„Tam parvam largitatem“

Abstract

„Tam parvam largitatem“. Gregory the Great and Child Slavery. The famous „Registrum epistolarum“ of Pope Gregory the Great offers profound insights into his world and administration, and hardly any topic in this context has been left unexamined. However, as the topic of child slavery is a relatively new area of research within the study of medieval slavery, Gregory’s register has not yet been considered in this context. In addition to being insightful sources on the subject of child slavery, Gregory’s letters present the well-known problem of terminology: the infantilisation of slaves by referring to them as pueri and puellae . This article analyses the letters to identify enslaved children in the register and to examine Gregory’s handling of child slaves. Enslaved children become visible as descendants of (former) slaves, as gifts from Gregory, and as collateral for credit transactions. By and large, Gregory treated child slaves no differently than adult slaves. In matters of slave ownership and manumission, he always paid attention to legality, occasionally deviating from it in favour of mercy or salvation, but there is no evidence that he showed greater clemency towards enslaved children or specifically advocated for them.