Era
Vol. 1: A seculo VI usque ad 803
Date
591 (after the Synod of Marano)
Regestum

Emperor Maurice writes to Pope Gregory I, urging him not to treat violently the schismatic bishops of the ecclesiastical province of Aquileia (the "Istrian bishops") and not to compel them to journey to Rome.

Source
The original is lost; the oldest surviving in extenso copy is the following:
P = Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, ms. lat. 1682, fols. 27v-28r; copy from the first half of the 9th century.
The copies that Caesar Baronius and Jean Hardouin used for their editions are presumed lost today: Baronius used a copy allegedly from the Pithou family library (which is nowadays for the most part in the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris), but at the time forming part of family Colbert’s private library, the so-called Bibliotheca Colbertina, auctioned in 1728; the same manuscript that Baronius used was also copied by Jacques Sirmond and this Sirmond’s copy, judged to be better than the one made by Baronius, was used by Jean Hardouin for his edition; the MGH edition, published by Ewald and Hartmann in 1891, is nothing more than an adapted replica of Baronius’ and Harduinus’ editions as the editors could find neither the referenced Pithou codex nor the Sirmond’s copy and they were not aware of ms. lat 1682..
Previous Editions
Caesar Baronius, Annales ecclesiastici, 2nd ed., ed. Augustin Theiner, vol. 10: 546–599 (Paris 1867), no. 43, pp. 470–71.
Jean Hardouin, Acta conciliorum et epistolae decretales, ac constitutiones summorum pontificum vol. 3: Ab anno DLI ad annum DCCLXXXVII (Paris 1714), cols. 527–28.
Paul Ewald and Ludwig Hartmann (eds.), Gregorii I papae Registrum epistolarum, vol. 1: Libri I–VII, Monumenta Germaniae historica, Epistolae 1, (Berlin 1891), doc. 1/16b, pp. 21–22.
Edward Schwartz (ed.), Acta conciliorum oecumenicorum: Concilium Universale Constantinopolitanum sub Iustiniano habitum, vol. 2: Iohannis Maxentii libelli - Collectio codicis Novariensis XXX - Collectio codicis Parisini 1682 - Procli tomus ad Armenios - Iohannis Papae II epistula ad viros illustres (Strasbourg 1914), pp. 135–36 (reconstructive edition based on P).
FIM Edition
Diplomatic edition based on B with readings from Baronius' and Hardouin's editions referenced in the critical apparatus as B and H respectively.
Transcription

In nomine domini Dei nostri Iesu Christi imperator caesar Flavius Mauriciusa Tiberius, fidelis in Christo, pacificus, mansuetus, maximus, beneficus, Alamannicusb, Gregorio viro sanctissimo et beatissimo archiepiscopo almaec urbis Romae ac papaed.e

Consuetamf et Deo placitam vestram sanctitatem scientes, et quod rectęg catholicę nostrę Ecclesię dogmatum [in] omnibus doctrinam exercetis, scire vos volumus quod episcopi Histriensium provinciarum, per clericos aliquos ad nos directos suggestiones nobis transmiserunt: unam episcoporum civitatum et castrorum quos Longobardi tenere dinoscuntur, aliam Severi Aquileiensis episcopi aliorumque episcoporum qui cum illo sunt, et tertiam solius eiusdem Severi,1 in quibus omnes dixerunt tuam beatitudinem milites ad illos transmisisse cum uno tribuno et excubitore,2 necessitatem inponentesh pręfato reverentissimo Severo et testibus episcopis, ut ad tuam beatitudinem perveniant propter diversam voluntatem quam habent ad sacra et catholica dogmata sacrosanctę nostrę Ecclesię.

Et supplicaverunt nos inducias ad hoc sibi fieri et nullam eis interim necessitatem inponii ad vestram sanctitatem pervenire, ut licentesj quod tempore opportuno ad hanc sacratissimam urbem accedentes per se ipsos suggerere nobis habent, quę sibi obstare videntur.

Quia igitur et tua sanctitas cognoscit pręsentem rerum Italicarum confusionem et quod oportet temporibus competenter versari, iubemus tuam sanctitatem nullatenusk molestiam eisdem episcopis inferre, sed concedere eos otiosos esse, quousque [per]l providentiam Dei et partes Italię pacealesm constituantur et ceteri episcopi Histrię seu Venetiarum iterum ad pristinum ordinem redigantur. Tunc enim perfectisn omnia pro pace et diversitate dogmatio cum antecedentibus tuisp orationibus corrigentur.

Etq subscriptio: Divinitas te servet per multos annos, sanctissime ac beatissime paterr.

Critical apparatus

a) Mauritius B. b) Alammanicus H. csic P et carptim ę loco ae, etsi omnes editores undique ae ed; deinceps omnes abbreviationes contractionesque diphthongum ae continentes cum ae expandantur . dsic BH; Ewald et Hartmann coni. patriarchae scriptum debet esse et ideo sicut ed. etitulo praemittit B: Mauritii epistola ad sanctum Gregorium papam. fsic BH: pro mansuetam coni. et sic ed. Ewald et Hartmann. gsic P; recte BH; rectam coni. et ed. Schwartz hsic P; imponentem BH. isic P; imponi BH. j) ut licentes] sic PH; et licenter B: pro dicentes coni. et sic ed. Ewald et Hartmann; pro pollicentes coni. et ed. Schwartz. k) nullam BH. lom. H. msic P: pro paccaliter coni. et ed. Ewald et Hartmann; pace aliter B; paccales H. nsic P; perfectius B et sic ed. tam Ewald et Hartmann quam Schwartz.o) dogmatis BH. p) suis H. qseq. sua add. B. rseq. explicit add. PB.


1) Of these three letters, only the second one referenced here is preserved and it is edited here.
2) The violence of imperial tribunes and excubitors is not mentioned in the letter that survived.

Selected Bibliography
Giuseppe Cuscito, "Aquileia e Bisanzio nella controversia dei Tre Capitoli," in Antichità Altoadriatiche 12: Aquileia e l'Oriente Mediterraneo (Trieste 1976), pp. 231-62.
Editor's Notes

Another episode in the story-arc of the Schism of Three Chapters in the ecclesiastical province of Aquileia. See more on it here.

The letter is a direct response to the pleas of the schismatic clergy of the ecclesiastical province of Aquileia directed at the imperial court in response to the ever more violent methods of the Roman popes endeavoring to end the Schism. Emperor Maurice mentions three letters of similar contents directed to him, but only one is known to this day (see it here).

How to Cite
First citation: Josip Banic (ed.), Fontes Istrie medievalis, vol. 1: A seculo VI usque ad 803, doc. 591_MG, fontesistrie.eu/591_MG (last access: date).
Subsequent citations: FIM, 1: doc. 591_MG.