Calendar of the Church of Carthage (central North Africa) lists saints whose liturgical commemorations were celebrated in May. Written in Latin in Carthage, probably between 505 and 535.
Evidence ID
E02196
Type of Evidence
Liturgical texts - Calendars and martyrologies
Calendar of Carthage
May
iij Non. Maï. depositio Grati Episcopi.
ij Non. Maï. Marini & Jacobi martyris.
Nonas Maï. depositio Genecli Episcopi.
v Idus Maï. sancti Majuli.
iij Idus Maï. martyris Secundiani.
ij Idus Maï. sanctae Felicis, Cecili, & comitum.
xj Kal. Junias sanctorum Casti & Emili.
x Kal, Jun. sanctorum Luci & Montani.
viij Kal. Jun. sancti Flaviani et Septimiae.
ii Kal. Jun. sanctorum Timidensium.
'5 May. Burial of bishop Gratus.
6 May. (Feast) of Marianus and Iacobus, martyr.
7 May. Burial of bishop Geneclius.
11 May. (Feast) of saint Maiulus.
13 May. (Feast) of the martyr Secundianus.
14 May. (Feast) of saint Felix, Caecilius, and companions.
22 May. (Feast) of saints Castus and Aemelius.
23 May. (Feast) of saints Lucius and Montanus.
25 May. (Feast) of saint Flavianus and Septimia.
31 May. (Feast) of the saints of Timida.'
[*Gratus, mid-4th c. bishop of Carthage, S02124; *Marianus and Iacobus, clerics and martyrs of Numidia, S01132; *Geneclius, late-4th c. bishop of Carthage, S02125; *Maiulus, martyr of Hadrumetum, S00014; *Secundianus, otherwise unknown martyr, S02126; *Felix, Caecilius and companions, otherwise unknown martyrs, S03067; *Castus and Aemilianus, martyrs of Carthage, S01202; *Lucius and Montanus, martyrs of Carthage, S02404; *Flavianus and Septimia, probably unknown martyrs, S02911 (Flavianus is possiby a martyr associated with Lucius and Montanus; or just possibly Flavianos of Noviodunum, S01031); *Martyrs of Timida Regia, S02810.]
Text: Mabillon 1682, 398.
Translation and identifications: Bryan Ward-Perkins.
Festivals
Saint’s feast
Source
The calendar of Carthage was discovered by Jean Mabillon in the library of Cluny abbey, on sheets of parchment attached to the wooden boards binding a codex of Jerome's commentary on Isaiah, and a full transcription and commentary was published by him in 1682 in volume 3 of his Analecta Vetera. Mabillon recorded that the text was affected by wormholes and other damage (as is also clear from the gaps in his transcription). For photographs of Mabillon's text, see the Images attached to E02196.A brief description of the manuscript, written in 1722, stated that it consisted to two sheets of parchment and a third half sheet, all used in the later binding (Oursel 1906). These were last recorded in the library at the very beginning of the nineteenth century, and were subsequently lost. Mabillon's transcription is the only record of the text.
Mabillon wrote that '[t]he script is Roman, written in majuscule letters, no later than the seventh century' (Scriptura Romana est, litteris majusculis exarata, saeculo septimo non inferior); in the absence of the original, this dating of the manuscript is impossible to verify.
The approximate date of the written text in the form that we have it can be established with some confidence, as the days of the burials of all bishops of Carthage subsequent to Cyprian are recorded, and the last bishop named is Eugenius, who died in exile in around 505 (Victor of Tunnuna, Chronicle, 86). After Eugenius, the see remained vacant until the election of Bonifatius who held the bishopric from 523 to c. 535. The Calendar, in the form we have it, can therefore be dated to between c. 505 and c. 535. It has, however, sometimes been argued that the core of the text has to pre-date Vandal rule, which started in 439, since there is no reference in the Calendar to martyrs of the Arian persecution under these new masters. The argument, however, is not a strong one, as there is almost no evidence anywhere of cult for the men and women who suffered in the persecutions of the fifth century.
