The Roman Church And Its Bishops 433
diary between the Roman bishop and those who rented and laboured on the
church’s estates.41 However, the defensores were not necessarily clerics (many
were laymen) and they did not comprise a professionalized college within the
church. Indeed this was not an era when Rome’s domestic duties were simply
delegated to administrators. As their letters vividly demonstrate, Rome’s bish-
ops were engaged in the smallest matters of estate management, from issu-
ing receipts for collected rents and taxes to adjudicating disputes between the
church’s tenants and overseeing the capture and return of fugitive slaves.42
Social and Cultural Background of Rome’s Bishops
One of the most important developments within the Roman church during
the Ostrogothic period was social: the entry of aristocrats into the ranks of
the church. Until the last decades of the 5th century Roman prelates hailed
from either non-aristocratic clerical families or households of curial status.43
However, beginning with Felix III (483–92), who was Rome’s first bishop
related directly to a senatorial family, an increasing number of men from aris-
tocratic backgrounds (both senatorial and provincial) became popes.44 To
be clear, this is not an unbroken pattern. Felix’s three successors, Anastasius
II, Gelasius, and Symmachus, likely did not come from aristocratic families.
Nevertheless, with the accession of Hormisdas, whom Ennodius described as
“pious, well-born, and rich,” high-born Roman bishops led the church until the
end of our period.45 The increase in the numbers of aristocratic bishops may
reflect a larger trend within the Roman church, as more early 6th-century cler-
ics came from prosperous, influential families than before.46
Precisely why the Roman church experienced these demographic shifts
remains an open question. Richards suggested that the Amals and Justinian
preferred to appoint aristocrats, but this explanation only accounts for three
bishops (Felix IV, John II, and Vigilius).47 The clergy certainly offered aristocrats
41 Agapitus, Ep. 7 = Caesarius of Arles, Ep. 16, dated to 535.
42 Sessa, Formation of Papal Authority, pp. 116–26.
43 Sotinel, “Le recruitment des évêques en Italie”, pp. 193–204.
44 Pietri, “Aristocratie et société cléricale”.
45 Hormisdas, Felix IV, Boniface II, Agapitus, Silverius, and Vigilius all had aristocratic back-
grounds. See Richards, The Popes and the Papacy, pp. 235–44.
46 Pietri, “Aristocratie et société cléricale”, pp. 434–6.
47 Richards, The Popes and the Papacy, pp. 241–3.