Presbyters Uniwersytet Warszawski
ID
ER 1779
Frontonius, the archpresbyter of Angoulême, poisons his bishop, Maracharius, and takes his place. He dies soon after, and his successor is Heraclius, presbyter from Bordeaux. He is in conflict with Count Nanthinus, who tortures and kills his presbyter, shortly before 580. Account of Gregory of Tours, "Histories", Tours (Gaul), AD 580-594.
V.36
 
Nanthinus, count of Angoulême, died ca 580. His uncle Maracharius was also the count and later bishop of Angoulême. He was poisoned in the seventh year of his episcopate. His murderer, Frontonius, became bishop himself, but by divine judgement he died within a year.
Cuius post obitum Heraclius Burdigalensis presbiter, qui quondam legatus Childeberti senioris fuerat, episcopus ordinatur. Nanthinus vero ob requirendam avunculi sui mortem comitatum in ipsa urbe expetiit. Quo accepto, multas episcopo iniurias inrogavit. Aiebat enim: "Homicidas illos, qui avunculum meum interfecerunt, tecum retines; sed et presbiteros huic noxae admixtos ad convivium recipes". Deinde inimicitia increscente, paulatim coepit villas ecclesiae, quas Maracharius testamento scripto reliquerat, violenter invadere, adserens, non debere ecclesiam eius facultatem adipisci, a cuius clericis testator fuerat interfectus. Post ista vero, iam aliquibus ex laicis interfectis, addidit, ut adpraehensum presbiterum alligaret ac contu perfoderet. Cui adhuc viventi, retortis post tergum manibus, adpenso ad stipitem, elicere quaerebat, si in hac causa fuisset admixtus. Sed cum ille negaret, profluente cruore de vulnere, reddidit spiritum. Qua de causa commotus episcopus, iussit, eum ab ecclesiae foribus prohiberi.
A council was convoked to restore peace between Nanthinus and Heraclius. Nanthinus agreed to give back every property he had seized for himself.
At ille fratrum iussionibus obaudire procurans, cuncta quae petebantur indulsit; causam tamen presbiteri omnipotenti Deo commendans, comitem in caritate recepit.
 
(ed. Krusch 1937: 242)
V.36
 
Nanthinus, count of Angoulême, died ca 580. His uncle Maracharius was also the count and later bishop of Angoulême. He was poisoned in the seventh year of his episcopate. His murderer, Frontonius, became bishop himself, but by divine judgement he died within a year.
After his death Heraclius, the presbyter from Bordeaux, who once served as an envoy to Lord (senior) Childebert [see [1741]], was ordained bishop [of Angoulême]. Nanthinus sought the countship of this city to avenge his uncle's death. Having obtained it, he inflicted many injuries on the bishop. He used to say: "You keep by yourself the murderers who killed my uncle. You also receive at your table (ad convivium) the presbyters involved in this crime". Afterwards, as the hostility was growing, [Nanthinus] started to gradually invade by force the Church estates which Maracharius had left [to the Church] in his will, alleging that the Church should not have inherited this property, when the testator had been killed by its clerics. Afterwards, having already killed several laymen, [Nanthinus] went so far as to capture a presbyter, tie him up, and pierce him with a pike. As [the presbyter] was still living, [Nanthinus] bound his hands behind his back, hung him from a stake, striving to obtain a confession, that he was involved in this crime [i.e. poisoning of Maracharius]. Although [the presbyter] denied it, as the blood was flowing from his wound, he gave up his spirit. The bishop, greatly moved by this crime, ordered that [Nanthinus] should be forbidden to enter the church.
A council was convoked to restore peace between Nanthinus and Heraclius. Nanthinus agreed to give back every property he had seized for himself.
[Heraclius], obeying the wishes of his brothers [i.e. other bishops], granted everything he had been asked for. Commending the case of the [murdered] presbyter to Almighty God, he accepted the count back with love [into the Christian community].
 
(trans. Thorpe 1974: 299-300, altered and summarised by J. Szafranowski)

Discussion:

These events took place shortly before the death of Nanthinus ca 580.
 
According to the Life of Saint Eparchius, Frontonius was an archpresbyter of Angoulême (attested from 541/542), see [XXXXXXXX].

Place of event:

Region
  • Gaul
City
  • Angoulême

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:

Entertainment - Feasting
    Travel and change of residence
    Ecclesiastical transfer
    Further ecclesiastical career - Bishop
    Functions within the Church - Urban presbyter
    Described by a title - Presbyter/πρεσβύτερος
    Described by a title - Clericus
      Monastic or common life - Clerical community
        Ecclesiastical administration - Ecclesiastical envoy
        Relation with - Bishop/Monastic superior
        Relation with - Secular authority
        Relation with - Noble
        Conflict - Violence
        Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL: J. Szafranowski, Presbyters in the Late Antique West, ER1779, http://presbytersproject.ihuw.pl/index.php?id=6&SourceID=1779