Magnus Felix Ennodius

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Saint Magnus Felix Ennodius
Born ~474, Arles
Died July 17, 521
Venerated in Roman Catholic Church
Feast July 17
Saints Portal

Magnus Felix Ennodius (473 or 474 - July 17, 521), Bishop of Pavia in 514, Latin rhetorician and poet. He was one of four fifth to sixth-century Gallo-Roman aristocrats whose letters survive in quantity: the others are Sidonius Apollinaris, prefect of Rome in 468 and bishop of Clermont (died 485), Ruricius bishop of Limoges (died 507) and Alcimus Ecdicius Avitus, bishop of Vienne (died 518). All of them were linked in the tightly-bound aristocratic Gallo-Roman network that provided the bishops of Catholic Gaul.[1] He is regarded as a saint, with a feast day of July 17. [2]

He was born at Arelate (Arles) and belonged to a distinguished[3] but impecunious family. He was perhaps a son of Firminus (435 – ca 485), vir nobilis at Arelate, and perhaps a son of Flavius Ennodius, but certainly the brother of Euprepia (b. 465 or 470) (the mother of Flavius Licerius Firminus Lupicinus), a sister, and another sister (b. 465) (the mother of Parthenius (485 – 548), a Patron in 542, married to his relative (?) Papianilla (490 – ca 530), daughter of Agricola (440 – after 507), vir inlustris, a Priest and son of Emperor Avitus.

Having lost his parents at an early age, he was brought up by an aunt at Ticinum (Pavia); according to some, at Mediolanum (Milan). After her death he was received into the family of a pious and wealthy young lady, to whom he was betrothed. It is not certain whether he actually married this lady; she seems to have lost her money and retired to a convent, whereupon Ennodius entered the Church, and was ordained deacon (about 493) by Epiphanius, bishop of Pavia.

From Pavia he went to Milan, where he continued to reside until his elevation to the see of Pavia about 515. During his stay at Milan he visited Rome and other places, where he gained a reputation as a teacher of rhetoric. As bishop of Pavia he played a considerable part in ecclesiastical affairs. On two occasions (in 515 and 517) he was sent to Constantinople by Theodoric on an embassy to the emperor Anastasius, to endeavour to bring about a reconciliation between the Eastern and Western churches. His epitaph still exists in the basilica of St Michael at Pavia.[4]

[edit] Writings

Ennodius is one of the best representatives of the two-fold (pagan and Christian) tendency of 5th century literature, and of the Gallo-Roman clergy who upheld the cause of civilization and classical literature against the inroads of barbarism. But his anxiety not to fall behind his classical models--the chief of whom was Virgil -- his striving after elegance and grammatical correctness, and a desire to avoid the commonplace have produced a turgid and affected style, which, aggravated by rhetorical exaggerations and popular barbarisms, makes his works difficult to understand. It has been remarked that his poetry is less unintelligible than his prose.

The numerous writings of this ecclesiastic may be divided into:

  1. letters
  2. miscellanies
  3. discourses
  4. poems

The letters on a variety of subjects, addressed to high church and state officials, are valuable for the religious and political history of the period. Of the miscellanies, the most important are:

  • The Panegyric of Theodoric, written to thank the Arian king for his tolerance of Catholicism and support of Pope Symmachus (probably delivered before the king on the occasion of his entry into Ravenna or Milan); like all similar works, it is full of flattery and exaggeration, but if used with caution is a valuable authority
  • The Life of St Epiphanius, bishop of Pavia, the best written and perhaps the most important of all his writings, an interesting picture of the political activity and influence of the church
  • Eucharisticon de Vita Sua, a sort of confessions, after the manner of Augustine of Hippo
  • the description of the enfranchiseinent of a slave with religious formalities in the presence of a bishop
  • Paraenesis didascalica, an educational guide, in which the claims of grammar as a preparation for the study of rhetoric, the mother of all the sciences, are strongly insisted on.

The discourses (Dictiones) are sacred, scholastic, controversial and ethical. The discourse on the anniversary of Laurentius, bishop of Milan, is the chief authority for the life of that prelate; the scholastic discourses, rhetorical exercises for the schools, contain eulogies of classical learning, distinguished professors and pupils; the controversial deal with imaginary charges, the subjects being chiefly borrowed from the Controversiae of the elder Seneca; the ethical harangues are put into the mouth of mythological personages (e.g. the speech of Thetis over the body of Achilles).

Amongst the poems mention may be made of two Itineraria, descriptions of a journey from Milan to Brigantium (Briançon) and of a trip on the Po River; an apology for the study of profane literature; an epithalamium, in which Love is introduced as execrating Christianity; a dozen hymns, after the manner of Ambrose, probably intended for church use; epigrams on various subjects, some being epigrams proper -- inscriptions for tombs, basilicas, baptisteries -- others imitations of Martial, satiric pieces and descriptions of scenery.

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Ralph W. Mathisen, "Epistolography, Literary Circles and Family Ties in Late Roman Gaul" Transactions of the American Philological Association 111 (1981), pp. 95-109.
  2. ^ Gross, Ernie. This Day In Religion. New York:Neal-Schuman Publishers, Inc, 1990. ISBN 1-55570-045-4.
  3. ^ His name identifies him as a descendant of Ennodius.
  4. ^ Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum, v. pt. ii. No. 6464.

[edit] References

There are two excellent editions of Ennodius by Guilelmus Hartel (vol. vi. of Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum, Vienna, 1882) and Friedrich Vogel (vol. vii. of Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Auctores Antiquissimi, Berlin, 1885, with exhaustive prolegomena). A modern edition of Ennodius' correspondence is under way: Stéphane Gioanni, Lettres, Tome 1: Livres I et II, Paris, Les Belles Lettres, 2006, after the Ph.D. thesis from 2004, «Lumière de Rome», «Lumière de l'Église». See a first recension (Joop van Waarden).

On Ennodius generally:

  • Michael Fertig, Ennodius und seine Zeit (1855-1860)
  • Augustin Dubois, La Latinité d'Ennodius (1903)
  • Francesco Magani, Ennodio (Pavia, 1886)
  • Friedrich Adolf Ebert, Allgemeine Geschichte der Litt. des Mittelalters im Abendlande, i. (1889)
  • Max Manitius, Geschichte der christlich-lateinischen Poesie (1891)
  • Teuffel, History of Roman Literature, 479 (Eng. tr., 1892). French translation by the abbé S. L'église (Paris, 1906 fol.).
  • Cook, G.M. The Life of Saint Epiphanius by Ennodius. A Translation with an Introduction and Commentary. Washington, 1942.
  • Kennell, S. Magnus Felix Ennodius: a gentleman of the church. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2000.
  • Christian Settipani, Continuite Gentilice et Continuite Familiale Dans Les Familles Senatoriales Romaines A L'epoque Imperiale, Mythe et Realite, Addenda I - III (juillet 2000- octobre 2002) (n.p.: Prosopographica et Genealogica, 2002).

This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.