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 1 July.
Evidence ID
E04868
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 1 July the following feasts:
*Luceia, king Auceia and companions, martyrs of Rome, (S02478),
Possibly *Gaius, bishop and martyr of Rome, (S00661),
*Processus and Martinianus, martyrs of Rome, buried on the via Aurelia, (S00556),
Perhaps *Hesychios, martyr of Antioch, (S01034),
*Aaron, First High Priest, brother of Moses, (S01427),
The burial of *Leontius, bishop of Autun (Gaul), 5th cent., (S02722),
*Simon Kananaios, the Zealot, apostle of Christ, (S00835),
*Jude, Thaddaeus, Apostle, one of the Twelve, (S00792),
*Eparchius, hermit of Angoulême, ob. 581, (S01310),
*John the Baptist, (S00020),
*Other saints, on 1 July in the Martyrologium Hieronymianum: in Nicomedia, Antioch, Mesopotamia, and Mount Or, (S03064).
BnF 10837:
'July has 31 days. On the Kalends of July, in Nicomedia, [the feast of] Zoilus.
In Rome, the burial of bishop Gaius; the feast of virgin Lucia and king Auceias, with eight others. Also, in Rome, [the feast of] Isicus, Processus, Marina, Antoninus, Serenus, Victor, Zelus, with eight others, Orio, and 262 others.
In Antioch, [the feast of] Severianus, Zoelus, Epasus; the burial of Idoneus with children.
In Autun (Gaul), the burial of bishop Leontus.
In Persia, [the feast of] Apostles Symon Kananaios, and Judas, brothers of Jacob.'
Bern 289:
'July has 31 days. On the Kalends of July, in Nicomedia, [the feast of] Zoelus.
In Rome, [the feast of] Pope Gagus and the feast of virgin Lucia and king Aceias, with eight others; on the via Aurelia, in the same city, [the feast of] Ysicus, Processus, Marinus, Anthonus, Serenus, Victor, Zoelus, with seven others, Orio, with eight others, and with 264 others.
In Antioch, [the feast of] Severianus, Zoelus, Epasus.
In the Or mountain, the burial of Aaron priest, Primus, and the burial of Idonus, with children, and Arilefa.
In Autun, the burial of bishop Leontus.
In Persia, the passion of the Apostles Simon Kananaios, and Judas Zelotes.
In the city Angoulême (western Gaul), the burial of of blessed bishop Ebartius.
And in Octabas, [the feast of] John the Baptist.
And the dedication of the church of the Holy Cross near the Port.'
Weissenburg 81:
'July has 31 days. On the Kalends of July, in Nicomedia, [the feast of] Zoelus.
In Rome, [the feast of] Pope Gagus, and the feast of virgin Luceias and king Aceges, with nine others. In the same city, [the feast of] Esycus, Processus, Marina, Antonus, Serenus, Victor.
And in Mesopotamia, [the feast of] Zelus with six others, Orio, with eight others, and 213 others.
In Antioch, [the feast of] Severianus, Zoelus, Epasus.
In the mountain Or, the burial of Aaron the priest, and the burial of Primus, Idonus, with children.
And in Autun, the burial of bishop Leontus.
In the city Angoulême (western Gaul), the burial of blessed bishop Eparcus.'
Quentin
Delehaye
Translation and comments: M. Vukovic.
FestivalsSaint’s feast
Cult PlacesBurial site of a saint - unspecified
RelicsChildren
Saint’s feast
Anniversary of church/altar dedication
Cult PlacesBurial site of a saint - unspecified
Burial site of a saint - cemetery/catacomb
RelicsBodily relic - entire body
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesChildren
Family
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 commemoration of saints on 1 July opens up in the manuscripts of the Martyrologium Hieronymianum with the commemoration in Nicoledia of a saint Zoilus/Zoelus. It is not certain who is Zoilus, commemorated in Nicomedia on this day.Further, the early manuscripts of the Hieronymianum record the number of saintly commemorations in Rome: of the saints Gaius/Gagus, Lucia, Auceias/Aceias, Isicus/Ysicus, Processus, Marina/Marinus, Antoninus/Anthonus, Serenus, Victor, Zelus/Zoelus, and Orio. Among them, we could identify the following saints: *Luceia, king Auceia and companions, (martyrs of Rome, S02478). They have a number of saints who are identified as their companions (on the same saint´s card): Antoninus/Anthonus, Victor, Orio, Serenus. Delehaye suggests that the other names mentioned here could be considered the companions of these saints; we, thus, also consider them as such.
