Presbyters Uniwersytet Warszawski
ID
ER 248
Florentius, presbyter in the church near Subiaco, envies Saint Benedict for his fame and is tempted by the devil to conspire against him, all in the first half of the 6th century. Account of Gregory the Great, "Dialogues", Rome, AD 593/594.
II 8.1-7
 
Presbyter Florentius from the church near Subiaco (who is also grandfather – avus – of Deacon Florentius who served in Rome at the time of Gregory the Great) envies Saint Benedict for his fame and is tempted by the devil to conspire against him. He tries to kill Benedict by sending him a "bread infused with poison as if as a blessing" (infectum veneno panem quasi pro benedictione). As this trick does not work, Florentius sends seven naked girls to the monastery's garden to dance and corrupt Benedict's monks. Fearing for their salvation, Benedict decides to leave Subiaco and escape Florentius' envy. The wrath of God finds Florentius just as he is celebrating his apparent victory on a terrace. The structure collapses beneath him and he dies.
 
(ed. de Vogüé 1979: 160-165; summarised by J. Szafranowski)

Discussion:

Benedict of Nursia was active in the first half of the 6th century.

Place of event:

Region
  • Italy north of Rome with Corsica and Sardinia
City
  • Subiaco

About the source:

Author: Gregory the Great
Title: Dialogues, Dialogorum Gregorii Papae libri quatuor de miraculis Patrum Italicorum, Dialogi
Origin: Rome (Rome)
Denomination: Catholic/Nicene/Chalcedonian
Gregory the Great wrote his Dialogues between 593 and 594 in Rome when he was the Bishop of this city. They were written in order to present lives and miracles of Italian saints, many of them contemporary to Gregory, and the greatest of them, saint Benedict of Nurcia. The Dialogues are divided into four books in which Gregory tells the stories of various saints to Peter, who was a deacon and a friend of Gregory, and is also known from the Gregory`s private correspondence.
Edition:
Grégoire le Grand, Dialogues, ed. A. de Vogüé, Sources Chretiennes 251, 260, 265, Paris 1978-1980.

Categories:

Described by a title - Presbyter/πρεσβύτερος
Conflict
Relation with - Deacon
Relation with - Other relative
Relation with - Monk/Nun
Relation with - Woman
Ritual activity - Blessing
Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL: J. Szafranowski, Presbyters in the Late Antique West, ER248, http://www.presbytersproject.ihuw.pl/index.php?id=6&SourceID=248