Status and Function of the Conductores of Ecclesiastical Properties (4th–6th Century)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.6093/1593-2214/12859Keywords:
Late Antiquity, 4th-6th centuries, conductores, Gelasius, Pelagius I, Gregory the Great, ecclesiastical propertyAbstract
During the first and second centuries AD, a new meaning of the term conductor began to emerge, different from the traditional one attested, among others, by Pliny the Younger: as shown by the grandes inscriptions from the Bagradas Valley, the conductores of large imperial and private estates were not small tenants renting parcels of a fundus, but general contractors equipped with significant financial resources, used as guarantees for leasing entire estates. For a long time, scholars have sought to distinguish these wealthy figures from their counterparts in the service of the Church, identifying the conductores of ecclesiastical lands with humble social groups of limited economic means. This article aims to move beyond that interpretation, highlighting how it is largely based on a misreading of four documents: a letter from Pope Gelasius, one from Pope Pelagius I, and two passages from Gregory the Great’s Registrum.
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Copyright (c) 2025 Carlo Ferrari
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