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 23 August.
Evidence ID
E04928
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 23 August the following feasts:
*Fortunatus and Hermagoras, martyrs of Aquileia (North Italy), 3rd cent., (S02547),
*Genobus, Capitulinus, Emerita, Italica, martyrs of Antioch, (S02565),
The vigils for *Bartholomew, the Apostle, (S00256),
*Abundius, martyr of Rome associated with Hippolytus (S00213),
*Other saints, on 22 August in the Martyrologium Hieronymianum: in Rome and Aquileia (S02557),
Nunnus and Arceus, companions of *Aurea and Companions, martyrs of Ostia, (S00898),
*Genesius, notary and martyr of Arles, (S00263),
*Patricius, monk and missionary of Nièvre (Gaul), 6th cent., (S02566),
*Gildardus, bishop of Rouen, ob. 511, (S02561),
The burial of *Eptadius, presbyter of Cervidunum, near Autun, ob. before 550, (S02389),
*Cyriacus, martyr of Ostia and Portus, and companion of Aurea, (S00898),
*Archelaus, martyr of Ostia and Portus, and companion of Aurea, (S00898),
*Klaudios, Asterios, Neon and Theonilla, martyrs of Cilicia (Asia Minor), (S02533),
*Minervus and Eleazar, martyrs of Lyon (Gaul), 3rd cent., (S02548),
*Timotheus and Apollinaris, martyrs of Reims (Gaul), (S00329),
*Flavianus, bishop of Autun, who appears in the Life of Eptadius (S02389),
*Sidonius Apollinaris, poet, diplomat, and bishop of Clermont, 5th cent., (S02556).
BnF 10837:
'On the tenth day before the Kalends of September, in Aquileia, the feast of Furtunatus, Ermodorus.
And in the Roman Port, [the feast of] Nunnus.
And in Ostia, [the feast of] Arceus.
And in Rome, at the St. Lawrence´s, [the feast of] Innocents, Sirtus, Marcialis, Hermogeratus, Habundus, Innocentus, Mirendinus.
In Ostia, [the feast of] Cyriacus, Archelaus.
In the province of Cilicia, the city of Egas, [the feast of] Claudus, Asterus, Neo, Domnina.
In Lyon of Gaul, [the feast of] Minervinus, Elezarus, with eight sons.
In the city Reims (Gaul), [the feast of] Timotheus, Appollinaris.
In Autun (Gaul), [the feast of] bishop Flavianus.
In Clermont (Gaul), [the feast of] bishop Sinodus.'
Bern 289:
'On the tenth day before the Kalends of September, in Antioch, [the feast of] Genobus, Capitulinus, Emerita, Italica.
And the vigils for the Apostle Bartholomew.
In Arles (Gaul), [the feast of] martyr Genesus.
In Gaul, in the city of Nevernum (Nièvre, Gaul), [the feast of] Patricius, abbot and confessor, and priest Geldardus.
And in the territory of the city Edua (Gaul), the village Cervidunum, the burial of priest Epadus.'
Weissenburg 81:
'On the tenth day before the Kalends of September, in Aquileia, the feast of Furtunatus, Hermogenes, Xistus, Marcialis, Hermogeratus.
In the city of Rome, the feast of Laurentus, Abundus, Innocentus, Merendinus.
And in the Roman Port, the feast of Yppolitus, who is called Nonnus, with his companions.
In Ostia, the feast of Quiriacus and Archilaus.
In Lyon of Gaul, the feast of Minervus, Eleazarus, with eight sons.
In the city of Reims, the feast of Thimotheus, Apollonaris.
In Autun, [the feast of] bishop Flavianus.
In Clermont, the feast of bishop Sidonus.'
Translation and comments: M. Vukovic.
