The Origins of the Monarchical Episcopal Office

When we look for the roots of the monarchical episcopate as an office Ignatius of Antioch is the guy who comes up. For later Catholic historians living centuries after the bishop had been established Ignatius' biography and his epistles helped legitimate the hierarchy of the church. Here after all was evidence suggesting that the very man who had most vociferously and speedily promoted the monarchical Episcopate had been held by Jesus himself as a child. The story of a metropolitan bishop carded over land in a patty wagon through the entire landmass of Asia Minor makes for a tragic and intense martyr tale.