Further, Gaius/Gagus may be the same saint as commemorated on 22 April (E04785). Delehaye is sure that Gaius/Gagus, commemorated on this day, is not *Gaius, (bishop and martyr of Rome, S00661), who is commemorated on 22 April (see E00392, E04785). We leave this as a possibility, also because Bede places the commemoration of this saint in July (see E05857). Also, we have *Processus and Martinianus, (martyrs of Rome, buried on the via Aurelia, S00556), as the day later (E04869).
Further commemorations in Antioch and Mesopotamia include the saints Severianus, Zoelus/Zelus, Epasus, Idoneus, and Orio. Delehaye is not sure who these saints were; he argues that only Isicus, who is recorded in Rome on this day, could be the saint from Antioch, *Hesychios, (martyr of Antioch, S01034). Orio and Zoelus appear also above, and Epasus below. Severianus and Idoneus are not identified.
Further, the commemorations are recorded in the Mount Or of the saints Aaron, Primus, Idonus, and Arilefa. The first one among them is identified as *Aaron, First High Priest, brother of Moses, (S01427). The three others are not identified.
All three early manuscripts also record on this day the burial of *Leontius, (bishop of Autun (Gaul), 5th cent., S02722).
Also, the manuscripts BnF 10837 and Bern 289 record the commemoration in Persia of Apostles Symon Kananaios, and Judas, brothers of Jacob, who are identified as *Simon Kananaios, (the Zealot, apostle of Christ, S00835) and *Jude, (Thaddaeus, Apostle, one of the Twelve, (S00792).
The manuscripts Bern 289 and Weissenburg 81 record the burial of Eparcus/Ebartius, who could be identified as *Eparchius, (hermit of Angoulême (western Gaul), ob. 581, S01310).
Bern 289 additionally records the commemoration of *John the Baptist, (S00020), and the dedication of the church of the Holy Cross near the Port.
Unidentified saints are listed by us among *Other saints, on 1 July in the Martyrologium Hieronymianum: in Nicomedia, Antioch, Mesopotamia, and Mount Or, (S03064).
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Iulius XXXI Kl iuł in nicom̄ zoili | LAETANIAS. INDICENDAS. MENS. IUL. HABET. DIES. XXXI. KL. IULIAS. IN NICOMD. Zoeli. | IN LETANIAS INDI. MENSIS IUL. HAB. DIES XXX LUN. XXX KL. iuLias In nicomedia zoeli. | In Nicomedia Zoili. | In Nicomedia Zoili. | |||
| rom̄ depos̃ gai ep̃i nt̃ luciae virginis et auceiae regis cum alis VIII. It̃ rom̄ isici processi marinae antonini sereni victoris zeli cum alis VIII orionis et aliorū CCLXII | ROMÆ. Gagi. pape. et natał Sc̃orum. Luciȩ uirginis. et aceie regis. cū aliis UIII. UIA AURELIA. in eadem. urbȩ Ysici. Processi. Marini. Anthoni. Sereni. Uictoris. Zoeli. cū aliis. VII. Orion cū aliis VIII. et aliorum ducem torum. sexaginta quattuor. | Rom̄ gagi papȩ et nat̃ sc̃orum luceiȩ uirg̃ et acege regis cum aliis VIIII In eadem urbem esyci processi. marinȩ antoni sereni. Uictoris | Romae depositio Gai episcopi natale sanctorum Luciae virginis et Auceiae regis cum aliis VIII. Via Aurelia in eadem urbe Isici Processi Marinae Antonini Sereni Victorisa Zeli cum aliis VIII Orionis et aliorum CCLXII | Romae Gagi papae et natale sanctorum Luciae virginis et Auceiae regis cum aliis VIII. Via Aurelia in eadem urbe Isici Processi Marinae Antonini Sereni Victorisa Zeli cum aliis VIII Orionis cum aliis VIII et aliorum CCLXIIII | Romae natale Luciae virginis et Auceiae regis, Antonini, Sereni, Victoris, Orionis cum aliis XVIII. in eadem urbe via Aurelia Processi et Martiniani. | ||
