The Lives of the Fathers of Mérida (4.9) tells a story about a man who went at night to the church of *Mary (Mother of Christ, S00033) in Mérida and witnessed there the Lauds celebrated by the saints; after the office, he saw them go to the adjoining basilica of *John, the Baptist (S00020). He also sees demonic figures plotting to hurt *Fidelis (bishop of Mérida, fl. 550/560, S03083). Written in Latin in Mérida (south-west Spain), 633/680.
E03511
Literary - Hagiographical - Lives
Lives of the Fathers of Mérida, 4.9
[1] Quidam uiro religioso iterum intente ad officium eclesiasticum recurrenti quadam nocte, dum in lecto suo intempeste noctis sopore depressus iaceret, uisum est ei quod signum ad matutinum dedissent. [2] Qui statim consurgens omni festinatione ad eclesiam, ne ei tempus sacri officii preteriret, occurrit cursu que rapidissimo properans anelabundus illic peruenit. [3] At ubi ingressus est eclesiam sancte Marie, que sancta Iherusalem nunc usque uocatur, audiuit uoces mire modum modulationis canentium respiciens que ad corum uidit stantem multitudinem sanctorum. [4] Qui nimio pauore concussus atque in tremore uersus sese in angulum baselice silenter contulit atque tacite contemplans, sollicite abscultans audiuit consueto ordine omne ab eis officium esse conpletum. [5] Quo expleto, paulo aduc ante gallorum cantu cum laudibus peruenerunt ad eclesiam sancte Marie ad baselicolam sancti Iohannis, in qua babtisterium est; que nimium contigua antefate baselice, pariete tantum interposito, utreque unius tecti tegmine conteguntur.
'1. Once a certain devout man, thinking over the office of the church while he lay in bed, was overcome by sleep in the stillness of the night. He dreamt that the sign for Lauds had been given 2. and rising at once, he went with all haste to the church. In order not to miss the time of the sacred office, he sped on his way running and arrived there breathless. 3. When he entered the Church of St Mary which is now called Holy Jerusalem, he heard the voices of men singing with wonderful modulation and looking towards the choir he saw a multitude of saints standing there. 4. Struck with the extremes of terror and trembling, he took himself off silently into a comer of the basilica. Carefully hidden and looking on in silence, he heard the whole office performed by them in its customary order. 5. When they had finished their office shortly before cock-crow, they went singing praises from the church of St Mary to the little basilica of St John where the baptistery is. This is hard fast by the church of St Mary: there is merely a wall between them, and both are covered by the same roof.'
Further on, the man witnesses the meeting of the saints with black giants whom they asked to go to the episcopal palace and deal Bishop Fidelis a serious wound so that he can go to heaven. The giants obey but return twice saying they were not able to enter the cell of the bishop; they are allowed to do that by the Lord only third time. They enter and hurt Fidelis. At dawn, the man who witnessed it all went to the bishop, and told him this story. Fidelis admits that these things were not hidden from him. Shortly after he fells ill, see E03509.
Text: Maya Sánchez 1992, 41-44 (text numbering from Garvin 1945, as used by Fear).
Translation: Fear 1997: 69-70.
