Alcune osservazioni sulla simonia nell’Impero d’Oriente del VI secolo

The sale and purchase of res sacrae was a common activity in the sixth century, as the novels of Justinian indicate. In 535, the emperor tried to entirely prohibit simony, but in 546 he was forced to accept the transfer of goods and distribution of gifts that routinely accompanied the assumption of an ecclesiastical office. In doing so, he legalized a practice that had become widespread and was used by the imperial authorities themselves on several occasions. The real ‘Justinianic Turn’ was not represented by the liberalization of simony, as has recently been argued, but by its prohibition eleven years earlier, which was the result of a reforming zeal that exerted a strong influence on Justinian around 535.