Presbyters Uniwersytet Warszawski
ID
ER 2319
Gregory the Great sends Bishop Leontius as visitor to Rimini, because its bishop lays ill in Rome. Leontius is granted full episcopal power the city, safe the ordination of clergy. Gregory the Great, Letter 3.24, AD 593.
Letter 3.24 to Bishop Leontius of Urbino (March 593)
 
Gregorius Leontio episcopo
 
Bishop Castor of Rimini lays ill in Rome, and would be for some time unable to come back to his diocese. Bishop Leontius is tasked with the visitation of Rimini.
 
Quicquid autem tibi pro utilitatibus eiusdem ecclesiae uisum fuerit ordinare, habebis modis omnibus ex nostra permissione licentiam. Reditus uero uel ornamenta ministeria que ipsius sollicitudinis tuae in tutum cura conseruet. Et praeter ordinationes clericorum cetera omnia in praedicta ecclesia tamquam cardinalem et proprium te uolumus agere sacerdotem.
 
(ed. Norberg 1982:  169–170, summarised by J. Szafranowski)
Letter 3.24 to Bishop Leontius of Urbino (March 593)
 
Gregory to Leontius, bishop of Urbino
 
Bishop Castor of Rimini lays ill in Rome, and would be for some time unable to come back to his diocese. Bishop Leontius is tasked with the visitation of Rimini.
 
Whaterver you think should be consecrated for the advantage of the same church, you will have free scope in every way, relying on our permission. But let your Solicitude carefully look after all the revenues and ornaments and services of that church. And beside the ordinations of clerics, we want you to do everything else in the aforesaid church as if incardinated as its own priest.
 
(trans. Martyn 2004: 251, slightly altered and summarised by J. Szafranowski)

Place of event:

Region
  • Italy north of Rome with Corsica and Sardinia
  • Rome
  • Italy north of Rome with Corsica and Sardinia
City
  • Rimini
  • Rome
  • Urbino

About the source:

Author: Gregory the Great
Title: Letters, Epistulae, Epistolae, Registrum epistularum, Registrum epistolarum
Origin: Rome (Rome)
Denomination: Catholic/Nicene/Chalcedonian
Gregory, later called the Great (Gregorius Magnus), was born ca 540 to an influential Roman family with some connection to the ancient gens Anicia. His great-great-grandfather was Felix III, who served as the bishop of Rome from 526 to 530. Possibly, Agapetus I, pope between 535 and 536, was his relative as well. Little is known about his early career, but in 573 Gregory ascended to the high office of city prefect. Shortly afterwards, however, he resigned from his post and adopted the monastic way of life. He founded a monastery dedicated to St. Andrew within his family estate on Coelian Hill, next to the library established by Agapetus and Cassiodorus. Six other monasteries were founded in the estates his family owned in Sicily. Soon after his monastic conversion, he started to be given various tasks by Popes Benedict I (575–578) and Pelagius II (578–590). At that time, he was ordained a deacon. Between 579 and 585/6, Gregory acted as Pelagius` envoy in Constantinople. In 590, he was elected Pelagius` successor to the bishopric of Rome. The registry of his letters contained copies of Gregory`s papal correspondence up to his death in 604. The scope of Gregory`s original registry is still the subject of scholarly speculation. There are 854 extant letters gathered in fourteen volumes, most of them (686 letters) originating from the collection compiled at the time of Pope Hadrian I (772–795).
 
It is worth remembering that the majority of Gregory’s correspondence was jointly produced by the pope and his subordinates, see Pollard 2013.
Edition:
D. Norberg ed., S. Gregorii Magni Registrum Epistularum, Corpus Christianorum: Series Latina 140, 140A, Turnhout 1982.
 
Translation:
The Letters of Gregory the Great, trans. J.R.C. Martyn, Mediaeval Sources in Translation 40, Toronto 2004.
Bibliography:
R.M. Pollard, A Cooperative Correspondence: The Letters of Gregory the Great, in: M. Dal Santo, B. Neil (eds.), A Companion to Gregory the Great, Leiden-Boston 2013, pp. 291–312.

Categories:

Former ecclesiastical career - Unspecified clerical grade
    Described by a title - Clericus
      Relation with - Bishop/Monastic superior
        Livelihood/income
          Shortage of clergy
            Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL: J. Szafranowski, Presbyters in the Late Antique West, ER2319, http://www.presbytersproject.ihuw.pl/index.php?id=6&SourceID=2319