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Post by merkavah12 on Mar 17, 2012 14:48:25 GMT
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Post by sandwiches on Mar 17, 2012 18:48:21 GMT
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2116153/St-Patricks-Day-legend-just-bit-blarney-He-runaway-tax-collector-turned-slave-trader.htmlPatrick's father was a Decurion, a Roman official responsible for tax collection in Britain. But he used a bail-out clause in Roman law that allowed him to leave his post by joining the clergy on the condition the job was passed to his son.Dr Roy Flechner, an expert in ancient and medieval history from Cambridge University, claims that Patrick, alarmed at the prospect of taking on the unpopular job, decided to emigrate.
As well as collecting tax (with any shortfall coming from the Decurion's own pocket), duties included road maintenance and the recruitment of soldiers.
'In the troubled era in which Patrick lived, which saw the demise and eventual collapse of Roman government in Britain in 410AD, discharging the obligations of a Decurion, especially tax-collecting, would not only have been difficult but also very risky,' said Dr Flechner, whose research is based on a new analysis of St Patrick's writings.
Patrick was forced to find a way of retaining some of the family estate – in the shape of slaves – to pay for his new life in Ireland.
Dr Flechner said Patrick may have become a slave trader because it was the only way he could transfer his wealth from England, as Ireland did not have a monetary economy at the time.
Slaves were a highly valued commodity and Patrick's writings mention that his family owned several.
Dr Flechner said: 'It may seem strange that a Christian cleric of Patrick's stature would own slaves, but in late antiquity and the early middle ages the church was a major slave owner.
It may seem strange, but in the troubled period in which Dr Flechner lived, academics at Cambridge in the early 21st century may possible have come up with all sorts of theories on St Patrick's day? Possibly they were escaping from having to take a real job?
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