Candidus, Presbyter

A presbyter (priest) attested as a correspondent in the letters of Pope Gregory the Great (c. 540-604) and associated with the Theodoret of Cyrrhus collection. The best-attested figure of this name in Gregory's register is the priest Candidus whom Gregory dispatched around 595 to administer the patrimony of the Roman Church in Gaul (the patrimonium Galliae), based in Provence; Gregory's letters instruct him on collecting revenues, redeeming captives, and clothing the poor. Because 'Candidus' is a common late-antique name and this record draws on two collections roughly two centuries apart (Theodoret active c. 393-460 in Syria; Gregory c. 590-604 in Rome), the identification of a single individual is uncertain, and little is known of him beyond what the letters themselves convey.