Mabillon rightly termed this document a 'Calendar' (Kallendarium), a record of the feasts celebrated by a specific church, in this case that of Carthage, as opposed to a 'Martyrology', which is a much more wide-ranging list of feast days. In its preface/title and in the wording of its entries, the Calendar of Carthage draws a distinction between the burials (depositiones) of Carthage's bishops, which were probably marked with comparatively little ceremony, and the natalicia (literally 'birthdays', into heaven) of the martyrs, which were proper feast days. In its combination of episcopal commemorations and major feasts, the Calendar of Carthage is similar to the early calendars of the church of Rome contained in the Chronography of 354, except that the calendars of Rome list the depositiones of its martyrs (E01052) and those of its bishops (E01051) separately.
The Calendar of Carthage also reflects the progressive spread of the cult of saints. In it there are seventy-two feast days for martyrs, compared to the twenty-three noted in Rome in the mid-fourth century, and there are also many more non-local martyrs than in the Roman calendar. In the Calendar of Carthage, martyrs from Rome are particularly well represented, reflecting the close ties between the 'Catholic' church in Africa and the church of Rome: nine unquestionably Roman martyrs are commemorated (with two more whose location is uncertain, but who could well have been Roman).
The Calendar opens the year on 19 April, after Easter, and closes it on 16 February, before Lent (during which, and during the Easter festivities, martyrs' feasts were not celebrated in Carthage). Hence, for instance, the feast of Perpetua and her companions, on 7 March, is absent from the Calendar.
Many of the martyrs recorded in the Calendar of Carthage are otherwise unknown, and because the Calendar records them simply as 'martyrs', without ever specifying their role or rank in life, for these we know no more than their names and their dates of commemoration. In very many cases, we also do not know precisely where they came from and where they were martyred, though, on the basis of those we can locate, we can be confident that all were from central North Africa, not too far distant from Carthage.
There is reason to believe that the precise dates of some commemorations were moved, so that they could to sit on the same days as others (Achelis 1900, 28). It is, for instance, implausible that bishops Deogratias and Eugenius of Carthage, and bishop Restitutus of Carthage and Augustine of Hippo were buried, as the Calendar states, on precisely the same two days, in January and August respectively (see E02199 and (E02204). It is therefore possible that martyrs who appear in the text as companions - for instance, as Flavianus and Septimia do on 25 May (E02196) - were actually separate.
Discussion
Gratus (S02124) was bishop of Carthage in 348, when he presided at the council of the Catholic bishops. He must have died by 359, when Bishop Restitutus of Carthage is recorded at the council of Rimini. There is no evidence that Gratus ever attracted serious cult.Marianus and Iacobus (S01132) are readily identified: their Martyrdom survives (E08152), recording the deaths of Marianus, a lector, and Iacobus, a deacon, in Lambaesis (Numidia). A sermon preached by Augustine on their feast day also survives (E02294); and Augustine refers to their feast in a further sermon (E01993).
Geneclius (S02125) was bishop of Carthage in 390 when he presided at the council of the Catholic bishops. He must have died by 393, when the next council gathered in Hippo, and Aurelius was already bishop of Carthage. As with Gratus, there is no evidence that Geneclius ever attracted serious cult.
The feast of Maiulus (S00014) on 11 May also features 'in Africa' in the Martyrologium Hieronymianum on this same day (E04811). With his unusual name, he may well be the same as Mavilus of Hadrumetum (in Byzacena, present-day Sousse), who, according to Tertullian, writing in AD 212 (ad Scapulam, ch. 3), had died condemned to the beasts.
Secundianus (S02126), here commemorated on 13 May, is probably the Secundianus whose commemoration 'in Africa' is recorded in the Martyrologium Hieronymianum on 14 May (followed by the names of between ten and thirteen companion martyrs). Martyrs named Secundianus appear in inscribed lists of martyrs, at Ammaedera (E08140) and at Theveste (E08309), both in Proconsularis. But the name Secundianus is not uncommon, and in both lists 'Secundianus' appears in the middle of the list, rather than leading it, so is unlikely to be our man.
Felix, Caecilius and their companions (S03067) are otherwise unknown.
Castus and Aemilianus (S01202) are commemorated on this same day (22 May) in the Martyrologium Hieronymianum (E04822), and a sermon by Augustine on their feast day survives (E02300). They are otherwise unknown.
