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The Cult of Saints in Late Antiquity


from its origins to circa AD 700, across the entire Christian world


The short Life of *Boniface III (bishop of Rome, ob. 608, S00840) in the Liber Pontificalis, written in Latin in Rome, early in the 7th c., mentions his burial in the church of *Peter (the Apostle, S00037) in Rome.

Evidence ID

E01428

Type of Evidence

Literary - Other narrative texts (including Histories)

Major author/Major anonymous work

Liber Pontificalis

Liber Pontificalis 68

Bonifatius, natione Romanus, ex patre Iohanne Cataadioce, sedit mens. VIII dies XXII.

'Boniface, born in Rome, son of the cataadioces John, held the see 8 months 22 days.'

.....

Quo defuncto, sepultus est in ecclesia beati Petri apostoli <die XII mens. novemb.>

'On his death he was buried in the church of the blessed Peter the apostle <on the 12th day of November>.'


Text: Duchesne 1886, 316. Translation: Davis 2010, 60-61.

The passage in brackets, <>, is an interpolation, recorded in only some manuscripts of the Liber Pontificalis; it is uncertain when it was added to the text.

Festivals

Saint’s feast

Cult Places

Burial site of a saint - crypt/ crypt with relics

Non Liturgical Activity

Burial ad sanctos

Relics

Bodily relic - entire body

Protagonists in Cult and Narratives

Ecclesiastics - bishops

Source

The Liber Pontificalis consists of a series of very short lives of popes. The preface attributes it to pope Damasus (366-384), but this attribution is obviously false. According to Louis Duchesne, the first modern editor of the Liber Pontificalis, the original series of lives was written in Rome by an anonymous author, probably a member of the lesser clergy, in the 530s, and contained the lives from *Peter the Apostle to Felix IV (ob. 530). Shortly after, before 546, the text was re-edited by another anonymous author and only this edition survives. The first edition, however, can be reconstituted on the basis of its two epitomes (and the second edition). The second edition started to be continued systematically from the time of pope Honorius (625–638). It should be noted that Theodor Mommsen dated both editions of the Liber Pontificalis to the 7th century, but his opinion is widely rejected and the commonly accepted dating is that of Duchesne.

For the pre-Constantinian period (before 312), the credibility of the Liber Pontificalis is very low. The chronology is confused, and details concerning the personal lives, decisions and ordinations of the bishops of Rome at best reflect what people in the 6th century trusted to be true, at worst are a pure invention of the author. The situation changes with the later lives. Already the information of 4th-century papal foundations and offerings are generally trustworthy. The early 6th-century evidence, based on the author's first hand knowledge is even better, though still imperfect.

Bibliography

Edition:
Duchesne, L., Le Liber pontificalis. 2 vols (Paris: E. Thorin, 1886-1892) (with substantial introduction and commentary).

Translation:
Davis, R., The Book of Pontiffs (Liber Pontificalis) (Translated Texts for Historians 6; 3rd ed.; Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 2010).


Record Created By

Robert Wiśniewski

Date of Entry

Related Saint Records
IDNameName in SourceIdentity
S00036Peter, the ApostlePetrusCertain
S00840Boniface III, bishop of Rome, ob. 608BonifatiusCertain


Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL:
Robert Wiśniewski, Cult of Saints, E01428 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E01428