Procession
Chant and religious singing
Cult PlacesCult building - independent (church)
MiraclesApparition, vision, dream, revelation
Revelation of hidden knowledge (past, present and future)
Other miracles with demons and demonic creatures
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesEcclesiastics - bishops
Other lay individuals/ people
Source
The Lives of the Fathers of Mérida (Vitas Sanctorum Patrum Emeretensium) is a complex work that combines features of different genres, such as monastic and episcopal hagiography, biography, lists of bishops, catalogues of important personalities (De viris illustribus, ‘On illustrious men’), and collections of miracles (Arce 1999, 5; Panzram 2007, 180). It consists of five sections (opuscula), which are divided into two parts with their own prefaces: the first part consists of three episodes about ascetic and monastic figures, the second part consists of the Lives of Meridan bishops. The entire work ends with an epilogue (on the composition of which, see Koch 2012, 276 with further references). The author remains anonymous, although he clearly presents himself as a capable writer who is familiar with the forms and topoi of the Christian sermo humilis and as one who wants to shape his work on the model of Gregory the Great’s Dialogues (Panzram 2007, 188–89). In one episode, he also reveals that he is a ‘levite of Christ’. For this reason, and because of the Lives’ focus on Eulalia, the author is usually regarded as a deacon of the martyr’s church in Mérida.The last bishop mentioned in the Lives is Renovatus, who is only known from this work, but must have died before 5 December, 633, when his successor Stephen is attested in the subscriptions of the Fourth Council of Toledo. The episcopate of Stephen (c. 633 - c. 637) is therefore usually regarded as the time when the biography was written. However, the modern editors of the text have noticed that there are two different recensions of the text. The second redaction has a number of distinctive features: it provides the Lives with a new, more detailed title that emphasises Eulalia’s miracles more strongly; there are a number of minor interpolations, including one from the Life of Fructuosus of Braga (written around 650, E04066); and several rewordings and revisions of the text (see Maya Sanchez 1992: xxxi-xliii). On the basis of additions in the manuscripts of the second redaction, in which Bishop Festus is mentioned, Maya Sanchez has suggested that the second redaction should be dated to the episcopate of this bishop, and so between 672 and 680.
Almost all manuscripts of the Lives are associated with the hagiographical compilation of Valerius of Bierzo (before 695). The earliest surviving manuscripts of the first redaction date from the 10th century, the earliest manuscript of the second redaction from the 11th century. See the stemma codicum in Maya Sanchez 1992: lviii.
[Source discussion revised on 15 April 2024]
Discussion
The basilica of Mary was a cathedral church of Mérida. The title of 'Jerusalem' or 'Holy Jerusalem' given to the major church of the city is also known from Seville. The Second Council of Seville in 619 was held in the church of Jerusalem (Vives 1963, 162). For possible Jerusalem churches in Tarragona and Toledo see Férotin 1904, 56, n. 2.Bibliography
Editions:Garvin, J.N., The Vitas Sanctorum Patrum Emeretensium (Washington, 1946).
Maya Sánchez, A., Vitas sanctorum patrum Emeretensium (Corpus Christianorum Series Latina 116; Turnhout, 1992).
English translation:
Fear. A.T., Lives of the Visigothic Fathers (Translated Texts for Historians 26; Liverpool, 1997), 45-105.
Further reading:
Arce, Javier. ‘The City of Mérida (Emerita) in the Vitas Patrum Emeritensium (VIth Century A.D.)’. In East and West: Modes of Communication. Proceedings of the Frist Plenary Conference at Mérida, edited by Evangelos Chrysos and Ian Wood, 1–14. Leiden: Brill, 1999.
Diaz y Diaz, M.D., "Passionnaires, légendiers et compilations hagiographiques dans le haut Moyen Age espagnol," in: Hagiographie, Cultures, et Sociétés, IVe-XIIe siècles. Actes du colloque organisé à Nanterre et à Paris, 2-5 mai 1979 (Paris, 1981), 49-61.
Ferotin, M., Le Liber ordinum en usage de l'église wisigothique et mozarabe d'Espagne du cinquième au onzième siècle (Paris; Firmin-Didot, 1904).
Koch, Manuel. Ethnische Identität im Entstehungsprozess des spanischen Westgotenreiches. Ergänzungsbände zum Reallexikon der germanischen Altertumskunde 75. Berlin: De Gruyter, 2012.
Panzram, Sabine. ‘Eulalia und die Bischöfe von Merida. Von der “Handlungsmacht” einer Heiligen zur Zeit der Westgoten.’ In Formen und Funktionen von Leitbildern, edited by Johannes Hahn and Meinhof Vielberg, 177–225. Stuttgart: Franz Steiner, 2007.
Vives, J., Concilios visigóticos e hispano-romanos (Barcelona: Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, 1963).
Marta Szada
01/08/2017
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00020 | John the Baptist | Iohannes | Certain | S00033 | Mary, Mother of Christ | Maria | Certain | S03083 | Fidelis, bishop of Mérida, fl. 550/560 | Fidelis | Certain |
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