Magnus Felix Ennodius (477/4 - 521) was a Roman noble from the senatorial family, born in Gaul and raised in Northern Italy. He became a cleric in Pavia and was ordained by the bishop of this city, Epiphanius. Later he joined the clergy of Milan where he was promoted to the diaconate around the year 502. In the year 515 (at the latest) he was elevated to the see of Pavia. He was a bishop there until his death in 521. Ennodius was involved in many ecclesiastical and political affaires of his time, and he also gained the reputation of being a good rhetorician and teacher. He maintained good relations with the Ostrogothic King Theodoric–, and in 507 he even composed a panegyric for the king. During his episcopacy, he was also sent as an envoy to Constantinople in order to negotiate the ending of the schism between Rome and Constantinople (the Acacian schism). For general information on Ennodius see PCBE, Italie, v. 1, Magnus Felix Ennodius; Kennel 2000.

 

Ennodius authored several works of different genres: discourses, lives of saints, poems, and letters directed to various addressees representing the Church and the state. On the collection of letters see Gioanni 2001, and the Introduction in Gioanni 2010.

 

The date of the present letter is uncertain. It was certainly written when Ennodius was still a deacon. Presbyter Adeodatus is attested in other sources between AD 495 (the council of Rome) and AD 502 (the council of Agde).