Presbyters Uniwersytet Warszawski
ID
ER 1945
Eufronius, presbyter in Tours (Gaul), is ordained bishop of that city, AD 556. Account of Gregory of Tours, "Histories", Tours (Gaul), AD 594.
X.31 (catalogue of the bishops of Tours)
 
XVIII. Eufronius presbiter ordinatur episcopus, ex genere illo, quod superius senatores nuncupavimus, vir egregiae sanctitatis, ab ineunte aetate clericus.
  
(ed. Krusch 1937: 534)
X.31 (catalogue of the bishops of Tours)
 
The presbyter Eufronius was consecrated as the eighteenth bishop. He came of one of the senatorial families which we have mentioned above. He was a man of exceptional sanctity and had been a cleric from his early years.
  
(trans. Thorpe 1974: 600, adapted by J. Szafranowski)

Discussion:

According to Gregory of Tours (Histories X.31.XVII), Bishop Guntharius, Eufronius' predecessor, died at the end of 555. Eufronius was, therefore, likely ordained in 556.
 
The details of Eufronius' ordination are presented by Gregory in Histories IV.15, see [1739].
 
The senatorial family mentioned in this passus is Gregory's own.

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:

Social origin or status - Social elite
Former ecclesiastical career - Unspecified clerical grade
Further ecclesiastical career - Bishop
Functions within the Church - Urban presbyter
Described by a title - Presbyter/πρεσβύτερος
Described by a title - Clericus
Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL: J. Szafranowski, Presbyters in the Late Antique West, ER1945, http://www.presbytersproject.ihuw.pl/index.php?id=6&SourceID=1945