The 6th/7th c. recension of the Latin Martyrologium Hieronymianum, as transmitted in 8th c. manuscripts, records the feasts of a number of saints on 11 January.
Evidence ID
E04606
Type of Evidence
Liturgical texts - Calendars and martyrologies
Major author/Major anonymous work
Martyrologium Hieronymianum
The Martyrologium Hieronymianum is preserved in a number of early manuscripts which share much in common, but also diverge, making it impossible to reconstruct from them a single authoritative text. Below, we therefore offer separate English translations of each important early manuscript. By clicking 'Latin Text' (above), you can view these different versions in their original Latin, set side-by-side for ease of comparison, with also the editions and interpretations of the text suggested by the scholars Quentin and Delehaye. For a full discussion of the Martyrologium, click 'Discussion/Bibliography.'
The Martyrologium Hieronymianum commemorates on 11 January the following feasts:
Possibly *Petros Abshelama, martyr of Caesarea of Palestine, (S00165),
Perhaps *Severinus, hermit and monk in Noricum, ob. 482, (S00848),
Perhaps *Leucius, bishop and martyr of Brindisi, (S02221),
Possibly *Philoromos, martyr of Alexandria, (S00126),
Possibly companion martyrs of *Perpetua, martyrs of Carthage, (S00009),
Possibly *Salvius, martyr of Africa, (S02044),
Perhaps *Augustine, bishop of Hippo, ob. 430, (S00077),
Perhaps *Augustinus and Felicitas, martyrs of Capua, (S01993),
Possibly *Gregory, 'the Theologian', bishop of Nazianzos, ob. 390, (S00837),
Probably *Gregory, bishop of Nyssa, ob. 395, (S01357),
Perhaps *Viktor and Stephanis/Corona, martyrs of Damascus, (S01630),
*Hortinsus, bishop of an unknown see, (S02227),
*Other saints, on 11 January in the Martyrologium Hieronymianum: in Spain (S02226).
BnF 10837:
'On the third day before the Ides [of January] in Alexandria, [the feast of] Petrus, Leucus ... confessor, and Alolamus.
In Africa, [the feast of] Filoromus, Eugenus, Quintus, Ianuarus, Saturninus, Vincentus.
In Spain, [the feast of] Agentus, Donatus, Agustinus, Salvus, Felix, the presbyter Donatus, Florus, Zeminus, Patus, Pausalinus, Eugenus, Stefanus, and 12 others.
And the burial of bishop Hortinsus.'
Weissenburg 81:
'On the third day before the Ides of January, in Alexandria, [the feast of] Petrus, Severus, confessor Leucus, and Alsolamus, whose Deeds are extant.
In Africa, [the feast of] Piloromus, Ingenuus, Quintus, Ianuarus, Saturninus, Vincentus.
In Spain, [the feast of] Agentus, Donatus, Agustinus, Salvius, Felix, again Felix, the presbyter Donatus, Florus, Zeminus, Pausalmus, Eugenus, Victor, Stephana, and 12 others.
And the burial of bishop Ortinsus.'
Bern 289 introduces the commemoration of Gregorius, 'bishop of Nazarus', among the commemorations in Spain.
Quentin follows the early manuscripts.
Delehaye suggests a substantial number of major emendations to the text as transmitted.
Translation and comments: M. Vukovic.
Festivals
Saint’s feast
Cult PlacesBurial site of a saint - unspecified
Non Liturgical ActivityComposing and translating saint-related texts
RelicsBodily relic - entire body
Source
The Martyrologium Hieronymianum ('Martyrology of Jerome'), is the oldest extensive martyrology of the Latin West, listing the feast days of the saints for the entire calendar year, generally also specifying where their feasts are held (which is normally their place of burial). It derives its name from prefatory letters copied at the start of the martyrology, which attribute the text to the Church Father, Jerome of Stridon (ob. 420). These letters are present in all the earliest manuscripts, but it is uncertain when they were first attached to the text. The Hieronymianum is the primary source of all later martyrologies of the Latin world.It is universally accepted that the attribution to Jerome, intended to give the text greater authority, is false, and the predominant scholarly view is that the first version of the martyrology was compiled in northern Italy during the 5th century (probably in Aquileia), though no manuscript of this Aquileian redaction has survived. The text was then evidently revised and added to in Gaul, probably in Burgundy, around AD 600. The north Italian origin of the text, and its Gallic revision, are deduced from the presence in the martyrology of saints from northern Italy, and then of saints from Frankish Gaul. This Gallic version (sometimes referred to as the recensio gallica), just like its north Italian predecessor, does not survive in its original form in any manuscript (Lifshitz 2006, 14).
