The Presbyters Project

Chapter 13

31. Beatus uero Fulgentius, magis uolens discere quam docere consentit illic esse ubi fuit inferior et trepidat illuc redire ubi cunctis posset esse superior. Tunc abbatis Felicis et omnium fratrum quos reliquerat, dolor ex necessitate consilium sumens patrocinio sancti Fausti episcopi insulanos monachos pulsat. Ille protinus episcopali auctoritate suum esse monachum Fulgentium allegat sibique reddi et ubi ipse iussit, uiuere debere confirmat. Minatur excommunicationem contradicentibus; ipsum uero Fulgentium, nisi consentiat, inoboedientibus similem pronuntiat iudicandum. Quid multa? Deponitur rursus beatus Fulgentius ad monasterium proprium, subire praecepitur abbatis officium. Et ne iterum ad desiderium spiritale mutabilis fieret, repente eum sacerdos presbyterum consecrat, ut abbatis et presbyteri decoratus officio, nec monasterium relinqueret nec in alia posset ecclesia ordinari fortuito.

(ed. Isola 2016: 188)

Chapter 13

31. The blessed Fulgentius wanted to learn more than to teach, and so he agreed to be where he could be inferior, and he was afraid of going where he might become a superior. Then the pain caused the abbot Felix and all the brothers left by Fulgentius to take counsel out of necessity and ask for the protection of the holy Bishop Faustus against the monks of the island [of Iunci]. With his episcopal authority, he immediately reclaimed Fulgentius to be his subject and confirmed that Fulgentius should live where he ordered him to. He threatened the disobedient with excommunication, and proclaimed that Fulgentius himself would be judged similarly to the disobedient if he did not agree. What is there to say? Fulgentius went back to his own monastery, feeling obliged to undertake the office of the abbot. Afraid of another change of mind in seeking spiritual perfection, the priest [Faustus] suddenly consecrated him presbyter, so that Fulgentius, decorated with the office of abbot and presbyter, could neither leave the monastery, nor be ordained in another Church.

(trans. S. Adamiak)

Discussion:

Fulgentius of Ruspe escaped from the monastery that he had founded and where he was a superior, and spent some time in the monastery in Iunci (see [1427]) between his return to Africa in ca AD 500 and his episcopal ordination in AD 508.

Place of event:

Region

Latin North Africa

City

Iunci

About the source:

Author: Ferrandus
Title: Vita Fulgentii, Life of Fulgentius
Origin: Carthage (Latin North Africa)
Denomination: Catholic/Nicene/Chalcedonian

None of the manuscripts transmitting the "Life of Fulgentius" provides the name of its author. It was firstly attributed to the deacon Ferrandus by Chifflet in 1649. This theory was largely accepted, by, among others, G.G. Lapeyre, who offered a critical edition of the "Life" in 1929. It was, however rejected by A. Isola in his 2016 edition for Corpus Christianorum, who retains it an anonymous work. It is dedicated to Felicianus, the successor of Fulgentius on the see of Ruspe, so it must have been written in a reasonable span of time after the death of Fulgentius in AD 533.

Edition:

A. Isola ed., Vita S. Fulgentii episcopi, Corpus Christianorum Series Latina 91F, Turnhout 2016.

Categories:

Travel and change of residence

PR658.

Ecclesiastical transfer

PR658.

Functions within the Church - Monastic presbyter

PR658.

Described by a title - Presbyter/πρεσβύτερος

PR658.

Monastic or common life - Cenobitic monk

PR658.

Monastic or common life - Monastic superior (abbot/prior)

PR658.

Reasons for ordination - Involuntary ordination

PR658.

Relation with - Bishop/Monastic superior

PR658.

Relation with - Monk/Nun

PR658.

Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL: S. Adamiak, Presbyters in the Late Antique West, ER1431, http://presbytersproject.ihuw.pl/index.php?id=6&SourceID=1431