FestivalsBurial site of a saint - cemetery/catacomb
Places Named after SaintChildren
Saint’s feast
Cult PlacesBurial site of a saint - cemetery/catacomb
Burial site of a saint - unspecified
Places Named after SaintCemetery
Non Liturgical ActivityVigils
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
On 23 August, manuscripts BnF 10837 and Weissenburg 81 record the commemoration in Aquileia of Fortunatus and Ermodorus/Hermogenis. These are certainly *Fortunatus and Hermagoras, (martyrs of Aquileia, S02547). Their companions, listed by Weissenburg 81 - Xistus, Marcialis, Hermogeratus, who also appear a day earlier (E04927) - are otherwise unknown ('Hermogeratus' is likely to be a repetition on Hermagoras' name). In later hagiography, Hermagoras has become the first bishop of Aquileia, and Fortunatus his deacon, but all references to them in the Martyrologium are consistent in omitting any reference to Hermagoras being a bishop and in placing him second, after Fortunatus.Further, manuscript Bern 289 records the commemoration in Antioch of *Genobus, Capitulinus, Emerita, Italica, (martyrs of Antioch, S02565). The same manuscript records the vigils for *Bartholomew (the Apostle, S00256).
Among the saints commemorated in Rome, we identify *Abundius, (martyr of Rome associated with Hippolytus, S00213). Laurentus indicates the name of the cemetery (Cemetery of St. Lawrence). Innocentus and Merendinus, also commemorated a day earlier, stay unidentified. They are here recorded among *Other saints, on 22 August in the Martyrologium Hieronymianum: in Rome and Aquileia (S02557).
Nunnus, who is commemorated in Ostia, could be Yppolitus, who is also called Nonnus, the saint who appears a day earlier, and who is a companion of *Aurea and Companions, (martyrs of Ostia, S00898). Arceus, who is recorded in BnF 10837 to have commemoration in Ostia, is another companion of *Aurea and Companions, (martyrs of Ostia, S00898).
Bern 289 further records *Genesius, (notary and martyr of Arles, S00263). Also, the same manuscript records in Gaul *Patricius, (monk and missionary of Nièvre (Gaul), 6th cent., S02566), and *Gildardus, (bishop of Rouen, ob. 511, S02561).
Bern 289 further records the burial of *Eptadius (presbyter of Cervidunum, near Autun, ob. before 550, S02389).
Quiriacus and Archilaus are again the companions of Aurea, *Cyriacus, (martyr of Ostia and Portus, and companion of Aurea, S00898), and *Archelaus, (martyr of Ostia and Portus, and companion of Aurea, S00898).
In Cilicia, there is the commemoration of *Klaudios, Asterios, Neon and Theonilla, (martyrs of Cilicia (Asia Minor), (S02533), according to BnF 10837.
The saints *Minervus and Eleazar, (martyrs of Lyon (Gaul), 3rd cent., S02548) are commemorated on this day again (also on 22 August, E04927).
The manuscripts BnF 10837 and Weissenburg 81 further records *Timotheus and Apollinaris, (martyrs of Reims (Gaul), S00329).
Finally, both BnF 10837 and Weissenburg 81 record *Flavianus, (bishop of Autun, who appears in the Life of Eptadius S02389), and *Sidonius Apollinaris, (poet, diplomat, and bishop of Clermont, 5th cent., S02556).
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| X k sep̃ in aquileia nt̃ furtunati ermodori | X KL. SEP. In aquileia nat̃ sc̃orum furtunati hermogenis. xisti marcialis. hermogerati | In Aquileia natale sanctorum Furtunati Ermodori. | In Aquileia natale sanctorum Furtunati Ermodori. Sirti Marcialis Hermogerati | in Aquileia Furtunati et Hermagorae. | |||
| X KL. SEPT. IN ANTIOCHIA. Genobi. Capitulini. Emeritȩ. Italicȩ | |||||||
| et uigił Sc̃i Bartholomei apostł | |||||||
| Rom̄ civit̃ nat̃ sc̃orum laurenti abundi innocenti merendini | Romae in cimiterio sancti Laurenti Habundi Innocenti Mirendini | Romae in cimiterio ad sanctum Laurentium Habundii, Hirenei. | |||||
