CHAPTER XXXV

OF THE INHERITANCE OF THE PROPERTY OF MARTYRS AND CONFESSORS, ALSO OF THOSE WHO HAD SUFFERED BANISHMENT OR CONFISCATION

“NOR must we omit to notice those estates of which individuals have been deprived on various pretences. For if any of those who have engaged with dauntless resolution in the noble and divine conflict of martyrdom, have also been stripped of their fortunes; or if the same has been the lot of the confessors, who have won for themselves the hope of eternal treasures; or if the loss of property has befallen those who were driven from their native land because they could not yield that obedience to the will of their persecutors which involved a betrayal of their faith: lastly, if any who have escaped the sentence of death have yet been despoiled of their worldly goods; we ordain that the inheritances of all such persons be transferred to their nearest kindred. And whereas the laws expressly assign this right to those most nearly related, it will be easy to ascertain to whom these inheritances severally belong. And it is evidently reasonable that the succession in these cases should belong to those who would have stood in the place of nearest affinity, had the deceased experienced a natural death.