The Presbyters Project

VI.15

Felix, bishop of Nantes, fell ill. He asked other bishops from his ecclesiastical province to support his nephew Burgundio to succeed him in the bishopric. Burgundio was sent to Gregory, metropolitan bishop of Tours, along with a letter signed by the bishops.

Erat tunc temporis Burgundio quasi annorum XXV. Qui veniens rogat, ut, accedens usque Namnetas, episcopum eum in locum avunculi, qui adhuc superstes erat, tonsoratum consecrare deberem. Quod ego abnui, quia canonibus non congruere cognovi. Consilium tamen praebui, dicens: "Habemus scriptum in canonibus, fili, non posse quemquam ad episcopatum accedere, nisi prius ecclesiasticus gradus regulariter sortiatur. Tu ergo, dilectissime, revertere illuc et pete, ut ipse te qui elegit debeat tonsorare. Cumque presbiterii honorem acciperis, ad ecclesiam adsiduus esto; et cum eum Deus migrare voluerit, tunc tu facile episcopale gradum ascendes".

Burgundio did not follow Gregory's advice. Gregory speculates that it was because Felix recovered. When Felix finally died, he was succeeded for unknown reasons by Nonnichius, who was also a nephew of Felix.

(ed. Krusch 1937: 283)

VI.15

Burgundio was then about twenty-five years old. He arrived with a request that I should travel all the way to Nantes, [give him] the tonsure and consecrate him as bishop in the place of his uncle, who was still alive. This I refused to do, because I knew it contradicted the canons. I gave Burgundio the following advice: "We have it written in the canons, my son, that no one can reach the episcopacy, if he was not appointed through established ecclesiastical ranks beforehand. You should therefore, my dearest, go back to Nantes and ask that the same person who chose you should give you the tonsure. When you obtain the honour of the presbyter, be devout in the Church; and when God wishes that he [i.e. Felix] depart [from this world], then you will ascend to the episcopal rank easily".

(trans. Thorpe 1974: 346-347, altered and summarised by J. Szafranowski)

Discussion:

Judging from Gregory's narrative, these events took place ca 582.

Place of event:

Region

Gaul

City

Tours

About the source:

Author: Gregory of Tours
Title: The History of the Franks, Gregorii episcopi Turonensis historiarum libri X, Histories
Origin: Tours (Gaul)
Denomination: Catholic/Nicene/Chalcedonian

Gregory of Tours (Gaul) wrote his ten books of Histories (known commonly in English as the History of the Franks) during his episcopal reign in Tours between 573 and 594. The books vary in scope and length. The first book covers 5,596 years from the creation of the world to AD 397, that is the death of Saint Martin of Tours, Gregory`s predecessor in bishopric. The second book deals with the history of Gaul between 397 and 511, the latter being the year of death of King Clovis I. The third and fourth books cover the next 64 years till the death of Austrasian King Sigibert II in 575. Finally, the following six books describe exclusively the sixteen years from 575 to 591. Probably in 594, Gregory added the list of bishops of Tours in the end of the Histories, with brief accounts of their actions.

Edition:

B. Krusch ed., Gregorii Episcopi Turonensis Historiarum Libri X [in:] Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Scriptores rerum Merovingiciarum 1.1, Hannover 1884 (repr. 1951): 1-537.

Translation:

Gregory of Tours, The History of the Franks, trans. L. Thorpe, London 1974.

Categories:

Food/Clothes/Housing - Hairstyle

Former ecclesiastical career - Lower clergy

Former ecclesiastical career - Deacon

Further ecclesiastical career - Bishop

Described by a title - Presbyter/πρεσβύτερος

Reasons for ordination - Family/hereditary

Attributes of clerical status

Theoretical considerations - On church hierarchy

Reasons for ordination - Patronage

Education - Knowledge of canons

Impediments or requisits for the office - Ecclesiastical career

Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL: J. Szafranowski, Presbyters in the Late Antique West, ER1819, http://www.presbytersproject.ihuw.pl/index.php?id=6&SourceID=1819