To the Tenant Farmers of the Syracusan Patrimony

Gregory to the tenant farmers, and so on. [a]

I want you to know that we have arranged for you to be placed under the care of our defensor. So we order you to obey him without any reluctance in whatever he sees fit to do and directs you to do for the benefit of the church. We have given him such power that he can inflict strict punishment on any who may try to be disobedient or defiant. We have likewise charged him not to delay, but with immediate attention to recover to the church’s jurisdiction any slaves who are hiding outside its bounds, or anyone by whom its boundaries have been invaded. For know that he has been warned, at his own peril, never to presume under any kind of excuse to do any wrong or robbery with regard to what belongs to others. [b]