A Martyrdom of Lucius and Montanus (S02404) survives (E07938), from which we learn that they were disciples of Cyprian. Their feast, 'in Africa' on this same day (23 May), is also recorded in the Martyrologium Hieronymianum (E04823), though there Montanus is named as merely one of many companion martyrs of 'Lucus'.
The feast of Flavianus and Septimia (S02911) on 25 May, is also recorded as celebrated 'in Africa' on this same day by the Martyrologium Hieronymianum (E04825), though here Flavianus has become Fabianus (or Sabianus), and, in two of the manuscripts, Septimia has become a male Septimius (or Septinus). It is possible that Flavianus is the martyr Flavianus, a companion of Lucius and Montanus, who was executed a few days after them, according to the latter two's Martyrdom (see E07938, §15-21). The chronology of the feast of Lucius and Montanus (23 May) and that of Flavianus (25 May) fits the story well; however, in the Martyrdom there is no mention of a Septimia or Septimius. Alternatively, it is just possible that he is the same martyr as a Flavianos who features on the 25 May in the Syriac Martyrology of 411 (E01501), commemorated in a place that may be Noviodunum (a fortress on the lower Danube).
The 'saints of Timida', commemorated on 31 May, are a group of martyrs from Timida Regia (Proconsularis) (S02810), whose story is recounted in the Martyrdom of Gallonius and companion martyrs of Timida (E07525). In the story, their bishop, Gallonius, is martyred some time after the main group - in the Calendar of Carthage he is indeed commemorated on 11 June (E02197).
Bibliography
Edition:[All editions depend on Mabillon's printed text, as he is the only scholar known to have transcribed the Calendar.]
Achelis, H., Die Martyrologien, ihre Geschichte und ihr Wert (Abhandlungen der königlichen Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften zu Göttingen, philosophische-historische Klasse, neue Folge, Band III, nro 3; Berlin, 1900), at 18-29 (with commentary).
de Rossi, J. B., and L. Duchesne (ed.), Acta Sanctorum 65: Novembris II.1 (Brussels, 1894), pp. lxix-lxxii.
Lietzmann, H., Die drei ältesten Martyrologien (Bonn 1903), 5-8.
Mabillon, J., Vetera Analecta, Vol. 3 (Paris 1682), 398-401 (with commentary, 402-422).
Preuschen, Analecta. Kürzere Texte zur Geschichte der alten Kirche und des Kanons (Freiburg im Breisgau and Leipzig, 1899), 123-6.
Ruinart, T., Acta primorum martyrum sincera et selecta (Paris 1689), 693-5. [in the table of contents, Ruinart states that his text derives from Mabillon's ('Ex tomo 3 Analectorum').]
Further reading:
Oursel, M., “Note sur le calendrier de l’église de Cartage à la bibliotheque de Cluny,” Bulletin historique et philologique du comité des travaux historiques et scientifiques, Année 1906, nos. 1 and 2, 66.
Record Created By
Bryan Ward-Perkins
Date of Entry
19/08/2023
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00014 | Maiulus, martyr of Hadrumetum (Africa Proconsularis) | Majulus | Certain | S01132 | Marianus and Iacobus, clerics and martyrs of Numidia | Marinus; Iacobus | Certain | S01202 | Castus and Aemilius, martyrs of Carthage | Castus; Aemelius | Certain | S02124 | Gratus, bishop of Carthage (ob. 358) | Gratus | Certain | S02125 | Geneclius, bishop of Carthage, ob. c. 390 | Geneclius | Certain | S02126 | Secundianus, martyr commemorated at Carthage | Secundianus | Certain | S02404 | Lucius and Montanus, martyrs of Carthage, disciples of Cyprian | Lucius; Montanus | Certain | S02810 | Gallonius, and companion martyrs of Timida Regia | Timidenses | Certain | S02911 | Flavianus and Septimia, martyrs commemorated at Carthage | Flavianus; Septimia | Certain | S03067 | Felix, Caecilius and companions, martyrs commemorated at Carthage | Felix, Cecilius | Certain |
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