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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 *Honorius (bishop of Rome, ob. 638, S00849) in the Liber Pontificalis, written in Latin in Rome soon after his death, mentions his burial in the church of *Peter (the Apostle, S00037) in Rome.

Evidence ID

E01459

Type of Evidence

Literary - Other narrative texts (including Histories)

Major author/Major anonymous work

Liber Pontificalis

Liber Pontificalis 72

Honorius, natione Campanus, ex patre Petronio consule, sedit ann. XII mens. XI dies XVII. Hic temporibus suis multa bona fecit. Hic erudivit clerum.

'Honorius, born in Campania, son of the consul Petronius, held the see 12 years 11 months 17 days. In his time he
did much good. He educated the clergy.'

.....

Fecit autem ordinationes III, presbiteros XIII, diacones XI; episcopos per diversa loca LXXXI. Qui sepultus est ubi supra sub die IIII id. Octob.
 
'He performed three ordinations, 13 priests, 11 deacons; for various places 81 bishops. He was buried in the above place [= St Peter’s] on 12 October.'


Text: Duchesne 1886, 324. Translation: Davis 2010, 62-64, lightly modified.

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
S00849Honorius, bishop of Rome, ob. 638HonoriusCertain


Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL:
Robert Wiśniewski, Cult of Saints, E01459 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E01459