Page:The age of Justinian and Theodora (Volume 2).djvu/344

 *ligious community, but not to the prejudice of wife or children, who were still entitled to their legal share of the estate. Abduction of a nun, even with her own consent, rendered not only the ravisher liable to capital punishment, but also any persons who harboured or aided him in the crime. Alienation of Church property, as well as of that of monasteries and charitable foundations, was carefully guarded against, and leases were to be granted only to the rich. Ruins, however, and surplus treasure in the form of vessels and vestments might be sold to allow of the funds being applied to some more useful purpose. But an exception was made in the case of money being required for the redemption of captives, "since it was only reasonable to prefer human souls to material valuables." Some relief with respect to the incidence of the taxes was also granted to religious bodies in recognition of "the distinction existing between things divine and human." Clerical criminals were punished by expulsion from the cloth and surrendered to be dealt with by the secular arm; in minor cases by relegation to a monastery for three years, there to be subjected to a stringent discipline.

2. The attitude of Justinian towards those of his subjects who did not profess the Orthodox faith was one of the most complete intolerance. A heretic was scarcely fit to live, and