Tonantius Ferreolus (senator)
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Tonantius Ferreolus (between about 440 and 450 – between 511 to after 517), was a vir clarissimus, or Gallo-Roman senator
, and Praetorian prefect of Gaul.
He lived in Narbo (modern Narbonne). Tonantius Ferreolus was a witness when Sidonius Apollinaris, then bishop of Clermont, between 461 and 467, sent a letter to his friend, Donidius, describing a visit he made, a "most delightful time in the most beautiful country in the company of Tonantius Ferreolus (the elder) and Apollinaris, the most charming hosts in the world". Tonantius was on the estates of his father when Sidonius Appolinarius visited between 461 and 467. As Sidonius relates, "at Prusianum, as the other (estate) is called, (the young) Tonantius and his brothers turned out of their beds for us because we could not be always dragging our gear about: they are surely the elect among the nobles of our own age".
He is known to be a friend and relative of Sidonius Apollinaris
. He was the son of Tonantius Ferreolus
and wife Papianilla. Papianilla is generally regarded as belonging to the Arvernian family of the Aviti, though in a generation senior to Sidonius' wife of the same name. The younger Tonantius' wife's name was thought to have been lost to the ages but, according to the reference below she very likely was an Industria who lived at Narbonne
, born ca 450 to 460, whom he married after 475, daughter, possibly, of Flavius Probus
, Gallo-Roman Senator, and his wife Eulalia, cousin-german (first cousin) of Sidonius Apollinaris
. No civil or church offices are known for the younger Tonantius Ferreolus He had several siblings whose names are not preserved. There is some argument as to whether Ferreolus of Narbo referred to as husband of Industria and father of Firminus is Tonantius Ferreolus or a brother. Narbo was within the realm of the Visigoths and Tonantius Ferreolus most likely remained loyal to Euric and Alaric II prior to the Battle of Vouille. It is not known if he was involved in the Frankish Visigothic war and if he survived it for how long. Following the collapse of the Kingdom of Alaric, Southern Gaul including Narbo was briefly under the control of the Ostrogothic Kingdom in Italy. However, after the fall of the Burgundian Kingdom in the early 530's the Austrasian Franks under Theodoric quickly took control of Burgundy to Provence as far as the Mediterranean and along the coast from at least Uzes on the west to the Italian border on the east leaving Narbo in Visigothic hands.
What is known of Tonantius Ferreolus' descendants from that time is derived either from the history of the see of Uzes or from those few noblemen in the family such as Ferreolus, father of Ansbert and Agilulf, who apparently relocated, or were kidnapped as hostages, (cf Gregory of Tours' relative Attalus ) to the heartland of the Austrasian Kingdom in the vicinity of Metz and Trier. Since Ferreolus' grandfather, Tonantius Ferreolus the Elder was Prefect of Gaul (451) and possessed several consular ancestors including the two Syagrii during the reign of Theodosius , Tonantius Ferreolus' Austrasia bound son Ferreolus would have possessed sufficient standing in the eyes of the Franks to marry a Frankish princess of a deposed house. Note also that at the time Ferreolus will have been relocating to Austrasia from Narbo, or more likely Frankish Provence, his second cousin Parthenius who had been made Patrician (Austrasian Governor - typically a Gallo-Roman) of Provence in 542 and Tax Collector at Trier by 548 may have been helpful in his relocation.
By his wife he had the following issue:
He was visited by his cousin Saint Apollinaris of Valence in 517.
Roman Senate
The Senate of the Roman Republic was a political institution in the ancient Roman Republic, however, it was not an elected body, but one whose members were appointed by the consuls, and later by the censors. After a magistrate served his term in office, it usually was followed with automatic...
, and Praetorian prefect of Gaul.
He lived in Narbo (modern Narbonne). Tonantius Ferreolus was a witness when Sidonius Apollinaris, then bishop of Clermont, between 461 and 467, sent a letter to his friend, Donidius, describing a visit he made, a "most delightful time in the most beautiful country in the company of Tonantius Ferreolus (the elder) and Apollinaris, the most charming hosts in the world". Tonantius was on the estates of his father when Sidonius Appolinarius visited between 461 and 467. As Sidonius relates, "at Prusianum, as the other (estate) is called, (the young) Tonantius and his brothers turned out of their beds for us because we could not be always dragging our gear about: they are surely the elect among the nobles of our own age".
