Note 109 — IV. LEGISLATION.

So great was the influx of wealth to the church from the pious legacies of the faithful that it became an evil of magnitude to the state, and in 370 a law of Valentinian pronounced null and void all such testamentary provisions made by those under priestly influence (Lib. XVI. Cod. Theod. Tit. ii. l. 20)—a provision repeated in 390 (Ibid. l. 27) with such additional details as show its successful evasion during the interval. Godefroi, in his notes to these laws (T. VI. pp. 48-50, 60-64), has collected much curious matter bearing on the subject.