Primicerius
The
Etymologically the term derives from primus in cera, which is to say in tabula cerata, the first name in a list of a class of officials, which was usually inscribed on a waxed tablet.[1]
Civil and military
From their origin in the court of the
In the
In the late 11th century, the dignity of megas prim[m]ikērios ("Grand Primicerius") was established, which ranked very high in court hierarchy well into the
Ecclesiastical use
In
When young clerics were assembled in schools for training in the ecclesiastical service in the different districts of the
In the regulation of the common life of the clergy in collegiate and cathedral churches, according to the Rule of
In the Eastern Orthodox Church, the title was used for the heads of the colleges of the notarioi and taboularioi in the Church bureaucracy, but also for the chief lectors, cantors, etc. of a church.[2]
In modern usage of the Russian Orthodox Church, the word primicerius (primikirii) is reserved for a junior cleric (sometimes a reader or subdeacon) holding a torch or a candle before an officiating bishop during the divine service; usually he goes ahead in different pontifical processions, which may be an explanation for the choice of this word (the second part of which in this case corresponds not to "wax (of a tablet)" but to "candle wax").
Notes
- ^ Realencyclopädie der Classischen Altertumswissenschaft. Vol. Supplementband VIII, Achaios–Valerius. pp. 614–624.
- ^ ISBN 0-19-504652-8.
References
- Le Blant, "Inscriptions chrétiennes de la Gaule", I, 142, n. 45
- Charles du Fresne, sieur du Cange, "Glossarium"
- Gregory of Tours, "Hist. Francorum", II, xxxvii
- St. Isidore of Seville, "Epistola ad Ludefredum", P.L., LXXXIII, 896
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Primicerius". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.