As late as the year 577, Britain furnished other nations with slaves,
which is sufficiently proved by the following extract from Bede:
Nec silentio prætereunda opinio quæ de beato Gregorio, traditione
majorum, ad nos usque perlata est: quâ videlicet ex causâ admonitus, tam
sedulam erga salutem nostræ gentis curam gesserit. Dicunt, quia die
quâdam cum advenientibus nuper mercatoribus multa venalia in forum
fuissent conlata, multique ad emendum confluxissent, et ipsum Gregorium
inter alios advenisse, ae vidisse inter alia pueros venales positos,
candidi corporis ac venusti vultûs, capillorum quoque formâ egregiâ.
Quos cum aspiceret, interrogavit, ut ajunt, de quâ regione vel terrâ
essent adlati. Dictumque est quod de Brittaniâ insulâ, cujus incolæ
talis essent aspectûs. Rursus interrogavit, utrum iidem insulani,
Christiani, an paganis adhuc erroribus essent implicati? Dictumque est,
quod essent pagani. At ille intimo ex corde longa trahens suspiria:
“Heu, proh dolor!” inquit, “quod tam lucidi vultûs homines tenebrarum
auctor possidet, tantaque gratia frontispicii mentem ab internâ gratiâ
vacuam gestat!” Rursus ergo interrogavit, quod esset vocabulum gentis
illius? Responsum est quod Angli vocarentur. At ille, “Benè,” inquit,
“nam et angelicam habent faciem, et tales angelorum in cœlis decet esse
coheredes. Quod habet nomen ipsa provincia de quâ isti sunt adlati?”
Responsum est quod Deiri vocarentur iidem provinciales. At ille: “Benè,”
inquit, “Deiri, de irâ eruti, et ad misericordiam Christi vocati. Rex
provinciæ illius, quomodo appellatur?” Responsum est quod _Aella_
diceretur. At ille adludens ad nomen ait: “_Alleluia_, laudem Dei
creatoris illis in partibus oportet cantari.” Accedensque ad Pontificem
Romanæ et Apostolicæ sedis, nondum enim erat ipse Pontifex factus,
rogavit, ut genti Angliorum in Britanniam aliquos verbi ministros, per
quos ad Christum converterentur, mitteret: seipsum paratum esse in hoc
opus Domino co-operante perficiendum, si tamen Apostolico Papæ hoc ut
fieret placeret. Quod dum perficere non posset; quia etsi pontifex
concedere illi quod petierat voluit, non tamen cives Romani ut tam longe
ab urbe recederet potuere permittere; mox ut ipse pontificatûs officio
functus est, perficit opus diu desideratum: alios quidem prædicatores
mittens, sed ipse prædicationem ut fructificaret suis exhortationibus et
precibus adjuvans.
_Nor is that notice of the blessed Gregory which has come down to us by
the tradition of our ancestors to be silently passed over: for, by
reason of the admonition that he then received, he became so industrious
for the salvation of our nation. For they say, that on a certain day
when merchants had newly arrived, many things were brought into the
market, and several persons had come to purchase; Gregory himself came
among them, and saw exposed for sale, youths of a fair body and handsome
countenance, whose hair was also beautiful. Looking at them, they say,
he asked from what part of the world they were brought; he was told from
the island of Britain, whose inhabitants were of that complexion. Again
he asked whether these islanders were Christians or were immersed in the
errors of paganism. It was said, that they were pagans. And he, sighing
deeply, said, “Alas! what a pity that the author of darkness should
possess men of so bright a countenance, and that so graceful an aspect
should have a mind void of grace within!” Again he inquired what was the
name of their nation. He was told that they were called Angles. He said,
“It is well, for they have angelic faces, and it is fit that such should
be the coheirs with Angels in Heaven.” From what province were they
brought, was his next inquiry. To which it was answered, The people of
their province are called Deiri. “Good again,” said he, “Deiri, (de irâ
eruti,) rescued from anger and called to the mercy of Christ.” What is
the name of the king of that province? He was told, Aella. And, playing
upon the word, he responded, “Alleluia. The praises of God our Creator
ought to be chanted in those regions.” And going to the pontiff of the
Roman Apostolic See, for he was not yet made pope himself, he besought
him to send to Britain, for the nation of the Angles, some ministers of
the word, through whom they may be converted to Christ; and stated that
he was himself ready, the Lord being his aid, to undertake this work, if
the pope should so please. This he was not able to do, for though the
pontiff desired to grant his petition, the citizens of Rome would not
consent that he should go to so great distance therefrom. As soon,
however, as he was placed in the office of pope, he performed his long
desired work: he sent other preachers, but he aided by his prayers and
exhortations, that he might make their preaching fruitful._
Gregory became pope in 590. Soon after his elevation to the pontifical
dignity, he sought to purchase some of the British youths, in order to
have them trained up to be missionaries to their countrymen.
