Dictionary of Christian Biography and Literature to the End of the Sixth Century/Ennodius (1) Magnus Felix, bp. of Pavia
Ennodius (1) Magnus Felix, bp. of Pavia, born at Arles (Ennod. Ep.
lib. vii. 8) c. 473; connected with Romans of distinction (ib. iv.
i 25). The invasion of the Visigoths, and the consequent loss of his patrimony,
caused him to migrate at an early age to Milan, where he was educated in the house
of an aunt. In 489, the year in which Theodoric invaded Italy, his aunt died, and
he was saved from beggary by marriage (Eucharist. de Vit.). A dangerous sickness
(Ep. viii. 24) led him to serious thought and suggested the composition of
his Eucharisticon, in which he reviews with penitence his past life. He was
subsequently ordained deacon by Epiphanius bp. of Pavia, whose exhortations determined
him to renounce his marriage, with the consent of his wife, who retired into a convent.
In 494 he accompanied Epiphanius (Ennod. Vit. Epiphan. 234
A) on a mission to Gundebaud, king
of the Burgundians, to procure the ransom of certain Ligurian prisoners. Upon the
death of Epiphanius two years later he visited Rome, and gained reputation by composing
an apology for pope Symmachus and the synod which acquitted him, as well as by a
public panegyric in honour of Theodoric. The former of these was inserted in the
Acta Conciliorum; the latter is generally included in collections of the
Panegyrici Veteres. Under the next pope, Hormisdas, he succeeded Maximus
II. in the see of Pavia, and was sent in 515, and again in 517, on an embassy to
the emperor Anastasius to oppose the spread of the Eutychian heresy. Both embassies
were unsuccessful. Anastasius, failing to corrupt or bend the bishop, had him placed
on board an unseaworthy vessel. Ennodius, however, arrived safely in his diocese,
which he continued to administer for four years. He died at the age of 48, and was
buried in the church of St. Michael at Pavia, July 17, 521.
His writings exemplify throughout a profane tendency of thought and expression which Christian writers in Gaul were slow to abandon. Many of his letters suit the pen of a heathen rhetorician rather than of a Christian bishop. His illustrations are commonly drawn from Greek mythology. He speaks of divine grace as descending "de Superis," and sets the Fates side by side with Jesus Christ. His style is turgid, involved, and affected. He seems to shrink from making himself intelligible lest he should be thought commonplace, and the result is unattractive. His works are reprinted with notes in Migne's Patr. vol. lxiii. For his Life see Sirmond's ed.; Ceillier, Auteurs sacr. et ecclés. x. 569; for a just estimate of his literary merits, Ampère, Hist. lit. de la France, t. ii. c. vii.
[E.M.Y.]