He is known to be a friend and relative of Sidonius Apollinaris
Sidonius Apollinaris
Gaius Sollius Apollinaris Sidonius or Saint Sidonius Apollinaris was a poet, diplomat, and bishop. Sidonius is "the single most important surviving author from fifth-century Gaul" according to Eric Goldberg...
. He was the son of Tonantius Ferreolus
Tonantius Ferreolus (prefect)
Tonantius Ferreolus was the praetorian prefect of Gaul from 451.He was either "personally related to" or "connected through relatives" with Sidonius Apollinaris, and was associated with Thaumastus in the impeachment of Arvandus...
and wife Papianilla. Papianilla is generally regarded as belonging to the Arvernian family of the Aviti, though in a generation senior to Sidonius' wife of the same name. The younger Tonantius' wife's name was thought to have been lost to the ages but, according to the reference below she very likely was an Industria who lived at Narbonne
Narbonne
Narbonne is a commune in southern France in the Languedoc-Roussillon region. It lies from Paris in the Aude department, of which it is a sub-prefecture. Once a prosperous port, it is now located about from the shores of the Mediterranean Sea...
, born ca 450 to 460, whom he married after 475, daughter, possibly, of Flavius Probus
Flavius Probus
Flavius Probus , a Roman Senator and a v. nob. of Narbonne, then Narbo, was a man of literary taste and precocious ability. His father was Flavius Magnus, Consul of Rome in 460...
, Gallo-Roman Senator, and his wife Eulalia, cousin-german (first cousin) of Sidonius Apollinaris
Sidonius Apollinaris
Gaius Sollius Apollinaris Sidonius or Saint Sidonius Apollinaris was a poet, diplomat, and bishop. Sidonius is "the single most important surviving author from fifth-century Gaul" according to Eric Goldberg...
. No civil or church offices are known for the younger Tonantius Ferreolus He had several siblings whose names are not preserved. There is some argument as to whether Ferreolus of Narbo referred to as husband of Industria and father of Firminus is Tonantius Ferreolus or a brother. Narbo was within the realm of the Visigoths and Tonantius Ferreolus most likely remained loyal to Euric and Alaric II prior to the Battle of Vouille. It is not known if he was involved in the Frankish Visigothic war and if he survived it for how long. Following the collapse of the Kingdom of Alaric, Southern Gaul including Narbo was briefly under the control of the Ostrogothic Kingdom in Italy. However, after the fall of the Burgundian Kingdom in the early 530's the Austrasian Franks under Theodoric quickly took control of Burgundy to Provence as far as the Mediterranean and along the coast from at least Uzes on the west to the Italian border on the east leaving Narbo in Visigothic hands.
What is known of Tonantius Ferreolus' descendants from that time is derived either from the history of the see of Uzes or from those few noblemen in the family such as Ferreolus, father of Ansbert and Agilulf, who apparently relocated, or were kidnapped as hostages, (cf Gregory of Tours' relative Attalus ) to the heartland of the Austrasian Kingdom in the vicinity of Metz and Trier. Since Ferreolus' grandfather, Tonantius Ferreolus the Elder was Prefect of Gaul (451) and possessed several consular ancestors including the two Syagrii during the reign of Theodosius , Tonantius Ferreolus' Austrasia bound son Ferreolus would have possessed sufficient standing in the eyes of the Franks to marry a Frankish princess of a deposed house. Note also that at the time Ferreolus will have been relocating to Austrasia from Narbo, or more likely Frankish Provence, his second cousin Parthenius who had been made Patrician (Austrasian Governor - typically a Gallo-Roman) of Provence in 542 and Tax Collector at Trier by 548 may have been helpful in his relocation.
By his wife he had the following issue:
- Ferreolus, Senator of NarbonneFerreolus, Senator of NarbonneFerreolus, also called Ferreolus of Rodez was a senator of Narbonne, then Narbo, who lived in Rodez and was also a senator there. He was the son of Tonantius Ferreolus and wife Industria....