| et in mesapotamia zeli cum aliis UI. Orion cum aliis UIII et aliorum CClXIIII | |||||||
| In antioc̃ severiani zoeli epasi depos̃ idonei cum filĩs | IN ANTIOCHIA. Seueriani. Zoeli. Epasi. | In anthiocia seueriani zoeli epasi | in Antiochia Severiani Zoeli Epasi. depositio Idonei cum filiis. | in Antiochia Severiani Zoeli Epasi. | |||
| IN MONTE OR. Depos̃ Aaron sacerdotis primi. et depos̃ idoni cū filiis. et arilefe. | In monte or dep̃ aaron sacerđ et dep̃ primi Idoni cum filiis | in monte Or depositio Aaron sacerdotis primi et depositio Idonei cum filiis. | in Monte Or depositio Aaron sacerdotis primi. Depositio Idonei cum filiis. | ||||
| Agustuduno depos̃ leonti ep̃i | ET AGUSTIDUN. Depos̃ . Leonti ep̃i | et agustiduno dep̃ leonti ep̃i | et Agustuduno depositio Leonti episcopi. | et Agustuduno depositio Leonti episcopi. | Augustoduno depositio Leontii episcopi. | ||
| in persida sc̃orum apostlrm̄ symonis cannã et iudae f̃f iacobi. | IN PERSIDA. passio sc̃orū Apostolorum. Simonis Cananei. et Iudae Zelotis. | in Persida passio sanctorum apostolorum Symonis Cananaei et Iudae fratris Iacobi | in Persida passio sanctorum apostolorum Symonis Cananaei et Iudae Zelotis. | in Perside passio sanctorum apostolorum Symonis Cananaei et Iudae. | |||
| EGOLISANA ciuitate deposit̃ beati. Ebartii ep̃i | egolisna ciuit̃ dep̃ beati eparci ep̃i | Egolisma civitate depositio beati Eparci episcopi | Egolisma civitate depositio beati Eparci. | ||||
| et octabas sc̃i Iohannis baptistȩ | |||||||
| et ded. eccl. scae crucis iuxta porta. | |||||||
| Cenomannico Anisola monasterio depositio sancti Karilefi presbyteri et confessoris. |
Record Created By
Marijana Vukovic
Date of Entry
02/07/2023
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00020 | John the Baptist | Iohannes | Certain | S00556 | Processus and Martinianus, martyrs of Rome, buried on the via Aurelia | Processus; Marina/Marinus | Certain | S00661 | Gaius, bishop and martyr of Rome | Gaius/Gagus | Uncertain | S00792 | Jude Thaddaeus, Apostle, one of the Twelve | Judas | Certain | S00835 | Simon Kananaios, the Zealot, apostle of Christ | Symon/Simon | Certain | S01034 | Hesychios, martyr of Antioch | Isicus/Ysicus | Uncertain | S01310 | Eparchius, hermit of Angoulême, ob. 581 | Eparcus/Ebartius | Certain | S01427 | Aaron, first High Priest, brother of Moses | Aaron | Certain | S02478 | Luceia, king Auceia, and companions, martyrs of Rome | Lucia/Luceia; Auceias/Acega/Aceia/Aceias; Isicus/Ysicus; Antoninus/Anthonus; Serenus; Victor; Zelus/Zoelus; Orio | Certain | S02722 | Leontius, bishop of Autun, 5th cent. | Leontus | Certain | S03064 | Other saints, on 1 July in the Martyrologium Hieronymianum: in Nicomedia, Antioch, Mesopotamia, and Mount Or | Zoilus/Zoelus; Severianus; Idoneus/Idonus; Primus; Arilefa | Certain |
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