At some point in the 7th century, and no later than the early 8th, the Martyrologium reached Northumbria (in northern Britain), where it underwent some further revision and additions (Lapidge 2005, 45-46). From Northumbria, the text returned to the continent in the 8th century, and it is here that the earliest surviving manuscript copies were made, as listed below (Lapidge 2005, 73).
Some of the sources that were used by the compilers of the Martyrologium in northern Italy, and subsequently in Gaul, can be identified: the so-called Chronography of 354, a mid-4th-century list from Rome of saintly commemorations, primarily of local martyrs (E010151 and E01052); a lost Greek martyrology compiled at Nicomedia around 360 (drawn basically from Eusebius' Ecclesiastical History and Martyrs of Palestine), which was also a prime source for the Syriac Martyrology of 411 (E00465); the African Calendar of Carthage of 505/535 (E02195 - E02205); and early local calendars from Aquileia and Auxerre (Lifshitz 2006, 20).
The four earliest manuscripts of the Martyrologium Hieronymianum (three of them complete, one a fragment), on which all editions, including our own, are based, are all from eastern Francia and were copied in the eighth and early ninth centuries. They are as follows:
Ms Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF), lat. 10837
Written in the abbey of Echternach (in present-day Luxembourg) by a single scribe, Laurentius, between 703 and 710 (Lifshitz 2006, 32). The Catalogue of the BnF, which publishes BnF lat. 10837 on-line, also provides brief information about the dating: https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b6001113z/f22.image (click Information). The text of the Hieronymianum is at fol. 2r-32v.
Ms Wolfenbüttel, Herzog August Bibliothek, Weissenburg 81
From the abbey of Weissenburg in Alsace. Dated to around 800 by the Wolfenbüttel on-line catalogue: http://diglib.hab.de/?db=mss&list=ms&id=81-weiss&lang=en. Lifshitz argues that the manuscript dates from around 772, and was written in the Carolingian royal sphere, in or around Maastrict (Lifshitz 2006, 4). The text of the Hieronymianum is at fol. 7r-103r.
Ms Bern, Burgerbibliothek, Bongars 289
From the abbey of Saint-Avold, near Metz. De Rossi and Duchesne, in the introduction to their edition, argue that Bern 289 must have been written after 766. The text of the Hieronymianum is at fol. 53v-129v. This manuscript is not yet available on line, but we have been able to check it through a microfilm.
Ms Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Pal. lat. 238
From the abbey of Lorsch, near Worms. The manuscript contains only a fragment (five pages) of the Hieronymianum, covering 25 December to 3 January, and 27 January to 31 January, written in Lorsch in the first half of the 9th century: http://bibliotheca-laureshamensis-digital.de/bav/bav_pal_lat_238). The fragment is at fol. 74-75, 1-2.
The standard edition of 1894, by G. B. de Rossi and L. Duchesne, published these four manuscripts in parallel columns. In 1931, H. Quentin produced a new edition, with a commentary by H. Delehaye, which attempted to collate the different manuscript readings into a single text.
Even though all the early manuscripts are believed to descend from the same redaction, they are by no means identical. In particular, BnF lat. 10837, the earliest of all, often contains a text which differs markedly from Bern 289 and Weissenburg 81, which are much closer to each other. Because the text varies between manuscripts, in content as well as spelling, it is now universally agreed that it will never be possible to create an 'authoritative' single text of the Martyrologium Hieronymianum. De Rossi and Duchesne in 1894, facing the same problem, decided to print for each day of the year the text of all four early manuscripts, in four columns, and we have followed their lead. Our edition is essentially based on their edition, though we have checked their readings against the manuscripts, and corrected or removed some letters, words, diacritical marks, and comments introduced by the editors that do not exist in the manuscripts. We have then added three more columns: for Quentin’s text for the feast day, which sometimes comes in one version, sometimes in two, and for Delehaye’s reconstruction of much of the text, drawn from his Commentary. Delehaye's erudition was, and remains, unmatched, and we have leaned heavily on his commentary (which is in Latin), but it should be noted that his reconstructed text often departs markedly from the manuscripts. Using his extraordinary knowledge of the saints and their hagiography, he felt able to combine different parts of the Hieronymianum's text, and to correct garbled versions of names, to produce a more coherent 'original'. We consider each of his principal suggestions in our Discussion (below), and attempt a judgment as to how plausible they are. In Delehaye's extensive notes there are also other, more tentative, suggestions, which we have not discussed systematically.