The holy see had already a considerable patrimony in Gaul, bestowed by
the piety of the faithful: we shall see from the following epistle of
the pope to the priest Candidus, whom he sent as its administrator, the
use which was made of its income.
* * * * *
Lib. v. Epist. x.—GREGORIUS Candido Presbytero eunti ad patrimonium
Galliæ.
Pergens auxiliante Domino Deo nostro Jesu Christo ad patrimonium, quod
est in Galliis gubernandum, volumus ut dilectio tua ex solidis quos
acceperit, vestimenta pauperum, vel pueros Anglos, qui sunt ab annis
decem et septem, vel decem et octo, ut in monasteriis dati Deo
proficiant, comparet; quatenus solidi Galliarum, qui in terrâ nostrâ
expendi non possunt, apud locum proprium utiliter expendantur. Si quid
vero de pecuniis redituum, quæ dicuntur ablatæ, recipere potueris, ex
his quoque vestimenta pauperum comparare te volumus; vel, sicut præfati
sumus, pueros qui in omnipotentis Dei servitio proficiant. Sed quia
pagani sunt, qui illic inveniri possunt, volo, ut cum eis presbyter
transmittatur, ne quid ægritudinis contingat in viâ, ut quos morituros
conspexerit debeat baptizare. Ita igitur tua dilectio faciat, ut hæc
diligenter implere festinet.
GREGORY _to the Priest Candidus, going to the patrimony of Gaul_.
_As you are going, with aid of the Lord Jesus Christ, our God, to govern
the patrimony which is in Gaul; we desire that out of the shillings you
may receive, you, our beloved, should purchase clothing for the poor, or
English youths about the age of seventeen or eighteen, that, being
placed in monasteries, they may be useful for the service of God; so
that the money of Gaul, which ought not to be expended in our land, may
be laid out in its own place beneficially. If you can also get any of
the money of that income called tolls_, (ablatæ,) _we also desire that
you should therewith buy clothing for the poor, or, as we have before
said, youths who may become proficients in the service of God. But as
they who dwell in that place are pagans, it is our desire that a priest
be sent with them lest they should get sick on the journey, and he ought
to baptize those whom he may see in a dying state. So let you, our
beloved, do, and be alert in fulfilling what we have desired_.
* * * * *
The commission of Pope Gregory to purchase those youths was executed.
But, as Lingard observes, (Ant. Anglo-Saxon Chu. c. i.,) “their progress
was slow, and his zeal impatient.” The result was that St. Augustine and
his companions were sent by the pope, and effected the conversion of the
island.
In the same chapter, Lingard describes the Saxons who had settled in
England, previous to their conversion, and refers to Will. of Malmesbury
(_de reg._ 1. i., c. 3.)
“The savages of Africa may traffic with the Europeans for the negroes
whom they have seized by treachery, or captured in open war; but the
most savage conquerors of the Britons sold without scruple, to the
merchants of the continent, their countrymen, and even their own
children.”
“But their ferocity soon yielded to the exertions of the missionaries,
and the harsher features of their origin were insensibly softened under
the mild influence of the gospel. In the rage of victory, they learned
to respect the rights of humanity. Death or slavery was no longer the
fate of the conquered Britons; by their submission, they were
incorporated with the victors; and their lives and property were
protected by the equity of their Christian conquerors. * * * The humane
idea, that by baptism all men become brethren, contributed to meliorate
the condition of slavery, and scattered the seeds of that liberality
which gradually undermined, and at length abolished, so odious an
institution. By the provision of the legislature, the freedom of the
child was secured from the avarice of an unnatural parent; and the
heaviest punishment was denounced against the man who presumed to sell
to a foreign master one of his countrymen, though he were a slave or a
malefactor.”
Lingard here refers to the statutes of Ina, quoted in a previous study.
But it may be remarked that here is the earliest notice of the African
slave-trade, as a branch of European commerce, compared with the ancient
slave-trade carried on with Britain.
In his book, “Pastoralis Curæ,” _Of the Pastoral Care_, part 3, c. i.
