

Whenever the Lord Emperor wishes to send his money or goods or men to Genoa, or galleys or ships, against whomever he may send them, whether Christian or pagan, crowned or uncrowned, the Genoese must, as is their duty, worthily receive it and defend it in their land and guard it according to the will of the men of the Lord Emperor who shall be with them—all the money and goods sent, men, galleys and ships, as many and of such kind as they shall be—from any man crowned or uncrowned, being bound to understand here also the chapter concerning the crowned person as it was interpreted above, to the service and honor of the Lord Emperor and of Romania.

And the Genoese shall never impede the Lord Emperor and his heirs or successors from acquiring any lands, beyond the right which they have in the land of Syria, whether by war or by purchase or in any other way. If, however, in these things, justice is preserved for the Genoese on the part of the Lord Emperor, they should not even in these things impede the Lord Emperor from doing whatever he wishes.

^D Regarding offenses, however, which the Genoese may perhaps have committed in the lands of the Lord Emperor against Greeks or other peoples who are not Genoese, they must be judged in the court of the Lord Emperor, just as the Venetians and other Latin peoples. If, however, it should happen that any Genoese should at any time plunder or otherwise injure any land of the Lord Emperor or his men, notice shall be given concerning this to the city of Genoa by the Emperor, either by letters or by an envoy, and they shall give their attention without...

deceit and fraud to finding them and performing justice and vengeance upon them to the honor of the Lord Emperor. If by chance these evildoers are not found, vengeance shall likewise be taken upon their goods.

All the inhabitants of the whole city of Genoa, from the greatest to the least, must observe this convention and all the chapters written in it, to the Lord Emperor of the Romans, Porphyrogenitus, the Lord Manuel Comnenus, and to all his heirs and successors and to Romania, as long as the world shall stand. And all future Consuls of Genoa must not be made consuls in any other way, unless they have first sworn, with the counsel and consent of the archbishop and the nobles and of the whole commune of Genoa, the oath made in this convention, so that this convention may be observed ratified and unshaken. And the Genoese shall never abandon this convention nor act against it, neither for any ecclesiastical excommunication nor for the order of any man crowned or uncrowned, just as the Lord Emperor and his heirs and the successors of his Empire must always observe those things which have been promised by his Empire through the present chrysobull [logon] to the city of Genoa, which are held as follows.

For, indeed, because of the favor and good will which the most holy Lord Emperor of the Romans has toward the inhabitants of the city of Genoa, and because of the service and faith which they manifest in fulfilling their duty to his Empire and to Romania forever and always, the Empire promises to give to the city of Genoa an [embolum], a school, and a church beyond Constantinople, in the place which is called Orcu, in a good and pleasant site. And to give to the city of Genoa and its commune for regular annual solemnities 4,000 hyperpyra and two palls, and to the archbishop of Genoa 60 hyperpyra and one pall. And now the solemnities for 26 years will be given all at once to the city and commune of Genoa, on account of the expenses that are imminent for them. And so that they may do commerce thus: namely, in Constantinople [paying] four out of every hundred, but in other lands of Romania just as other Latins pay commerce. But the Genoese and their goods shall be kept whole in all the lands of the Lord Emperor. And if any injury has been inflicted or done to them by anyone, they shall find justice from his Empire as is fitting. And also, immediately upon making a reclamation against any Greek or other person before the Emperor, they shall find justice in his Imperial court. The Genoese will have the power to trade with their ships in all lands wherever they wish, except in Russia and in Matica, unless it has been specifically granted to them by his Empire. If, however, the Genoese bring their goods into Constantinople and are unable to sell them, they shall be treated as is the custom for other Latins who pay commerce. And if any ship of the Genoese, from whatever part it may have come, has suffered shipwreck in Romania, and it happens that any of its goods are taken away from them by anyone, the order of his Empire shall be issued to exact and recover the lost goods. Moreover, it is also this order, that if it should happen that the Genoese offend anyone in any way, they must not be judged by any other people except by the court of the Lord Emperor, with one of the Greek kinsmen of the Emperor or one of his own men presiding and judging. Nor shall one who has committed an injury be held in detention before judgment, if he has provided a surety; if, however, he has not provided a surety, he shall indeed be held in custody; he shall, however, be brought out and judged until the judgment is manifest and the end of the trial has been reached in his case. Furthermore, after five years have elapsed, a chamberlain of the Lord Emperor shall be sent to take vengeance upon the Genoese, if they themselves have done [harm] to the Lord Emperor through condemnation.