The reason the Martyrologium Hieronymianum is such a difficult text is because it consists primarily of long lists of names (with no punctuation and no consistency in the use of capital letters), which were often unfamiliar to copyists and so easily garbled. Generally, we cannot get behind these garbled variants, but occasionally we can, allowing us to shed light on how the text evolved into its current, often confused, state. For instance, an entry for 9 March (E04711) probably originally read something like 'In Armenia minore Sebastia milit(um) XL', 'In Lesser Armenia, at Sebasteia, [the feast of] the Forty Soldiers' - in other words a commemoration of the 'Forty Martyrs of Sebaste' (S00103), prominent saints in the East, but less well-known in the Latin West. In one of our manuscripts (Weissenburg 81) this has become 'In arminia minore sabastiani et milia XL', 'In Lesser Armenia, [the feast of] Sebastianus and the forty-thousand'; somewhere in the process of transmission, the city of Sebasteia has become the martyr Sebastianus, and the 'soldiers' (militum) have become 'thousands' (milia).
Discussion
The early manuscripts of the Hieronymianum open their entry for 11 January with commemoration in Alexandria of four saints: Petrus, Severus, Leucus (described as a confessor), and Alolamus/Alsolamus, Bern 289 and Weissenburg 81 both stating that their martydom account (gesta) is known. Delehaye links the name Petrus with the name Alolamus/Alsolamus, and suggests that they are one person, *Petros Abshelama (martyr of Caesarea of Palestine, S00165), whose martyrdom is recorded as occurring on 10 January in Eusebius´ Martyrs of Palestine (E00304); he also suggests that his commemoration was originally listed as in Palestine. His theory as to the name is given support by the fact that the fifth-century Armenian Lectionary of Jerusalem commemorates on this same day (11 January) a saint who is probably Petros Abshelama (E03612).In this Alexandrain list, Delehaye suggests that Severus and Leucus, who appear between Petrus and Alolamus/Alsolamus, may be misplaced: citing a suggestion by Duchesne, he wonders whether Severus (mentioned in Weissenburg 81 and Bern 289) could be *Severinus (hermit and monk in Noricum, ob. 482, S00848), commemorated in Naples on 8 January, and whether Leucus might be *Leucius (bishop and martyr of Brindisi, S02221), who is commemorated earlier in the Hieronymianum, also on 8 January (E04603). Both of these identifications are very hypothetical, and - as Delehaye notes - Leucius of Brindisi was known as a martyr not a confessor (as here).
All three early manuscripts then list a number of saints commemorated in Africa: Filoromus/Piloromus, Eugenus/Ingenuus, Quintus, Ianuarus, Saturninus and Vincentus. Delehaye suggests that Filoromus/Piloromus could be *Philoromos (martyr of Alexandria, S00126), who is known through Eusebius' Ecclesiastical History (E00317), and who is probably the man commemorated in the Hieronymianum on the very next day, 12 January, 'in Egypt'. If this identification is correct, it lends some weight to Delehaye's argument that the locations of commemorations in the Hieronymianum's entry for 11 January are confused, and that Filoromus/Piloromus should be under Alexandria (above). Delehaye further speculates that Philoromos' companion martyr, Phileas, was also originally listed, and that the martyrdom account (gesta) mentioned above is really theirs. Delehaye also speculates that Quintus and Saturninus could be the two companions of *Perpetua with these names (all martyrs of Carthage, S00009). All of this is possible, but very uncertain.
All three manuscripts then record commemoration in Spain of a long list of martyrs, with some small variations between the manuscripts: Agentus/Augentus, Donatus, Agustinus, Gregorius 'bishop of Nazarus' (only in Bern 289), Salvus/Salvius, Felix, again Felix (only in Weissenburg 81), the presbyter Donatus, Florus, Zeminus, Patus (only in BnF 10837), Pausalinus/Pausalmus/Pausamus, Eugenus/Eugenius, Victor (missing from BnF 10837), Stefanus/Stephana/, and 12 others. Most of these martyrs cannot be identified. Salvus/Salvius, though listed in Spain (not Africa), could, however, be *Salvius, (martyr of Africa, S02044), who is commemorated on this same day in the Calendar of Carthage (E02204) and in Bede´s Martyrology (E05408), where reference is made to a lost sermon of Augustine (S00077). It is just possible that the 'Agustinus' of this list of saints commemorated in Spain is this same *Augustine of Hippo (S00077), though, as Delehaye notes, this is very unlikely. Delehaye prefers to link Agustinus with a Felicitas mentioned in a slightly later manuscript of the Hieronymianum, and speculates that originally *Augustinus and Felicitas (martyrs of Capua, S01993) were commemorated here. We think this reconstruction is unlikely.