Admonit. vi., Pope Gregory says—
ADMONITIO VI.—Aliter admonendi sunt servi, atque aliter domini. Servi
scilicet, ut in se semper humilitatem conditionis aspiciant: domini
vero, ut naturæ suæ quâ æqualiter sunt cum servis conditi, memoriam non
amittant. Servi admonendi sunt ne dominos despiciant, ne Deum offendant
si ordinationi illius superbiendo contradicunt: domini quoque admonendi
sunt, quia contra Deum de munere ejus superbiunt, si eos quos per
conditionem tenent subditos, æquales sibi per naturæ consortium non
agnoscunt. Isti admonendi sunt ut sciant se servos esse dominorum: illi
admonendi sunt ut cognoscant se conservos esse servorum. Istis namque
dicitur: _Servi, obedite dominis carnalibus._ Et rursum: _Quicumque sunt
sub jugo servi, dominos suos omni honore dignos arbitrentur_: illis
autem dicitur: _et vos, domini, eadem facite illis, remittentes minas,
scientes quod et illorum et vester dominus est in cœlis_.
ADMONITION VI.—_Servants are to be admonished in one way, masters in
another way: servants indeed, that they should always regard in
themselves the lowliness of their condition: masters however, that they
lose not the recollection of their nature, by which they are created
upon a level with their slaves. Slaves are to be admonished not to
despise their masters, lest they offend God, if growing proud they
contradict his ordinance: masters too are to be admonished; because they
grow proud against God by reason of his gift, if they do not acknowledge
as their equals, by the fellowship of nature, those whom by condition
they hold as subjects. These are to be admonished that they be mindful
that they are the slaves of their masters; those that they recollect
that they are the fellow-servants of servants. To these it is said_:
Servants, obey your masters in the flesh: _and again_, Whosoever are
servants under the yoke, let them consider their masters worthy of all
honour: _but to those it is said_: And you, masters, do in like manner
to them, laying aside threats, knowing that your and their Master is in
heaven.
In his book ii. of Epistles, ep. xxxix., writing to Peter, a subdeacon
of Campania, he directs him how to act in the case of a female slave,
belonging to a proctor or manager of church property, (_defensor_,) who
was anxious to be allowed to become a sister in a monastery, which was
not lawful without the consent of her owner. The pope neither orders the
master to manumit her nor to permit her profession, for, though he was
employed by the church, the religion to which he belonged did not
require of him to give away his property, nor had the head of that
church power to deprive him thereof; hence he writes—
Preterea quia Felix defensor puellam nomine Catillam habere dicitur, quæ
cum magnis lacrymis, et vehementi desiderio habitum conversionis
appetit, sed eam præfatus dominus suus converti minime permittit:
proinde volumus, ut experientia tua præfatum Felicem adeat, atque puellæ
ejusdem animum sollicite requirat; et si ita esse cognoverit, pretium
ejusdem puellæ suæ domino præbeat, et huc eam in monasterio dandam cum
personis gravibus, Domino auxiliante, transmittat. Ita vero hæc age, ut
non per lentam actionem tuam præfatæ puellæ anima detrimentum aliquod in
desiderio suo sustineat.
_Moreover, because the proctor Felix is said to have a servant named
Catilla, who with many tears and vehement desire wishes to obtain the
habit of religion; but her aforesaid master will not by any means permit
her making profession: it is then our desire that your experience would
call upon the said Felix, and carefully examine the disposition of that
young woman, and if you should find it such as is stated, pay to the
master her price, and send her hither with discreet persons, to be
placed, with God’s help, in a monastery. But do this, so that the soul
of the young woman may not suffer any inconvenience in her desire,
through your tardiness._
The following is a deed of gift which the same Pope made, to assure the
possession of a slave to the bishop of Porto, one of the suburban sees
near Rome. It is curious, not merely as exhibiting the fact that the
pope and the See of Rome held and transferred slaves at this period, but
also as giving a specimen of a legal document of that date and tenor:—
* * * * *
LIB. X. EP. LII.—GREGORIUS, Felici Episcopo Portuensi.
