Presbyters Uniwersytet Warszawski
ID
ER 61
Sacerdos, bishop of Lyon, asks King Childebert I to make Nicetius, presbyter in Chalon (Gaul) and Sacerdos` nephew, next bishop of Lyon, 551/553. Account of Gregory of Tours, "Life of the Fathers", Tours (Gaul), ca 590.
8.3
 
Sacerdos, bishop of Lyon, is at his deathbed in Paris. King Childebert I visits him.
 
"Rogo", ait, "ut Nicetius presbiter, nepus meus, eclesiae Lugdunensi substituatur episcopus. Est enim, ut mei testimonii verba proferunt, amator castimoniae dilectorque eclesiarum et in elymosinis valde devotus, et quaecumque Dei servis dicent et operibus gerit et moribus". Respondit rex: "Fiat voluntas Dei".
 
(ed. Krusch 1885: 243)
8.3
 
Sacerdos, bishop of Lyon, is at his deathbed in Paris. King Childebert I visits him.
 
"I ask," said the bishop, "that the presbyter Nicetius, my nephew, shall succeed me as bishop of Lyon. For by my own witness he is a lover of chastity, a supporter of the churches, and devoted to almsgiving; both in his deeds and his way of life he does everything that a servant of God should." The king replied, "Let the will of God be done."
 
(trans. James 1991: 52, slightly altered by J. Szafranowski)

Discussion:

Nicetius was ordained bishop of Lyon at some point between 551 and 553.

Place of event:

Region
  • Gaul
City
  • Paris

About the source:

Author: Gregory of Tours
Title: Life of the Fathers, Vita Patrum, Liber Vitae Patrum
Origin: Tours (Gaul)
Denomination: Catholic/Nicene/Chalcedonian
Gregory of Tours (bishop of Tours in Gaul in 573-594) started writing his Life of the Fathers some time before 587 and finished it around 592 or slightly later, as shown by the cross-references to his other works. It is a collection of twenty Gallic saints` lives of different lengths. They all are in some way connected to Gregory`s family or church interests, while also exemplifying different virtues leading to sanctity. Saints presented in the Life of the Fathers are all either ascetics or bishops.
 
More on the text: James 1991: ix-xxv.
Edition:
B. Krusch ed., Gregorii Episcopi Turonensis Miracula et Opera Minora, Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Scriptores rerum Merovingicarum 1.2, Hannover 1885, 211-294.
 
Translation:
Gregory of Tours, Life of the Fathers, trans. E. James, Liverpool 1991.

Categories:

Social origin or status - Clerical family
Sexual life - Sexual abstinence
Further ecclesiastical career - Bishop
Described by a title - Presbyter/πρεσβύτερος
Relation with - Bishop/Monastic superior
Devotion - Almsgiving
Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL: J. Szafranowski, Presbyters in the Late Antique West, ER61, http://presbytersproject.ihuw.pl/index.php?id=6&SourceID=61