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 25 January.
Evidence ID
E04622
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 25 January the following feasts:
Probably *Vitus, martyr of Nicomedia, companion of Kyriakos, Cendeus, Florus and Felix, (S00954),
The translation and conversion of *Paul, the Apostle, (S00008),
Possibly *Praeiectus, bishop of Clermont, ob. 676, (S02425),
Perhaps *Thyrsos, martyr of Bithynia, (S00612),
Possibly *Sebastianus, martyr of Rome, (S00400),
Possibly *Fabianus, bishop and martyr of Rome, (S00147),
Perhaps *Agatha, virgin and martyr of Catania, (S00794),
Possibly *Artemas, martyr of Pozzuoli, (S02665),
*Agileus, martyr of Carthage, (S00630),
*Other saints, on 25 January in the Martyrologium Hieronymianum: in Carthage, south Italy, Africa, Ravenna/Pozzuoli, and elsewhere (S02666).
BnF 10837:
'On the eighth day before the Kalends [of February], in Nicomedia, [the feast of] Bitus.
In Rome, the translation of Apostle Paul.
In Carthage, [the feast of] Donatus, Secundus, Papias.
In Capua, [the feast of] Kastula.
In Sicily, [the feast of] Fabianus, Sabinianus.
In Calatheum, [the feast of] Sodo.
In Ravenna and Pozzuoli, [the feast of] Antimasius, Sabinus, Leodocius, Teugenes.
And in Carthage, [the feast of] Agileus.'
Bern 289:
'On the eighth day before the Kalends of February, in Nicomedia, [the feast of] Bitus.
In Clermont, [the feast of] martyr Praeiectus.
In Rome, the translation and conversion of Paul the Apostle in Damasus.
In Carthage, [the feast of] Donatus, Secundus, Papias.
In Capua, [the feast of] Castula.
In Sicily, [the feast of] Tyrsus.
In Africa, [the feast of] Epictitus, Publianus, Pappias.
In Egypt, [the feast of] Catina, Agapa, Favianus, Savinianus.
And in Salatheum, [the feast of] Sodo.
In Ravenna and Pozzuoli, [the feast of] Antymasius, Sabinus, Leodotius, Theugenes.'
Weissenburg 81:
'On the eighth day before the Kalends of February, in Nicomedia, [the feast of] Vitus.
In Rome, the translation of Paul the Apostle. The conversion of Paul, and [the feast of] the martyr Proiectus.
In Carthage, [the feast of] Donatus, Secundus, Papias.
In Capua, [the feast of] Castula.
In Sicily, [the feast of] Tyrsus.
In Africa, [the feast of] Epiticus, Publianus, Papias.
In Egypt, [the feast of] Catina, Agapa, Favianus, Savinianus.
And in Salateum, [the feast of] Sodo.
In Ravenna and Pozzuoli, [the feast of] Antimasius, Savinus, Leudocius, Theugenes.'
Quentin follows the manuscripts Bern 289 and Weissenburg 81.
Delehaye follows the manuscripts to an extent, but he also introduces some saints not clearly mentioned in the manuscripts.
Translation and comments: M. Vukovic.
FestivalsSaint’s feast
RelicsTransfer, translation and deposition of relics
Saint’s feast
Anniversary of relic invention/translation
RelicsTransfer, translation and deposition of relics
Transfer/presence of relics from distant countries
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
All three early manuscripts of the Hieronymianum record on 25 January Vitus, a martyr of Nicomedia, who is presumably the same saint as the Vitus commemorated in the Syriac Martyrology on the following day, 26 January (E01415). It is possible that there were two martyrs of Nicomedia of the same name, but it is perhaps more likely that our saint of 25/26 January is Vitus, companion of Kyriakos, Cendeus, Florus and Felix (S00954), recorded as commemorated in Nicomedia a few days earlier, on 20 January, by both the Syriac Martyrology (E01411) and the Hieronymianum (E04616).Bern 289 alone (but see the next paragraph) records at Clermont (in central Gaul) commemoration of a martyr, Praeiectus. Delehaye suggests this could be *Praeiectus (bishop of Clermont, ob. 676, S02425), a 'political martyr' of the later seventh century, whose Martyrdom account is entered on our database at E04682. This identification is possible, given the close coincidence of both saint's name and place. If it is an entry for Praeiectus, it probably originated as a gloss (since 'late' saints are normally commemorated at the end of a day's entry).
