Isidore of Seville, in his Chronicle (360), records the translation of the head of *John the Baptist (S00020) to Constantinople during the reign of Valentinian II and Theodosius (383-392). Written in Latin in Seville (southern Hispania), in two redactions, in 615/616 and 626.
Evidence ID
E02586
Type of Evidence
Literary - Other narrative texts (including Histories)
Major author/Major anonymous work
Isidore of Seville
Isidore of Seville, Chronicle 360
Per idem tempus caput Iohannis baptistae Constantinopoli est perductum et in septimo miliario ciuitatis humatum.
'At the same time the head of John the Baptist is brought to Constantinople and buried at the seventh milestone of the city.'
Text: Martín 2003, 172-173.
Translation: Koon and Wood 2008.
Cult PlacesBodily relic - head
Burial site of a saint - unspecified
RelicsBodily relic - head
Transfer, translation and deposition of relics
Transfer/presence of relics from distant countries
Source
Isidore, bishop of Seville (Iberian Peninsula) composed the Chronica maiora first in 615/616 during the reign of Sisebut. Then he revised and lengthened it in 626 during the reign of Swinthila (see Koon and Wood 2008, and Martín 2005).Discussion
Isidore in the Chronicle inserts the dates from the creation of the world which he correlates with the dates of the reign of kings and emperors. The note about the translation of the head of John the Baptist is dated by him to the reign of Valentinian II and Theodosius, which ended in 5590 or 5591 (depending on the redaction of the Chronicle) year of the creation. The phrase 'at the same time' refers to the previous note about the execution of Priscillian. This incident is described more fully in the Ecclesiastical History of Sozomen (E04052).The note looks identical in both redactions. Isidore derived this information from Cassiodorus, Historia tripartita 9.43.
Bibliography
Editions:J.C. Martín, Isidori Hispalensis Chronica (Corpus Christianorum Series Latina 112; Turnhout 2003).
T. Mommsen, Isidori Iunioris episcopi Hispalensis Chronica maiora ed. primum ad a. DCXV (615) (Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Auctores antiquissimi 11; Berlin 1894), 424-488.
Translation:
S. Koon, and J. Wood, "The Chronica Maiora of Isidore of Seville: An introduction and translation", e-Spania 6 (2008); e-spania.revues.org/15552 ; DOI: 10.4000/e-spania.15552.
Further reading:
J.C. Martín, "Les remaniements de la second rédaction de la Chronique d’Isidore de Séville: typologie et motivations", Revue bénédictine 115 (2005), 5-26.
Record Created By
Marta Szada
Date of Entry
20/03/2017
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00020 | John the Baptist | Iohannes Baptista | Certain |
|---|
Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL:
Marta Szada, Cult of Saints, E02586 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E02586