Amongst the commemorated in Spain, Bern 289 alone records a Gregorius, 'bishop of Nazarus'. Although we might suppose this to be *Gregory ('the Theologian', bishop of Nazianzos, S00837), Delehaye plausibly argues that he is in fact *Gregory (bishop of Nyssa, ob. 395, S01357). Delehaye explains that this Gregory was often confused with Gregory of Nazianzus, and points out that Gregory of Nyssa is commemorated on 10 January in the Synaxarion of Constantinople (and indeed in the present-day Orthodox church), just a day earlier than our entry for 11 January.
Again from the saints commemorated in Spain, Delehaye picks out Victor and Stefanus/Stephana and suggests that they could be *Victor and Stephanis/Corona, (martyrs of Damascus, S01630). We think it is more likely that they are local martyrs with the same names.
Finally, all the early manuscripts record the commemoration of the burial of a certain *Hortinsus, (bishop of an unknown see, S02227), who is otherwise unknown.
All unidentified saints are listed by us among *Other saints, on 11 January in the Martyrologium Hieronymianum: in Africa and Spain (S02226).
Bibliography
Editions:De Rossi, G. B., and Duchesne, L., Martyrologium Hieronymianum ad finem codicum adiectis prolegomenis. Acta Sanctorum Nov.II.1 (Brussels, 1894).
Quentin, H. and Delehaye, H., Acta Sanctorum Nov.II.2 (Brussels, 1931).
On the Martyrologium Hieronymianum:
Duchesne, L., "A propos du martyrologe hiéronymien," Analecta Bollandiana 17 (1898), 421-447.
Lapidge, M., The Roman Martyrs. Introduction, Translations, and Commentary (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018).
Lapidge, M., "Acca of Hexham and the Origin of the Old English Martyrology," Analecta Bollandiana 123 (2005), 29-78.
Lifshitz, F., The Name of the Saint. The Martyrology of Jerome and Access to the Sacred in Francia, 627-827 (Notre Dame, Indiana: University of Notre Dame Press, 2006).
Ó Riain, P., "A Northumbrian Phase in the Formation of the Hieronymian Martyrology. The Evidence of the Martyrology of Tallaght," Analecta Bollandiana 120 (2002), 311-363.
On the manuscripts of the Martyrologium Hieronymianum:
Butzmann, H., Die Weissenburger Handschriften (Frankfurt am Main: Klostermann, 1964), 242-243.
Muller, J. C., "Trois manuscrits liturgiques de l'abbaye d'Echternach à Paris," in Abteistadt Echternach, éd. P. Schritz, A. Hoffmann (Luxembourg, 1981), 202-206.
Ó Cróinín, D., "Rath Melsigi, Willibrord, and the Earliest Echternach Manuscripts," Peritia 3 (1984), 17-49.
Libaert, P., "Notice sur 43 manuscrits d'Echternach conservés à la bibliothèque nationale de Paris," Hémecht 1 (1985), 53-73.
McKitterick, R., Books, Scribes and Learning in the Frankish Kingdoms, Sixth-Ninth Centuries (Aldershot: Variorum, 1994).
On saints and calendars:
Farmer, D. H., Oxford Dictionary of Saints (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1978).
Nilles, N., Kalendarium Manuale utriusque Ecclesiae Orientalis et Occidentalis I-II (Farnborough: Gregg International Publishers Ltd, 1971).
Watkins, B., The Book of Saints: A Comprehensive Biographical Dictionary (London: Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2015).