All three manuscripts record a feast in Rome of a translation (translatio) of *Paul (the Apostle, S00008). Bern 289 and Weissenburg 81 also record commemoration of his conversion on this same day, Bern 289 adding that these commemorations occur 'in Damaso' (perhaps a church built by Pope Damasus). The feast of the translation presumably in some way relates to the history of the original burial places of Paul (and Peter), which is highly contested and well beyond our competence to enter into here! (The learned Delehaye agrees that this entry in the Hieronymianum is 'perobscura', Latin for 'most obscure'.) Weissenburg 81 then closes its listing for Rome with mention of a martyr, Proiectus, who is presumably the same as the Praeiectus commemorated at Clermont according to Bern 289 (see above) - it is impossible to tell which of the two manuscripts more accurately reflects tradition here. To the best of our knowledge no Proiectus is known in other sources from Rome.
The saints commemorated in Carthage on this day according to all the manuscripts, Donatus, Secundus, and Papias, are otherwise unknown. As is Castula/Kastula, commemorated in Capua (in southern Italy), again according to all three early manuscripts of the Hieronymianum.
Bern 289 and Weissenburg 81 record commemoration of a saint Tyrsus in Sicily on this date, while BnF 10837 instead records Fabianus and Sabinianus in the same location. Delehaye argues that Tyrsus is *Thyrsus, (martyr of Bithynia, S00612) and that one of his companion martyrs, Callinicus, appears lower down in BnF 10837, masquerading as a place-name 'in Calatheo'; he also argues that their commemoration should be sited in Egypt (because of evidence for their cult there in the Hieronymianum's entry for 15 January, E04610). None of this sounds very likely. As for Fabianus and Sabinianus, listed in BnF 10837 as commemorated in Sicily, we should first of all note that they appear, as Favianus and Savinianus, in Bern 289 and Weissenburg, but there listed as commemorated in Egypt. Delehaye argues that they are the well-known martyrs of Rome, *Sebastianus (S00400), and *Fabianus, (bishop and martyr, S00147), both commemorated together in the Hieronymianum on 20 January (E04616). This is possible, but perhaps not very likely.
The saints commemorated in Africa on this date, Epiticus, Publianus, Papias/Pappias, are otherwise unknown.
Bern 289 and Weissenburg 81 (but not BnF 10837) record four saints in Egypt: Catina, Agape/Agapa, Favianus and Savinianus. The latter two are discussed above. Delehaye argues that 'Catina' and 'Agape' conceal a commemoration in Catania (Sicily) of the city's great martyr, *Agatha (virgin and martyr of Catania, S00794), We think this is unlikely.
All three manuscripts record commemoration of a saint called Sodo in a place, variously spelled Calatheum/Salatheum/Salateum. Neither the place nor the saint can be identified, though Delehaye believed that Calatheum was really a rendering of the name of a Bithynian martyr, Callinicus (see above, the entry for Sicily), which seems very unlikely.
All three manuscripts record commemoration of four saints, unusually in two cities, both Ravenna (northern Italy) and Pozzuoli (ancient Puteoli, near Naples in southern Italy): Antimasius/Antymasius, Sabinus/Savinus, Leodocius/Leodotius/Leudocius, Teugenes/Theugenes. Delehaye argues that Antimasius is *Artemas (martyr of Pozzuoli, S02665), whose cult at Pozzuoli is more reliably documented in the Hieronymianum on the following day, 26 January (E04623); this is possible but perhaps unlikely.
