To Peter the Subdeacon, on a Boundary Dispute near Palermo

Gregory to Peter, and so on. [a]

Gregory, a servant of God, presbyter and abbot of the monastery of Saint Theodore, which stands in the territory of Palermo in the province of Sicily, has informed us that men of the farm of Fulloniacus, which belongs to the holy Roman church, are trying to encroach on the boundaries of the farm of Gerdinia. That farm borders on this farm of the holy Roman church, and the monks of Saint Theodore have held it without dispute for countless years. For this reason we want you to go to the city of Palermo and look into the question in such a way that the right of possession remains with those who have held it until now. If you find that the monastery of Saint Theodore has held the disputed boundaries undisturbed for forty years, you are not to allow it to suffer any loss, even if it were to the advantage of the holy Roman church, but are to provide in every way for its undisturbed security. But if the agents of the holy Roman church show that the monastery has not held its right without dispute for forty years, and that some question about these boundaries has been raised within that time, let it be settled peaceably and lawfully by arbitrators chosen for the purpose. For not only do we not wish questions of wrong that have never yet been raised to be stirred up, but we also wish those that have been raised by others than ourselves to be settled quickly. So let your experience see that everything is settled so effectively that no question about this matter is ever referred to us again. Further, we wish the will of Bacauda, the late xenodochus, to remain valid as it was when first made. [b]

The month of November, in the ninth indiction. [e]