Presbyters Uniwersytet Warszawski
ID
ER 2071
Presbyter Paulinus, later bishop of Nola, writes to Presbyter Amandus of Bordeaux (Gaul). Paulinus intervenes on behalf of Presbyter Basilius of Capua (Italy) who was expelled from his house by Daducius, a nobleman from Aquitania. Paulinus of Nola, Letter 12, AD 397/398.
Letter 12 to Presbyter Amandus of Bordeaux
 
12. Praeterea rogo, ut epistolam meam ad filium nostrum Daducium, etiamsi in Galliis agit, sine ulla dilatione facias ab episcopo transmitti per conseruum fidelem et inpigrum. Si clericum forte noluerit occupari, unum de Alingonensibus dignamini mittere cum epistolis uestris, quibus litterae nostrae iuuentur; dignam enim interuentu uestro causam ex epistola mea, quam ad eum feci, cognoscetis. Inprimis autem celeritate agendi opus est, ut sanctissimus presbyter, qui et uita et aetate uenerabilis uim, qualem exposui, sustinet, quam primum ab alienarum aedium exilio liberetur.
 
(ed. de Hartel 1894: 82-83)
Letter 12 to Presbyter Amandus of Bordeaux
 
12. I also I ask you to ensure that the bishop [Delphinus of Bordeaux] sends on my letter to my son Daducius by the hand of a faithful and keen fellow servant, even if he is now in Gaul. If Delphinus is unwilling to take up the time of a cleric, please send someone from Portus Alingonis with letters written by you to support mine. For you will realise from the letter I have sent him that the situation is worthy of your intervention. But there is particular need of swift action, so that a most holy presbyter, so venerable because of his years and his life, who is enduring the violence which I have described, should be freed as soon as possible from the exile of a stranger's house.
 
(trans. Walsh 1966: 1.115-116, slightly altered by J. Szafranowski)

Discussion:

Paulinus was Amandus' catechumen [2062].
 
Paulinus pleads the case of Basilius in several letters to both Bishop Delphinus and Presbyter Amandus of Bordeaux (letters 12, 14, and 15). They indicate that Daducius, a nobleman from Aquitania, also held some property in Capua in Campania. For unknown reasons, Presbyter Basilius was expelled from the house in which he lived and which supposedly belonged to Daducius. See [2074] and [2075].
 
Portus Alingonis was located not far from Bordeaux. Delphinus was at that time engaged in building a church there (see Paulinus of Nola, Letter 20.3).
 
The dating of this letter is based on analysis of other letters sent by Paulinus to Amandus and Delphinus of Bordeaux (Walsh 1966: 1.234-235).

Place of event:

Region
  • Italy south of Rome and Sicily
  • Gaul
City
  • Nola
  • Bordeaux

About the source:

Author: Paulinus of Nola
Title: Letters, Epistulae
Origin: Nola (Italy south of Rome and Sicily)
Denomination: Catholic/Nicene/Chalcedonian
Paulinus of Nola (Pontius Metropius Paulinus) was born into a very affluent family ca 335. Although most of his estates were located near Bordeaux in Gaul, he was appointed the governor of Campania in his early twenties. He then returned to Gaul. In 389, after being baptized, Paulinus and his wife moved to Spain. They both started to follow a semi-monastic way of life. Following the death of his newborn son, Paulinus was ordered a presbyter at Christmas 394. In 395, Paulinus established a monastery in Nola in Campania. He served as a bishop of that city from 409 till his death in 431. Paulinus corresponded with many principal Christian intellectuals of the era, including Sulpicius Severus, Jerome, Ambrose of Milan, and Augustine of Hippo. Of this rich epistolographic corpus, however, only fifty-one letters survived. For the list of all letters Paulinus sent as a presbyter, and their addressees, see [2059].
Edition:
G. de Hartel ed., S. Pontii Meropii Paulini Nolani opera, vol. 1 Epistulae, Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum 29, Prague-Wien-Leipzig 1894.
 
Translation:
Letters of St. Paulinus of Nola, trans. P.G. Walsh, Ancient Christian Writers 35, New York 1966.

Categories:

Writing activity - Correspondence
Food/Clothes/Housing - Type of housing
Functions within the Church - Urban presbyter
Described by a title - Presbyter/πρεσβύτερος
Described by a title - Titles of respect
Conflict
Friendship
Relation with - Another presbyter
Relation with - Bishop/Monastic superior
Relation with - Noble
Public functions and offices after ordination - Public trustee/Mediator
Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL: J. Szafranowski, Presbyters in the Late Antique West, ER2071, http://presbytersproject.ihuw.pl/index.php?id=6&SourceID=2071