Charitatis vestræ gratiâ provocati, no infructuosi vobis videamur
existere, præcipuè cum et minus vos habere servitia noverimus; ideo
Joannem juris ecclesiastici famulum, natione Sabinum, ex massâ Flavianâ,
annorum plus minus decem et octo, quem nostra voluntate jam diu
possidetis, fraternitati vestræ jure directo donamus atque concedimus;
ita ut cum habeatis, possideatis, atque juri proprietatique vestra
vindicetis atque defendatis, et quidquid de eo facere volueritis, quippe
ut dominus, ex hujus donationis jure libero potiamini arbitrio. Contra
quam munificentiæ nostræ chartulam nunquam nos successoresque nostros
noveris esse venturos. Hanc autem donationem a notario nostro
perscriptam legimus, atque subscripsimus, tribuentes etiam non expectatâ
professione vestrâ quo volueritis tempore alligandi licentiam legitimâ
stipulatione et sponsione interpositâ. Actum Romæ.
_Excited by our regard for your charitable person, that we may not
appear to be useless to you, especially as we know you are short of
servants: we therefore give and grant to you our brother, by our direct
right, John, a servant of the church domain, by birth a Sabine, of the
Flavian property, now aged about eighteen years, whom by our will you
have a good while had in your possession. So that you may have and
possess him, and preserve and maintain your right to him and defend him
as your property. And that you may, by the free gift of this donation,
enjoy the exercise of your will, to do what you may think proper in his
regard, as his lord._
_Against which paper of our munificence, you may know that neither we
nor our successors are ever to come. And we have read this deed of gift,
written out by our notary, and we have subscribed the same, not even
awaiting your profession, respecting the time you would desire license
to register it in the public acts by interposing the lawful process of
signature and covenant. Done at Rome, &c._
The _massa_ was generally a portion of land of about twelve acres: and
the servants belonging specially thereto are in the documents of this
and a later period generally called either _servi de_ (or _ex_) _massa_,
and when they subsequently became _conditioned_, or freed to a certain
extent, they were called _homines de masnada_, or other names equivalent
thereto.
LIB. V. EP. XXXIV.—GREGORIUS, Athemio Subdiacono.
Quantus dolor, quantaque sit nostro cordi afflictio de his, quæ in
partibus Campaniæ contigerunt, dicere non possumus: sed ex calamitatis
magnitudine potes ipse cognoscere. Eâ de re, pro remedio captivorum qui
tenti sunt, solidos experientiæ tuæ per horum portitorem Stephanum virum
magnificum transmisimus, admonentes ut omnino debeas esse sollicitus, ac
strenuè peragas, et liberos homines, quos ad redemptionem suam sufficere
non posse cognoscis, tu eos festines redimere. Qui vero servi fuerint,
et dominos eorum ita pauperes esse compereris, ut eos redimere non
assurgant, et hos quoque comparare non desinas. Pariter etiam et servos
ecclesiæ qui tuâ negligentiâ perierunt, curabis redimere. Quo cumque
autem redemeris, subtiliter notitiam, quæ nomina eorum, vel quis ubi
maneat, sive quid agat, seu unde sit, contineat, facere modis omnibus
studebis, quam tecum possis afferre cum veneris. Ita autem in hâc re te
studiose exhibere festina, ut ii qui redimendi sunt, nullum te
negligente periculum possint incurrere, et tu apud nos postea vehementer
incipias esse culpabilis, sed et hoc quam maxime age, ut si fieri
potest, captivos ipsos minori possis pretio comparare. Substantiam verò
sub omni puritate atque subtilitate describe, et ipsam nobis
descriptionem cum celeritate transmitte.
GREGORY, _to the Subdeacon Anthemius_:
_We cannot express how great is our grief and the affliction of our
heart, by reason of what has occurred in a part of Campania; but you may
yourself estimate it from the extent of the calamity. Wherefore, we send
to your experience, by Stephen, a worthy man, the bearer hereof, money
for the aid of those captives who are detained; admonishing you that you
ought to be very industrious and exert yourself to discover what freemen
are unable to procure their own release, and that you should quickly
redeem them. But respecting the slaves, when you shall discover that
their masters are so poor as not to have it in their power to release
them, you will also not omit to buy them. In like manner you will be
careful to redeem the servants of the church who have been lost through
your neglect._
_You will also be very careful by all means to make a neat brief, which
you can bring when you come, containing their names, as also where any
one remains, how he is employed, or whence he is. You will be diligent,
and so industrious in this transaction, as to give no cause of danger by
your neglect, for those who are to be released, nor run the risk of
being exceedingly culpable in our view. You will be most particular,
above all things, to procure the release of the captives at the lowest
possible rate. You will make out the accounts as accurately and as
clearly as possible, and send them to us with speed._
The calamity which he bewails was an incursion of the Lombards, who,
coming originally from Scandinavia, settled for a while in Pomerania,
and about this period ravaged Italy.
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