Introduction

Biography

Ennodius was con­nect­ed with se­ver­al Ro­mans of dis­tinc­tion. Los­ing his pro­per­ty at an ear­ly age through the in­va­sion of the Vi­si­goths, he went to Mi­lan, Italy, where he was re­ceived and edu­cat­ed by an aunt.

In 489, through the death of his aunt, he was again re­duced to des­ti­tu­tion, but soon re­vived his for­tunes by mar­ry­ing a weal­thy la­dy.

A re­co­ve­ry from a dan­ger­ous ill­ness led him to re­flect on his some­what dis­so­lute char­ac­ter, and to change his whole life. His wife re­tired to a con­vent, and he was or­dained a dea­con by the bi­shop of Pa­via.

Under Pope Her­mis­das, he was ad­vanced to the see of Pa­via around 51, and was em­ployed on two im­port­ant mis­sions to the Em­per­or An­as­ta­si­us in or­der to op­pose the spread of the Eu­ty­chi­an he­re­sy; in both in­stanc­es he was un­suc­cess­ful.

Works

Ennodius’ works, ele­ven in all, were pub­lished among the Auc­tor­es Or­tho­do­xo­gra­phi­ci (Ba­sel, Swit­zer­land: 1591); again by An­drew Shott (Tou­rnai, Bel­gium: 1611); and in Migne, vol­ume LXIII.