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 September.
E04938
Liturgical texts - Calendars and martyrologies
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 September the following feasts:
*Twelve brothers, four groups of southern Italian martyrs enshrined in Benevento (Italy), early 4th cent., (S02579),
*Terentianus, bishop and martyr of Todi, (S02490),
*Priscus, martyr of Capua (south Italy), (S02538),
Possibly *Constantia, sibling martyr during Nero, and companion of Felix, (S02985),
*Evodius, Hermogenes, and Callistus, martyrs of Nicaea, and sons of Theodote (S00257),
*Other saints, on 17 November in the Martyrologium Hieronymianum: in Campania, Hierapolis, Perinthus-Heracleia, and Carthage (S02956),
Possibly *Other saints, on 9 September in the Martyrologium Hieronymianum: in Caessarea (S03006),
The burial of Victorius, bishop of Le Mans (north-west Gaul), ob. c. AD 490, (S01280),
*Petros, bishop and martyr of Alexandria, (S00247),
The burial of *Lupus, bishop of Sens, ob. c. 620, (S02174),
*Vincentius, martyred bishop of Dax in Gascony (Gaul), (S02597),
*Other saints, on 1 September in the Martyrologium Hieronymianum: in Bettausia Prima and "elsewhere" (S03010).
BnF 10837:
'September has 30 days. On the Kalends of September, in Apulia (south Italy), [the feast of] Felix and Donatus.
And in Capua, [the feast of] Priscus.
And in Cassino, [the feast of] Constantus.
In Aquinia, [the feast of] Priscus, bishop Terrentianus, Herdona.
In Siracuse, [the feast of] Erodus, Hermogenes, Calesta.
In Africa, [the feast of] Tascia, Dubitatus, Valentus, Donatus.
In Carthage, [the feast of] Furtunatus. [Also] in Carthage, [the feast of] Primus, Maternus.
And elsewhere, [the feast of] Sisinnus, Amausus.
In Le Mans (north-west Gaul), bishop and confessor Victor.'
Bern 289:
'September has 30 days. On the Kalends of September, in Capua, on the via Aquaria, the feast of Priscus.
In Todi, Tuscany, [the feast of] bishop Terentianus, Felix, Donatus.
In Villa Herdona, in Syracuse, Apulia, [the feast of] Euodus, Hermogenes, Calesta.
In Africa, the city Tuniza, the feast of Tascia, Dubitatus, Valentus, Donata.
In Carthage, [the feast of] Furtunatus, Donatus, Felix.
In Bettausia Prima, [the feast of] bishop Marcus.
And elsewhere, [the feast of] Sisinnus, Amausus.
In the city Le Mans (north-west Gaul), the feast of bishop and confessor Victor.
In Alexandria, [the feast of] bishop Petrus.'
Weissenburg 81:
'September has 30 days. On the Kalends of September, in Capua, on the via Aquaria, [the feast of] Priscus.
In Todi of Tuscany, the feast of bishop Terentianus, Felix, Donatus.
In Apulia, Syracuse, the feast of Evotus, Hermogenes, Calista.
In Africa, the city Toniza, the feast of Tascia, Dubitatus, Valentus, Donata.
In Carthage, the feast of Furtunatus, Donatus, Felix.
In Betausia Prima, the feast of bishop Marcianus.
And elsewhere, the feast of Sisinnus, Amausus.
In the city Le Mans (north-west Gaul), the burial of bishop Victor.
In the city Senona, the burial of bishop and confessor Lupus.
And in the city Aquae (Tarbellicae, Dax, south-western Gaul), the passion of bishop and martyr Vincentius.'
Quentin follows the early manuscripts to an extent.
Delehaye also somewhat follows the early manuscripts, but also introduces new saints.
Translation and comments: M. Vukovic
Saint’s feast
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 entry for 1 September is one of the complicated entries of the Martyrologium Hieronymianum. The early manuscripts have a different structure of their entries, with saints being repeated in different locations.The manuscript BnF 10837 opens the daily entry with the commemoration in Apulia of the saints Felix and Donatus. The same saints appear a little bit later in two other manuscripts to have commemoration in Todi, Tuscany, together with Terentianus. They also appear somewhat later to have commemoration in Carthage. Delehaye suggests that Felix and Donatus, recorded on this day to have commemoration in Apulia, Toscany, and Carthage, according to the early manuscripts of the Martyrologium, belong to *Twelve brothers, (four groups of southern Italian martyrs enshrined in Benevento (Italy), early 4th cent., S02579), who are also recorded on 27 August (E04932). The third saint, commemorated with them is identified as *Terentianus, (bishop and martyr of Todi, S02490).
Also, the three manuscripts commemorate in Capua *Priscus, (martyr of Capua (south Italy), S02538).
Further, the manuscript BnF 10837 records the commemoration in Cassino of a saint Constantus. Delehaye suspects that this could be the same saint which is commemorated on 15 September (E04952). On this date, we identify *Constantia, (sibling martyr during Nero, and companion of Felix, S02985), which may be the same identification of the saint today.
