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 August.
Evidence ID
E04930
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 August the following feasts:
*Bartholomew, the Apostle, (S00256),
*Anastasius, fuller and martyr of Aquileia and Salona (Croatia), ob. 304, (S02571),
*Julianus, monk of the community near Antioch, Syria, and companion of Macharus (S02511),
Possibly *Merkourios, soldier and martyr in Caesarea of Cappadocia, (S01323),
*Eutyches, martyr of Rome, and companion martyr with Nereus and Achilleus (S00403),
*Rufus, martyr of Capua (south Italy), (S02531),
*Hermes, martyr of Rome, (S00404),
*Iulius, martyr of Rome/Capua, (S02569),
*Maximus, martyr of Rome, buried on the via Salaria (S00173),
*Quintus, perhaps the martyr of Rome, buried on the Via Latina, (S00581),
*Basilla, virgin and martyr of Rome, (S00684),
*Genesius, notary and martyr of Arles, (S00263),
*Sevus, Victor, Primus, and Victor, saints of Arles (Gaul), (S02576),
*Eptadius, presbyter of Cervidunum, near Autun, ob. before 550, (S02389),
*Iustus and Pastor, schoolboys and martyrs of Alcala, Spain, (S00504),
*Eleutherius, bishop of Auxerre (Gaul), 6th cent., (S02575).
BnF 10837:
'On the eighth day before the Kalends of September, the feast of the Apostle Bartholomew in India.
In Arles (Gaul), [the feast of] Genisus.
In Rome, [the feast of] Eutices.
And in Syria, [the feast of] Iulianus.
Elsewhere, [the feast of] priest Aptatus.
In Capua, [the feast of] Rufina, Eutica, Iulus, Hermes.
In Spain, in an unclear place, [the feast of] Iustus, Pastor.'
Bern 289:
'On the eighth day before the Kalends of September, in the city Salona (Croatia), [the feast of] martyr Anastasus [...].
And in the city of Apulia, Aeclanum, [the feast of] martyr Mercurius.
In Rome, in the cemetery of Basilla, [the feast of] Maximilianus. And on the via Penestrina, in the 22nd mile, [the feast of] martyr Quintinus.
In Gaul, the city of Arles, [the feast of] Sevus, Victor, Primus, also, Victor.
In Auxerre, [the feast of] bishop Eleuterus.'
Weissenburg 81:
'On the eighth day before the Kalends of September, in the province of Syria, the feast of Iulianus, where there was a big gathering of five monastic communities; he deserved by faith to be crowned.
In the city Capua of Campania, the feast of Rufina, Eutica, with their companions.
In the same cemetery on the via Nomentana, in the 18th mile...
In Arles, the feast of martyr Genesus, Iulus, Hermes.
In Spain, the feast of Iustus, and Pastor martyr.'
Quentin does not follow the manuscripts carefully.
Delehaye approximately follows the manuscripts.
Translation and comments: M. Vukovic.
FestivalsCult building - monastic
Places Named after Saint
Saint’s feast
Cult PlacesCult building - monastic
Burial site of a saint - cemetery/catacomb
Places Named after SaintCemetery
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 manuscripts of the Martyrologium Hieronymianum have quite differing entries for 25 August, especially in the opening. The manuscript BnF 10837 starts with the commemoration of *Bartholomew, (the Apostle, S00256) in India. At the same time, manuscript Bern 289 repeats the commemoration from 26 August (E04931) of the saint *Anastasius, (fuller and martyr of Aquileia and Salona (Croatia), ob. 304, S02571). Julianus, commemorated in Syria, according to Weissenburg 81, but also BnF 10837 somewhat later on this date is *Julianus, (monk of the community near Antioch, Syria, and companion of Macharus, S02511); he otherwise has a companion and they are also recorded on 12 August (E04916).Further, the manuscript Bern 289 records *Merkourios, (soldier and martyr in Caesarea of Cappadocia, S01323) in Apulia. He appears only in this manuscript. We consider this identification possible because the saint was originally commemorated in Cappadocia. Weissenburg 81 records in Capua the saints Rufina and Eutica. The commemoration repeats later in manuscript BnF 10837 and includes Iulus and Hermes. They are identified as *Eutyches, (martyr of Rome, and companion martyr with Nereus and Achilleus, S00403), *Rufus, (martyr of Capua (south Italy), S02531), *Hermes, (martyr of Rome, S00404), and *Iulius, (martyr of Rome/Capua, S02569). Delehaye also considers that among the saints of Capua, Italy, we have *Rufus, (martyr of Capua (south Italy), S02531) (here Rufina), and *Eutyches, (martyr of Rome, and companion martyr with Nereus and Achilleus, S00403).
In Weissenburg 81, there is a confusion in a section of the text that follows: In cimit eiusdem via numentana miliario XVIII Arelato nat̃ sc̃orum genesi mar̃ iuli hermetis. It is possible that the part of the text Arelato nat̃ sc̃orum genesi mar̃, which describes the feast of *Genesus in Arles, was inserted into the text: In cimit eiusdem via numentana miliario XVIII iuli hermetis, which describes where in Rome these two saints were commemorated. Two other manuscripts record the commemoration in Rome of the saints Eutices, Maximilianus, and Quintinus in the cemetery of Basilla. The first saint is identified above as *Eutyches, (martyr of Rome, and companion martyr with Nereus and Achilleus, S00403). Bern 289 records *Maximus, (presbyter and martyr of Rome, S00173), and *Quintus, (martyr at Rome, buried on the Via Latina, ob.???, S00580), who also appear the next day (E04931), in the cemetery of *Basilla, (martyr at Rome, ob. 304, S00684).