All these things signified in the present charter being the convention, I, the aforementioned envoy of the city of Genoa, Amicus de Murta, swear without fraud and evil intent, by the command and will of the archbishop, the consuls, and the whole commune of the city of Genoa, that it is to be confirmed and observed by them and sworn and kept firm and stable forever and always.

Since the aforementioned envoy has made the present agreement and convention and has confirmed it by oath, behold, even my Empire, through the present chrysobull [logon] of his, promises that if the corporation of the Genoese—namely, the archbishop, the consuls, and the multitude of the whole commune—accepting this convention, shall fulfill it and shall have done so in writing and sworn that according to its prescribed distinctions and chapters they will observe it incorrupt and immovable forever and always to the honor of our Empire and of Romania, those things which have been promised to the Genoese by it, which are signified above, shall be firmly observed by our Empire, provided that those things which were agreed upon by them to my Empire and to Romania are firmly and indissolubly observed. The chrysobull-keeper of my Empire being present, it ought to persevere firmly and stably, made in the month of October of the present third indiction, in the year 6678, in which our most clement and God-conceded empire or power has signed.

Subscription of the hand of the Emperor himself: Manuel in Christ, God-faithful Emperor, Porphyrogenitus and Autocrat of the Romans, Comnenus.

^A But that those bishops who, without a reasonable cause, persist in Constantinople beyond the year according to the 123rd Novel, or beyond the six-month period according to the 16th canon of the First and Second Council gathered in the church of the Holy Apostles, should be deposed: [this indeed was abrogated by the mandate of the most renowned Emperor, lord Manuel Comnenus, which was issued in the month of September, in the 7th indiction, and which ordains these things in these words:]

"When, therefore, my Imperial Majesty weighed these things, it was compelled to descend even against its will to the present disposition; and it decrees by this present mandate that the most sacred bishops shall not, without some ineluctable impediment and an evidently reasonable cause, linger in the Great City for a longer time than that which has been defined by the pious laws and divine canons; otherwise, they shall be cast out from it, even against their will. Their entry, however, into the Great City must take place according to the ancient custom which has prevailed canonically and legally."

^B

XIX. CONCERNING THE TOME OF PATRIARCH SISINNIUS

Concerning the tome of Sisinnius, which concerns the marriages of two brothers with two female cousins: published in the month of June, in the 8th indiction.

In order that both may be correctly preserved and respected—the majesty of imperial and pontifical mandates, and the subtlety of laws and canons—that writing is neither to be wholly abrogated, nor on the other hand permitted to be valid. But one must walk the middle—and, as they say, the royal—path. Both must be preserved: namely, the reverence owed to the bishop who authored that tome, and to the Emperors who remembered that decision, and one must see that nothing is advocated which disagrees with the laws and canons, which is what such a tome introduced. ^C For the contract introduced by such a tome, if already perfected even before inquiry, must not be dissolved, but those who are thus joined in marriage should be burdened with imposed penalties, according to the judgment and examination of the local prelate, and the marriage should be preserved. But if they approach to inquire beforehand, one should not grant it without the appropriate penalties and mandates, because of the reverence mentioned above. Nor should it be permitted to those inquiring freely, securely, and without any cause brought forward to delay them, but only with a mandate; or rather, that they themselves be... from the Church, of the said decision, and of their... ^D