Manuscript BnF 10837 alone records on this date the commemoration in Carthage of *Agileus (martyr of Carthage, S00630).
All unidentified saints are listed by us among *Other saints, on 25 January in the Martyrologium Hieronymianum: in Carthage, south Italy, Africa, and elsewhere (S02666).
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| VIII kł nicom̄ biti | VIII. KL. FEB. Nicomedia. Biti. | VIII KL. FEBROA. Nicomedia viti | Nicomedia Biti. | Nicomedia Biti. | |||
| ---------------- | Aruernus praeiecti martyr̃ | ---------------- | ---------------- | ---------------- | |||
| rom̄ transł pauli apos̃ | Rom. translatio et conversio pauli apostoli in damaso | Romȩ translatio pauli apostoli. Conversio sci pauli. et sci proiecti mr. | Romae translatio Pauli apostoli. | Romae translatio Pauli apostoli. | |||
| kartag̃ donati secundi papiae | Chartagine. donati. secundi. papiae. | castige donati secundi papiȩ | Cartagine Donati Secundi Papiae. | ||||
| capua kastulae | Capua castulae. | capu castule. | Capua Kastulae. | Catanae in Sicilia Agathae. | |||
| --------------- | Sicilia. sc̃i tyrsi | Sicilia sc̃i tyrsi | Sicilia sancti Tyrsi. | in Aegypto Thyrsi 〈Leucii〉 et Callinici. | |||
| sicilia fabiani sabiniani | --------------- | --------------- | ---------------- | 〈Romae〉 Fabiani 〈et〉 Sebastiani. | |||
| --------------- | In africa. Epictiti publiani. pappiae | In af̃f epitici publiani papiȩ | in Africa Epictiti Publiani Pappiae. | ---------------- | |||
| ---------------- | In aegypto. Catine. Agape. Fauiani. Sauiniani. | In ȩgypto catinȩ Agape faviani saviniani | in Aegypto Catinae Agape Fabiani Sabininiani. | ---------------- | |||
| in calatheo sodonis | Et in salatheo. Sodonis. | Et in salateo sodonis | et in Calatheo Sodonis. | --------------- | |||
| raveñ puteolis antimasius sabinus leodocius teugenis | Ravennae poteolis. Antymasius. Sabinus. Leodotius. theugenis. | Ravenna potiolis antimasius savinus leudocius theugenis. | Ravenna Puteolis Antimasius Sabinius Leodocius Teugenis. | in Campania Puteolis Arthematis. | |||
| et in cartag̃ agilei | in Carthagine Agilei. |
Record Created By
Marijana Vukovic
Date of Entry
24/01/2021
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00008 | Paul, the Apostle | Paulus | Certain | S00147 | Fabianus, bishop and martyr of Rome | Fabianus/Favianus | Uncertain | S00400 | Sebastianus, martyr of Rome | Sabinianus/Savinianus | Uncertain | S00612 | Thyrsos and companions, martyrs of Bithynia | Tyrsus | Uncertain | S00630 | Agileus, martyr of Carthage | Agileus | Certain | S00794 | Agatha, virgin and martyr of Catania | Agapa | Uncertain | S00954 | Kyriakos, Cendeus, Vitus, Florus and Felix, martyrs of Nicomedia | Bitus/Vitus | Uncertain | S02425 | Praeiectus, bishop and martyr of Clermont, ob. 676 | Praeiectus/Proiectus | Certain | S02665 | Artemas, martyr of Pozzuoli | Antimasius/Antymasius | Uncertain | S02666 | Other saints, on 25 January in the Martyrologium Hieronymianum: in Carthage, southern Italy, Africa, Ravenna/Puteoli, and elsewhere | Donatus; Secundus; Papias; Castula; Epiticus; Publianus; Papias/Pappias; Sodo; Sabinus/Savinus; Leodocius/Leudocius/Leodotius | Certain |
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Marijana Vukovic, Cult of Saints, E04622 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E04622