| et in por̃ rom̃ nunni | et in Portu Romano Nunni. | ||||||
| ARELATO Sc̃i Genesi martyr̃ | |||||||
| et in ostea arcei | et in Ostea Arcei. | ||||||
| et in porto urbis rom̄ nał sc̃i yppoliti qui dicitur nonnus cum sociis eorum | et in Porto urbis Romae Yppoliti qui dicitur Nonnus. | in Portu Urbis Romae Yppoliti qui dicitur Nonnus. | |||||
| IN GALL. CIUIT. neuerno. Sc̃i Patricii. abbatis et conf̃. et Sc̃i Geldardi. presƀi | |||||||
| et rom̃ ad scm̃ laureñ innocentum sirti marcialis hermogerati habundi innocenti mirendini it̃ | et Romae ad sanctum Laurentium innocentum Sirti Marcialis Hermogerati Habundi Innocenti Mirendini | ||||||
| ET IN TERRITur̃ edua ciuitatȩ uico ceruidunensi. Depos̃ Sc̃i Epadi prƀi. | |||||||
| in ostea cyriaci archelai | In hostia nł sc̃orum quiriaci et archilai | in Ostea natale sanctorum Cyriaci et Archelai. | in Ostea natale sanctorum Cyriaci et Archelai. | in Ostia natale sanctorum Cyriaci et Archelai. | |||
| in provin cilicia civĩ egas claudi asteri neonis domninae | in provincia Cilicia civitate Egeas Claudi Asteri Neonis Domninae. | in provincia Cilicia civitate Egeas Claudi Asteri Neonis Domninae. | in provincia Cilicia civitate Egea Claudii, Asterii, Neonis, Domninae. | ||||
| lugduñ gał minervini elezari cum filis VIII. | lugduno gałł nat̃ sc̃orũ minervi eleazari cum filiis VIII | Lugduno Galliae Minervini Eleazari cum filiis VIII Remus civitate natale sanctorum Timothei Appollinaris. | Lugduno Galliae Minervini Eleazari cum filiis VIII Remus civitate natale sanctorum Timothei Appollinaris. | Lugduno Galliae Minervini, Eleazari cum filiis VIII. | |||
| remus civĩ timothei appollinaris | Remus civit̃ nł sc̃orum thimothei apollonaris | Remus civitate natale sanctorum Timothei, Apollinaris. | |||||
| augustuđ flaviani ep̃i | Agustiduno. flaviani ep̃i | Augustoduno depositio sancti Flaviani episcopi. | Augustoduno depositio sancti Flaviani episcopi. | Augustoduno depositio sancti Flaviani episcopi. | |||
| arven̄ sinodi ep̃i | Arvernus nł sc̃i sidoni ep̃i. | Arvernus sancti Sidonii episcopi. | Arvernus sancti Sidonii episcopi. | Arvernus sancti Sidonii episcopi. |
Record Created By
Marijana Vukovic
Date of Entry
12/08/2022
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00213 | Roman martyrs associated with Xystus/Sixtus, Laurence and Hippolytus | Abundus | Certain | S00256 | Bartholomew, the Apostle | Bartholomeus | Certain | S00263 | Genesius, notary and martyr of Arles | Genesus | Certain | S00329 | Timotheus and Apollinaris, martyrs of Reims | Timotheus/Thimotheus; Appollinaris/Apollonaris | Certain | S00898 | Aurea and Companions, martyrs of Ostia and Portus | Nunnus/Yppolitus; Arceus/Archilaus/Archelaus; Quiriacus/Cyriacus | Certain | S02389 | Eptadius, presbyter of Cervidunum, 6th c. | Flavianus; Epadus | Certain | S02533 | Klaudios, Asterios, Neon and Theonilla, martyrs of Cilicia | Claudus; Asterus; Neon; Domnina | Certain | S02547 | Fortunatus and Hermagoras, martyrs of Aquileia | Furtunatus; Hermogenes/Ermodorus | Certain | S02548 | Minervus and Eleazar, martyrs of Lyon (Gaul), 3rd cent. | Minervinus/Minervus; Elezarus/Eleazarus | Certain | S02556 | Sidonius Apollinaris, poet, diplomat, and bishop of Clermont, ob. c. 489 | Sidonus | Certain | S02557 | lesser saints, on 22 August in the Martyrologium Hieronymianum: in Rome and Aquileia | Xistus; Marcialis; Hermogeratus; Innocentus; Merendinus | Certain | S02561 | Gildardus, bishop of Rouen, ob. 511 | Geldardus | Certain | S02565 | Genobus, Capitulinus, Emerita, Italica, martyrs of Antioch | Genobus; Capitolinus; Emerita; Italica | Certain | S02566 | Patricius, monk and missionary of Nièvre (Gaul), 6th cent. | Patricius | Certain |
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