Fidelis was the
Bishop of Mérida flourishing probably in the 550s and 560s.
Fidelis was a
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
who was hired out by his parents to a merchant venture to Spain in the mid sixth century, arriving in
Mérida, where his mother's brother,
Paul
Paul may refer to:
People
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* Ray Hildebrand, half of the singing duo ...
, was bishop. As it was customary of merchants to greet the bishop with gifts upon their arrival, it is not surprising that Paul discovered his nephew on one of these trading missions.
Paul had amassed a large fortune which by law he was obligated to give to the diocese, but which he kept for himself. He consecrated Fidelis as his successor and forced the clergy to accept this by threatening to bequeath his wealth to others if Fidelis was not his successor. Fidelis was willed the private wealth and when public opposition tried to force him to abandon taking up his see, he threatened to remove his inherited wealth. He was consequently accepted as bishop.
With the immense wealth he had at his disposal and Mérida the richest diocese in Spain, Fidelis went about repairing the buildings of the city, restoring the collapsed episcopal palace — and decorating lavishly with marble — and reconstructing the basilica of
Saint Eulalia with two added towers. The foundations of Fidelis' church are full preserved and have been uncovered by archaeologists today.
Fidelis bequeathed all his inherited wealth to the church on his death, and he returned any unredeemed bonds to his debtors on his deathbed. The ''
Vitas Patrum Emeritensium'' records, in a fashion borrowed from the ''Dialogues'' of
Gregory the Great
Pope Gregory I (; ; – 12 March 604), commonly known as Saint Gregory the Great (; ), was the 64th Bishop of Rome from 3 September 590 until his death on 12 March 604. He is known for instituting the first recorded large-scale mission from Rom ...
, the visions Fidelis saw on his deathbed.
[Collins, ''Mérida and Toledo'', 193.] The tradition of the bishop as a source of credit as well as the ambitious building programme were continued by Fidelis' successor,
Masona
Masona or Mausona (died c. 600/610) was the Bishop of Mérida and metropolitan of the province of Lusitania from about 570 (certainly by 573) until his death. He is famous for exercising ''de facto'' rule of the city of Mérida during his tenure ...
.
Notes
References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Fidelis (Bishop of Merida)
Bishops of Badajoz
6th-century bishops in the Visigothic Kingdom