, father of the Gallo-Roman Senator AnsbertusAnsbertusAnsbertus was a mythical Gallo-Roman Senator. It is proposed by some modern genealogists, that he is the son of Ferreolus, Senator of Narbonne and his wife Saint Dode...
. Settipani here cites Paul the Deacon in his work on the Bishops of Metz where Agilulf, Bishop of Metz, brother of Ansbert and uncle of Arnoald Bishop of Metz, was referred to as the "son of a senator". Metz was in the Kingdom of Austrasia and Austrasia controlled Provence which included Uzes. Although Tonantius Ferreolus who was attested at Narbo likely took the side of the Goths before the death of Alaric II, by the mid 6th century his family had clearly relocated to within Frankish territory which began west of Uzes and extended West. NîmesNîmesNîmes is the capital of the Gard department in the Languedoc-Roussillon region in southern France. Nîmes has a rich history, dating back to the Roman Empire, and is a popular tourist destination.-History:...
, just to the south and a little west of Uzes was in Visigothic hands until the Arab capture in the 8th century. Settipani, based on his reading of Paul the Deacon and the fact that the name Ferreolus was associated with the name Ansbert in two Autun Bishops in a Burgundian see that was regarded as both being hereditary and having ties with the Syagri-Ferreoli, was persuaded apparently to accept the slightly confused 9th century account stating that the senator in question was a "Ferreolus." Settipani suggests this Ferreolus tentatively as a son of Tonantius Ferreolus and Industria. Settipani further suggests that this son married to a daughter of Frankish Ripuarian Royal house which had survived through the clemency of Theoderic of Austrasia who was thought to have been a son of Clovis' 1st wife, an unattested daughter of Sigebert, the penultimate Ripuarian Frankish king. Kelley had come to the same or a similar conclusion in 1947 but it appears from those who cite him that the original idea was that Ansbertus was a son of Tonantius Ferreolus and not a grandson.
- RuriciusRuriciusRuricius I , a Gallo-Roman aristocrat and bishop of Limoges from ca.485 to 510. He is one of the writers whose letters survive from late Roman Gaul depicting the influence of the Visigoths on the Roman lifestyle...
(d. 506, 507 or shortly after 507), Bishop of Uzès He was called Bishop of Uzes in the Life of Firminus and based on the existnece of "Ruricius of Uzes" of the Life of Firminus, Dr. David Kelley postulated that "Ruricius of Uzes" was a brother of Tonantius, a son of Papianilla, wife of the elder Tonantius and that Ruricius of Limoges was her brother and Tonantius' uncle. This is still the position of a significant number of researchers however Mathisen and Settipani have concluded that the octagenarian Bishop Ruricius referred to in the Life of Firminus is in fact Ruricius of Limoges. Settipani has suggested that Papianilla was the sister of Hiberia, wife of Ruricius of Limoges and daughter of Gallo Roman Senator Ommatius of Clermont Given that a Ferreolus would succeed Ruricius and his descendants to the Episcopal chair of Limoges and commission the epitaphs of Ruricius I and II (hence he was a kinsman and probably a descendant), it is likely there are aspects of the relationship between the Ruriciids and Ferreoli that are not yet explained by either theory.
- Firminus, Bishop of Uzès in 507 (ca 490 – 538, 551 or October 11, 553), Feast Day October 11,
- Fidentius, the father of St. Ferreolus, Bishop of Uzès (553 - January 4, 581), Feast Day January 4, and Saint Tarsicia of Rodez (died ca 600), Feast Day January 15 Mommarets and Kelley that Ferreolus Bishop of Uzes was son of a Ferreolus, presumably Ferreolus, Senator of NarbonneFerreolus, Senator of NarbonneFerreolus, also called Ferreolus of Rodez was a senator of Narbonne, then Narbo, who lived in Rodez and was also a senator there. He was the son of Tonantius Ferreolus and wife Industria....
above.
He was visited by his cousin Saint Apollinaris of Valence in 517.