The Same Emperor to Stephen, Most Holy Archbishop of Constantinople, and Universal Patriarch.

We have decided with reference to a slave, who has surreptitiously attained to the honors of the episcopate, that the same rule shall apply as where one is admitted into the priesthood under similar conditions, without the knowledge of his master; that is to say, he shall be deprived of the honor which he has clandestinely obtained, and be reduced to his former servile status. For if We do not permit persons who have dishonestly or fraudulently taken property from others to retain it, but punish them as malefactors, with much more reason We should not permit those who are bold enough wrongfully to secure an office of this kind, to live in peace, and through a perfidious act obtain two most precious advantages, namely, their freedom and the privileges of the sacerdotal order. Therefore, if any slave should be created a bishop without the knowledge of his master, this shall, in no respect, enable him to escape from servitude.