Titfilus

Titfilus the Latin name given to early churches, as if in contradistinction to the martyria, or those erected over the graves of martyrs. SEE MARTYR; SEE MENSA. The tituli of the Middle Ages were parish churches under the care of presbyters, who took their titles from them. Why they were called tituli is not exactly agreed among learned men. Baronius says that it is because they had the sign of the cross upon them, by which sign or title they were known to belong to Christ. SEE TITLE.