Presbyters Uniwersytet Warszawski
ID
ER 2378
Gregory the Great informs the clerics of Ortona that because of their bishop`s death he had sent another bishop for visitation. He will have the right to ordain presbyters and bishops. Clerics backing the lay candidate in the forthcoming election of the new bishop will be demoted and excommunicated. Gregory the Great, Letter 4.39, AD 594.
Letter 4.39 to clergy, decurions and people living in Ortona (August 594)
 
Gregory informs the clergy of Ortona that, as its bishop has recently passed away, he sent another bishop to assist at the time of transition. His name and see are missing, but he was probably from a nearby city . He will have the right to ordain presbyters and bishops from those worthy of such rank. Gregory warns the clerics against backing a lay candidate in the forthcoming election of the new bishop. Clerics supporting a layman for the bishopric will be demoted and excommunicated.
 
(ed. Norberg 1982: 260–261, summarized by J. Szafranowski)

Place of event:

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

About the source:

Author: Gregory the Great
Title: Letters, Epistulae, Epistolae, Registrum epistularum, Registrum epistolarum
Origin: Rome (Rome)
Denomination: Catholic/Nicene/Chalcedonian
Gregory, later called the Great (Gregorius Magnus), was born ca 540 to an influential Roman family with some connection to the ancient gens Anicia. His great-great-grandfather was Felix III, who served as the bishop of Rome from 526 to 530. Possibly, Agapetus I, pope between 535 and 536, was his relative as well. Little is known about his early career, but in 573 Gregory ascended to the high office of city prefect. Shortly afterwards, however, he resigned from his post and adopted the monastic way of life. He founded a monastery dedicated to St. Andrew within his family estate on Coelian Hill, next to the library established by Agapetus and Cassiodorus. Six other monasteries were founded in the estates his family owned in Sicily. Soon after his monastic conversion, he started to be given various tasks by Popes Benedict I (575–578) and Pelagius II (578–590). At that time, he was ordained a deacon. Between 579 and 585/6, Gregory acted as Pelagius` envoy in Constantinople. In 590, he was elected Pelagius` successor to the bishopric of Rome. The registry of his letters contained copies of Gregory`s papal correspondence up to his death in 604. The scope of Gregory`s original registry is still the subject of scholarly speculation. There are 854 extant letters gathered in fourteen volumes, most of them (686 letters) originating from the collection compiled at the time of Pope Hadrian I (772–795).
 
It is worth remembering that the majority of Gregory’s correspondence was jointly produced by the pope and his subordinates, see Pollard 2013.
Edition:
D. Norberg ed., S. Gregorii Magni Registrum Epistularum, Corpus Christianorum: Series Latina 140, 140A, Turnhout 1982.
 
Translation:
The Letters of Gregory the Great, trans. J.R.C. Martyn, Mediaeval Sources in Translation 40, Toronto 2004.
Bibliography:
R.M. Pollard, A Cooperative Correspondence: The Letters of Gregory the Great, in: M. Dal Santo, B. Neil (eds.), A Companion to Gregory the Great, Leiden-Boston 2013, pp. 291–312.

Categories:

Further ecclesiastical career - Bishop
    Described by a title - Presbyter/πρεσβύτερος
      Described by a title - Clericus
        Public law - Ecclesiastical
          Relation with - Bishop/Monastic superior
            Administration of justice - Ecclesiastical
              Administration of justice - Excommunication/Anathema
                Administration of justice - Demotion
                  Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL: J. Szafranowski, Presbyters in the Late Antique West, ER2378, http://presbytersproject.ihuw.pl/index.php?id=6&SourceID=2378