Folia Theologica 3. (1992)

Charles Duggan: Decretal letters to Hungary

8

C. DUGGAN

I. To the king of Hungary

Nuntios infra. De cetero notum

Alexander III congratulates the king of Hungary on the baptism of his first-born son

The passage De cetero notum is found only in Tann., Sang, and 1 Abr.% It is noted in all three collections as an excerpt from an otherwise unknown letter Nuntios, of Alexander III to the king of Hungary (ingurinorum, Tann.; ingernorum, Sang.; unguriorum, 1 Abr.f The pope conveys to the king his joy on learning of the baptism of his first-born son — aqua est et Spiritu sancto renatus et perceptione ecclesie sacramentorum Christianorum meruit collegio sociari. Presumably in response to a comment made by the king, the pope assures him that the validity of baptism does not depend on the merits of the officiating priest, and proceeds to cite texts from St Paul, which are also found in Gratian — non est enim baptismus eius qui baptizat, sed illius in cuius nomine baptizatur,8 9 10 11 When this letter was first edited, from Sang, and 1 Abr., Singer questioned its authenticity, thinking it more probably a paraphrase of the chapters in Gratian, but Holtzmann accepted it, and noted that the death of king Stephen III without an heir pointed to Béla III (from 1172) as its recipient, giving the dating limits 1172-81. If, as seems probable, Gratian was the source of the texts in question, the letter affords an example of the chancery use of the Decretum in Alexander Ill’s pontificate.11

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WH 690, JL — , 1172-81. Tann. 3.19.3, Sang. 4.14.3, 1 Abr. 5.1.2. Pd Sang.; HOLTZMANN, Századok 415 no. 7.

8 WH 690, JL -, 1172-81. Tann. 3.19.3, Sang. 4.14.3, 1 Abr. 5.1.2. Pd Sang.; HOLTZMANN, Századok 415 no. 7.

9 Pars capituli Nuntios: Tann., Sang., 1 Abr.; infra add. Sang.

10 St Paul, 1 Cor. 3.67; Gratian, De consecr. D.4 caps 39 and 47.

11 Cf. n. 12 below.