According to Hydatius in his Chronicle, in AD 429 the Suevic leader Heremigarius offended the martyr *Eulalia (virgin and martyr of Mérida, S00407) while pillaging Lusitania (south-west Hispania); consequently, his army was defeated, and Heremigarius himself drowned. Written in Latin, probably in Chaves (north-west Hispania), c 468/469.
E02046
Literary - Other narrative texts (including Histories)
Hydatius, Chronicle 80 [90]
Gaisericus rex de Beticae prouinciae litore cum Vandalis omnibus eorumque familiis mense Maio ad Mauritaniam et Africam relictis transit Hispaniis; qui priusquam pertransiret, admonitus Heremigarium Sueuum uicinas in transitu suo prouincias depraedari, recursu cum aliquantis suis facto predantem in Lusitania consequitur; qui aud procul de Emerita, quam cum sanctae martyris Eulaliae iniuria spreuerat, maledictis per Gaisericum caesis ex his quos secum habebat, arrepto, ut putauit, euro uelocius fugae subsidio in flumine Ana diuino brachio precipitatus interiit; quo ita extincto mox quo caeperat Gaisericus enauigauit.
'In the month of May, King Gaiseric abandoned Spain and with all the Vandals and their families crossed over from the shores of the province of Baetica to Mauritania and Africa. Before crossing, he was warned that the Sueve Heremigarius was passing through the neighbouring provinces and pillaging them as he went. Gaiseric therefore doubled back with some of his men and followed the Sueve as he plundered in Lusitania. Not far from Emerita, which Heremigarius had scorned, thereby causing an affront to the holy martyr Eulalia, Gaiseric slaughtered the accursed soldiers who were with the Sueve, but Heremigarius, who thought that he had saved himself by turning to flight more swiftly than the wind, was cast headlong into the river Ana by the hand of God and died. Thus perished Heremigarius. Soon afterwards Gaiseric sailed off to his original destination.'
Text and translation: Burgess 1993, 90-91.
Saint as patron - of a community
MiraclesMiracle after death
Punishing miracle
Miraculous interventions in war
Miraculous protection - of communities, towns, armies
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesForeigners (including Barbarians)
Soldiers
Monarchs and their family
Source
Hydatius, a bishop in Galicia (in northwest Spain), probably of Chaves, wrote his chronicle c. 468/469. It is the most important source for the history of Iberia in the 5th century. For detailed discussion and further bibliography, see: Burgess 1993; Muhlberger 1990, 193-266.The numbers of paragraphs in brackets refer to the 1973 edition of A. Tranoy.
Discussion
Hydatius twice refers to the miraculous powers of Eulalia in his Chronicle (here and in SE02047); the only other reference he makes to a saint is one to St Stephen. These facts support the high status of the cult of Eulalia in 5th c Spain.Bibliography
Editions and translations:Burgess ,R.W., The Chronicle of Hydatius and the Consularia Constantinopolitana: Two Contemporary Accounts of the Final Years of the Roman Empire (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1993). Edition and English translation.
Mommsen, T., Hydatii Lemici continuatio chronicorum Hieronymianorum, in: Chronica Minora saec. IV. V. VI. VII., vol. 2 (Monumenta Germaniae Historica: Auctores Antiquissimi 11; Berlin: Apud Weidmannos, 1894), 1-36.
Tranoy, A., Hydace, Chronique, 2 vols. (Sources chrétiennes 218-219; Paris: Cerf, 1973). Edition and French translation.
Further reading:
Muhlberger, S., The Fifth-Century Chroniclers: Prosper, Hydatius, and the Gallic Chronicler of 452 (Leeds: Francis Cairns, 1990).
Marta Szada
26/11/2016
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00407 | Eulalia, virgin and martyr of Mérida | Eulalia | Certain |
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