Datum Table
| BnF 10837 | Bern 289 | Weissenburg 81 | BAV 238 | Other Mss | Quentin | Quentin | Delehaye |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| III id in alãx petri leuci ......confes̃ et alolami | III. ID. IANVAR. In alexandria. petri. Severi. sc̃i. Leuci conf̃ et alsolami. quorū. gesta habentur | III IDUS IANUA. In alexandria petri. seueri. sc̃i leuci confes̃. et alsolami. quorum gesta habentur | In Alexandria Petri sancti Leuci confessoris et Alsolami quorum gesta habentur. | In Alexandria Petri Severi sancti Leuci confessoris et Alsolami quorum gesta habentur. | in Alexandria Filoromi 〈et Fileae〉 quorum gesta habentur. | ||
| --------------- | ---------------- | --------------- | ---------------- | ---------------- | 〈in Caesarea Palaestinae〉 Petri Abselami. 〈 | ||
| ---------------- | ---------------- | ---------------- | ---------------- | --------------- | in Brundisio〉 sancti Leuci confessoris. | ||
| in af̃f. filoromi eugeni quinti ianuari saturnini vincenti | In africa. filoromi. ingenui. quinti. Ianuari. Saturnini. Uincenti. | In affrica. piloromi. ingenui quinti ianuari saturnini uincenti | in Africa Filoromi Eugeni Quinti Ianuari Saturnini Vincenti. | in Africa Filoromi Eugeni Quinti Ianuari Saturnini Vincenti. | --------------- | ||
| In spanis agenti donati agustini salvi felicis donati prƀ flori zemini pati pausalini eugeni stefani et alior̃ XII | In hispaniis. Augenti. donati. Agustini. Gregorii ep̃i. Nazari. Saluii. Felicis. donati prƀi. flori. zemini. Pausami. eugenii. Uictoris. stephanȩ et aliorum duodecim. | in hispaniis agenti donati agustini saluii. felicis. Item felicis. donati pƀri. flori zemini pausalmi. eugeni. uictoris stephanȩ. et aliorū XII. | in Spanis Agenti Donati Agustini Salvi Felicis Donati presbyteri Flori Zemini Pati Pausalini Eugeni Victoris Stefani et aliorum XII | in Spanis Agenti Donati Agustini Salvi Felicis Donati presbyteri Flori Zemini Pausalini Eugeni Victoris Stefani et aliorum XII | in Africa Salvi.Victoris et Stephanae. 〈in Campania〉 Augustini et Felicitatis. | ||
| --------------- | ---------------- | --------------- | ---------------- | ---------------- | in Africa Salvi.Victoris et Stephanae. | ||
| et depos̃ hortinsi ep̃i | et depost̃ hortinsi ep̃i. | et depõ ortinsi epĩ. | et depositio Hortinsi episcopi. | et depositio Hortinsi episcopi. | --------------- | ||
| --------------- | --------------- | ---------------- | ---------------- | ---------------- | Gregorii episcopi Nysseni. |
Record Created By
Marijana Vukovic
Date of Entry
11/11/2020
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00009 | Perpetua, Felicitas and their companions, martyrs of Carthage | Quintus; Saturninus | Uncertain | S00077 | Augustine, bishop of Hippo, ob. 430 | Agustinus | Uncertain | S00126 | Philoromos, martyr of Alexandria | Filoromus/Piloromus | Uncertain | S00165 | Petros Abshelama, martyr of Caesarea of Palestine | Petrus | Uncertain | S00290 | Vincentius/Vincent, deacon and martyr of Zaragoza and Valencia | Vincentus | Uncertain | S00837 | Gregory 'the Theologian', bishop of Nazianzos, ob. 390 | Gregorius episcopus Nazari | Uncertain | S00848 | Severinus, hermit and monk in Noricum, ob. 482 | Severus | Uncertain | S01357 | Gregory, bishop of Nyssa, ob. 395 | Gregorius episcopus Nazari | Uncertain | S01630 | Viktor and Stephanis/Corona, martyrs of Damascus | Stefanus/Stephana; Victor | Uncertain | S01993 | Augustinus and Felicitas, martyrs of Capua | Agustinus | Uncertain | S02044 | Salvius, martyr commemorated at Carthage | Salvus/Salvius | Uncertain | S02221 | Leucius, bishop and martyr of Brindisi | Leucus | Uncertain | S02226 | Other saints, on 11 January in the Martyrologium Hieronymianum: in Spain | Agentus/Augentus; Donatus; Felix; Florus; Zeminus; Patus; Pausalinus/Pausalmus/Pausamus; Eugenus/Ingenuus; Ianuarus | Certain | S02227 | Hortinsus, bishop of an unknown see, commemorated in the Mart. Hier. | Hortinsus/Ortinsus | Certain |
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