To Fortunatus and Anthemius, on a Betrothed Woman Who Entered a Monastery

Gregory to Fortunatus, bishop, and Anthemius, defensor. [a] Catellus, who brings this letter, has told us that his sister, who had been betrothed to a man named Stephen, has, moved by the mercy of God, entered the religious life in a monastery at Naples, and that this same Stephen is wrongfully keeping a house and some other things that belong to her. Now the laws have laid down that a betrothed woman who wishes to enter the religious life shall suffer no loss at all. So let your fraternity, together with Anthemius the subdeacon, try to find out the truth by careful inquiry. And if, as we have been told, you find that this Stephen is unjustly keeping a house or anything else, let him be urgently warned by you to give back, without any delay or dispute, what he wrongfully keeps, and not to put off returning what is not his own on any excuse whatever. And if you happen to find that he ignores your urging, let us know, and give us an exact account of the facts of the case, so that once the merits of the case are known, he may be compelled by other means, as fairness requires, to make the restitution he scorns to make of his own accord for honesty’s sake. We commend the bearer of this letter to your fraternity, and we urge you not to let him suffer any longer from delay in this matter. [b]