Primary source · Latin

The Letter to Himerius (the first decretal)

Name: The Letter to Himerius (the first decretal)
Author: Siricius of Rome

Siricius of Rome · AD 385

What this text is

The earliest surviving papal decretal: Rome answers fifteen questions from Tarragona — baptism at Easter, clerical continence, penance — 'we bear the burdens of all who are heavy laden; nay, the blessed apostle Peter bears them in us.'

Profile of Siricius of Rome →

Public-domain translations

Literal gloss of the Latin (§1)

We bear the burdens of all who are heavy laden; nay rather, the blessed apostle Peter bears them in us, who in all things, as we trust, protects and defends us, the heirs of his administration.

Manuscript witnesses

Canonical collections (Dionysiana etc.)

6th c. onward

The letter to Himerius at the head of the decretal tradition in the church's law-books.

PRINCIPAL WITNESSES

Provenance

Rome, 10 February AD 385, to Himerius of Tarragona — the first papal decretal

Editions & scholarship

Critical editions and standard translations behind the text above.

Papal Letters in the Early Middle Ages
Detlev Jasper & Horst Fuhrmann, 2001
The standard study of the decretal tradition.
The Letter of Siricius to Himerius (in: Hornung, Directa ad decessorem)
Christian Hornung, 2011
The modern critical study of the first decretal.