Letter to the Soldiers of Coroticus

The letter (Latin Epistola ad milites Corotici) is the shorter of Patrick’s two surviving writings. It was meant to be read aloud, before Coroticus himself if possible. Patrick says that an earlier letter, carried by a priest he had trained from childhood, had been laughed at, and he now tells Christians not to eat with the raiders or take their alms until they do penance and free their captives.

Where Coroticus ruled is not stated; Patrick says only that he can no longer call the soldiers his fellow citizens. The letter is evidence, in Patrick’s own words, that he was a bishop, that he had baptised and confirmed large numbers of Irish people, and that his converts included slaves and the children of kings. Like the Confession it gives no date.