Nonnus (, ''Nónnos'') was a
bishop
A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...
of
Edessa
Edessa (; ) was an ancient city (''polis'') in Upper Mesopotamia, in what is now Urfa or Şanlıurfa, Turkey. It was founded during the Hellenistic period by Macedonian general and self proclaimed king Seleucus I Nicator (), founder of the Sel ...
in the mid-5th century.
Life
Nonnus was preceded as bishop of Edessa by
Ibas (Donatus), who was irregularly deposed. Ibas was deposed on 1 January 448 and Nonnus enthroned as his replacement on 21 July 448. Some sources give him as the bishop at Edessa until his death in 471, while the
Chronicle of Edessa
The ''Chronicle of Edessa'' () is an anonymous history of the city of Edessa written in the mid-6th century in the Syriac language. "''Chronicle of Edessa''" is a conventional title; in the manuscript it is titled ''Histories of Events in Brief' ...
states that Nonnus left the see in 450 and did not return until Bishop Ibas's death on 28 October 457. Ibas was held in prison but freed on 27 October 451, the earlier proceedings against him having been found irregular and unjustified.
Nonnus is often conflated with the
St Nonnus, the
legendary bishop of Heliopolis (
Baalbek
Baalbek (; ; ) is a city located east of the Litani River in Lebanon's Beqaa Valley, about northeast of Beirut. It is the capital of Baalbek-Hermel Governorate. In 1998, the city had a population of 82,608. Most of the population consists of S ...
) who appears in the
hagiographies
A hagiography (; ) is a biography of a saint or an ecclesiastical leader, as well as, by extension, an adulatory and idealized biography of a preacher, priest, founder, saint, monk, nun or icon in any of the world's religions. Early Christian ...
of
St Pelagia. Similarly, he is sometimes conflated with the
Egyptian
''Egyptian'' describes something of, from, or related to Egypt.
Egyptian or Egyptians may refer to:
Nations and ethnic groups
* Egyptians, a national group in North Africa
** Egyptian culture, a complex and stable culture with thousands of year ...
Christian
A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...
epic poet
In poetry, an epic is a lengthy narrative poem typically about the extraordinary deeds of extraordinary characters who, in dealings with gods or other superhuman forces, gave shape to the mortal universe for their descendants. With regard to ...
Nonnus of Panopolis
Nonnus of Panopolis (, ''Nónnos ho Panopolítēs'', 5th century AD) was the most notable Greek epic poet of the Imperial Roman era. He was a native of Panopolis (Akhmim) in the Egyptian Thebaid and probably lived in the 5th century AD. He is ...
, who was a rough contemporary. Both associations are probably mistaken.
See also
*
Other people named Nonnus
References
Citations
Bibliography
* .
Bishops of Edessa
5th-century Mesopotamian bishops
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