«Quare et monent … nos laicos, vt abstineremus a contrahendo cum eis: quia fidei sint Græcæ». La sacerdotalis auaritia nel pensiero giuridico dell’età medievale e moderna

«Quare et monent … nos laicos, vt abstineremus a contrahendo cum eis: quia fidei sint Græcæ». Sacerdotalis auaritia in medieval and modern legal thought. ABSTRACT: Avaritia – one of the deadly sins – is at the basis of some uncommendable behavior on the part of the clergy, both diocesan and regular, and of prelates (sacerdotes regulariter sunt avari). Civil and canon legislation also attempts to remedy this situation. Jurists such as Alberico da Rosciate, Mariano Sozzini il Vecchio, Filippo Decio, Tiberio Deciani, and Alberico Gentili meditate on this issue, both through their theoretical elaborations and in the performance of their practical activity. This kind of behavior is not new: it has been documented since the 7th century, when the Fourth Council of Toledo (633) adopted specific provisions about the misdeeds of bishops and clergy regarding the use of resources intended for the fabricae ecclesiae.