The manuscripts BnF 10837 and Weissenburg 81 then record the saint Genisus, who is identified as *Genesius, (notary and martyr of Arles, S00263). Manuscript Bern 289 records in the same location the saints *Sevus, Victor, Primus, and Victor, (saints of Arles (Gaul), S02576).
Manuscript BnF 10837 further record *Eptadius, (presbyter of Cervidunum, near Autun, ob. before 550, S02389) in an unknown location.
Manuscripts BnF 10837 and Weissenburg 81 finally record *Iustus and Pastor, (schoolboys and martyrs of Alcala, Spain, S00504), while manuscript Bern 289 end the day with the commemoration of *Eleutherius, (bishop of Auxerre (Gaul), 6th cent., S02575).
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 k sep̃ nt̃ bartholomei apos̃ in india | UIII KL. SEP. IN SALONA Ciuit̃ Sc̃i Anastasi mar̃ hic fullo fuit. | UIII KAL. SEPTE(M)B. In provincia syria nat̃ sc̃i iuliani Ubi magnus fit conventus monachorum quiq; meruit fide coronari | |||||
| ET APOLIA Ciuit̃ hecclano Mercurii. martyris. | In capua civit̃ campaniȩ nat̃ sc̃orum rufinae euticae cū sociis eorum | ||||||
| in ariolato genisi | In Ariolato Genisi. | in Arelato natale sancti Genesii martyris. | |||||
| rom̃ euticetis | ROMÆ. in cimit̃ Basillȩ. Maximiliani. ET UIA PENEStrina. miliario XXII. Quintini martyris. | In cimit eiusdem via numentana miliario XVIII | |||||
| et in syria iuliani | in Syria natale sancti Iuliani. | in Syria natale sancti Iuliani. | in Syria natale sancti Iuliani. | ||||
| IN GALL. CIUIT. arelato. Sȩui. Uictoris. Primi It. Uictoris. | Arelato nat̃ sc̃orum genesi mar̃ iuli hermetis | ||||||
| alibi aptati prƀ | et alibi Aptati presbyteri. | et alibi Aptati presbyteri. | |||||
| in capua rufinae euticae iuli hermetis | in Capua civitate Campaniae sanctorum Rufinae Euticae. | in Capua civitate Campaniae sanctorum Rufinae Euticae. | in Capua civitate Campaniae sancti Rufini. | ||||
| in cimiterio eiusdem via Nomentana miliario XVIII Iuli Hermetis. | in cimiterio eiusdem via Nomentana miliario XVIII Arelato natale sancti Genesi martyris Iuli Hermetis. | Romae in cimiterio eiusdem via Nomentana miliario XVIII Euticetis. | |||||
| spanis conpluto loco iusti pastoris. | In spania nat̃ sc̃orum iusti et pastoris martyris. | in Spaniis Compluto loco natale sanctorum Iusti et Pastoris martyris. | in Spaniis Compluto loco natale sanctorum Iusti et Pastoris martyris. | in Spanis Compluto loco natale sanctorum Iusti et Pastoris martyrum. | |||
| Natale Bartholomaei apostoli in India. | |||||||
| AUTISIODER. Eleuteri episcopi. |
Record Created By
Marijana Vukovic
Date of Entry
15/07/2022
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00173 | Maximus/Maximilianus, martyr of Rome, buried on the via Salaria vetus | Maximilianus | Certain | S00256 | Bartholomew, the Apostle | Bartholomeus | Certain | S00263 | Genesius, notary and martyr of Arles | Genisus/Genesus | Certain | S00403 | Nereus and Achilleus, eunuchs and martyrs of Rome, and companions | Eutica/Eutices | Certain | S00404 | Hermes, martyr of Rome, buried on the via Salaria vetus | Hermes | Certain | S00504 | Iustus and Pastor, schoolboys and martyrs of Alcala, Spain | Iustus; Pastor | Certain | S00581 | Quartus and Quintus, martyrs of Rome, buried on the via Latina | Quintinus | Certain | S00684 | Basilla/Basilissa, virgin and martyr of Rome, buried on the via Salaria vetus | Basilla | Certain | S01323 | Merkourios, soldier and martyr of Caesarea of Cappadocia | Mercurius | Uncertain | S02389 | Eptadius, presbyter of Cervidunum, 6th c. | Aptatus | Certain | S02511 | Julianus and Macharus, monks of a community near Antioch, Syria | Iulianus | Certain | S02531 | Rufus, martyr of Capua (southern Italy) | Rufina | Certain | S02569 | Iulius, martyr of Rome/Capua | Iulus | Certain | S02571 | Anastasius, fuller and martyr of Aquileia (northern Italy) and Salona (Dalmatia) | Anastasus | Certain | S02575 | Eleutherius, bishop of Auxerre, ob. 549/561 | Eleuterus | Certain | S02576 | Sevus, Victor, Primus, and Victor, saints of Arles | Sevus; Victor; Primus; Victor | Certain |
|---|
Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL:
Marijana Vukovic, Cult of Saints, E04930 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E04930