On this day, we have a commemoration of *Evodius, Hermogenes, and Callistus, (martyrs of Nicaea, and sons of Theodote S00257 ) in Apulia, Syracuse. The three saints also appear on 25 April (E04789) and 2 August (E04905). However, on this date, the name Callistus is turned into Calista. These saints are known as *Theodote and her three sons, (martyrs of Nicaea, S00257).
Further, the manuscript BnF 10837 again records the saints which we identified above: Priscus, bishop Terrentianus, and Herdona in Aquinia. Herdona refers, according to Delehaye, to the villa Herdona, where the saints Felix and Donatus are commemorated.
Also, the manuscripts Bern 289 and Weissenburg 81 record the commemoration in Africa, the city of Toniza/Tuniza, which could be Carthage. The saints Tascia, Dubitatus, Valentus, and Donata, according to Delehaye, appear also on 2 September (E04939). The same saints appear on 17 November among *Other saints, on 17 November in the Martyrologium Hieronymianum: in Campania, Hierapolis, Perinthus-Heracleia, and Carthage (S02956). The same manuscripts record further the commemoration specifically in Carthage, of the saints Donatus, Felix, and Furtunatus. While the first two saints repeat from above, together with Furtunatus, according to Delehaye, they appear together on 9 September (E04946). On this date, we identified them to be among *Other saints, on 9 September in the Martyrologium Hieronymianum: in Caessarea (S03006).
Further, the manuscripts Bern 289 and Weissenburg 81 record the commemoration in Bettausia Prima, of the saint Marcus/Marcianus. Both the location and the saint are unidentified. Delehaye considers that the commemoration in Carthage, recorded further below in the manuscript BnF 10837 refers to the same saint, which is written as Maternus. The name Primus refers to the location.
Further, all three early manuscripts record the two saints commemorated "elsewhere": Sisinnus and Amausus. These saints are unidentified.
The three manuscripts also commemorate *Victorius, (bishop of Le Mans (north-west Gaul), ob. c. AD 490, (S01280). The manuscript Weissenburg 81 records this date as the date of his burial.
Delehaye thinks that Petrus, recorded on this date only in manuscript Bern 289, is the same saint as recorded on 25 November (E04938), *Petros, (bishop and martyr of Alexandria, S00247).
The manuscript Weissenburg 81 records a few more commemorations on this day: the burial of *Lupus, (bishop of Sens, ob. c. 620, (S02174), and *Vincentius, (martyred bishop of Dax in Gascony (Gaul), S02597).
Unidentified saints are listed by us among *Other saints, on 1 September in the Martyrologium Hieronymianum: in Bettausia Prima and "elsewhere" (S03010).
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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
September dies XXX. Kl sept̃ in apulia felicis et donati | In Apulia Felicis et Donati. | in Apulia in villa Herdona Felicis et Donati. | |||||
et in capua prisci | LAETANIAS INDICENDAS. MENSIS SEP. HABET DIS. XXX KL. SEPTB. IN CAPUA AQUI.ria. Natał Sc̃i Prisci. | MENSIS SEP. HAB. DIES XXX KL. Sep̃ In capua aquaria nat̃ sc̃i prisci | et in Capua Aquaria natale sancti Prisci. | in Capua Aquaria natale sancti Prisci. | In Capua 〈via〉 Aquaria natale sancti Prisci. | ||
ET IN TUDERtina tuscia Terentiani ep̃i. Felicis Donati. | In tuturnina tusciae Nat̃ sc̃orum terentiani ep̃i felicis donati. | et in Tudertina Tusciae Terrentiani episcopi Felicis Donati. | |||||
et in casino constanti | in Casino Constantii. | ||||||
IN UILLA HERDOna In apolia siracusa Euodi. Hermogenis Caleste. | In apolia syracusae nat̃ sc̃orum euoti hermogenis calistae | in villa Herdona in Apolia Siracusae Erodi Hermoginis Caleste. | |||||
aquinia sc̃i prisci terrentiani ep̃i herdonae | et in Tudertina Tusciae Terrentiani episcopi | in Tudertina Tusciae Terentiani episcopi. | |||||
IN AFRICA Ciuit̃ tuniza Natał Sc̃orū Tasciȩ. Dubitati. UaleNti. Donatȩ | In afreca ciuit toniza nat̃ sc̃orum tasciae dubitati ualenti donatae | in Affrica civitate Tuniza natale sanctorum Tasciae Dubitati Valenti Donati. | |||||
IN CARTAGINÆ. Furtunati. Donati. Felicis. | In cartaginȩ nat̃ sc̃orum furtunati donati felicis | ||||||
siracussae erodi hermoginis caleste | in villa Herdona Siracusae Erodi Hermoginis Caleste. | Siracusae Evodii, Hermogenis 〈et〉 Callistae. | |||||
BETTAUSIA PRIma. Marci ep̃i. | betausia prima nt̃ sc̃orum marciani ep̃i | ||||||
in aff̃ tasciae dubitati valenti donati | in Affrica civitate Tuniza natale sanctorum Tasciae Dubitati Valenti Donati. | ||||||
kartag̃ furtunati In cartag̃ primi materni | in Cartagine Furtunati in Cartagine Primi Materni. | in Cartagine Furtunati Donati Felicis Bettausia Prima Marci episcopi. | |||||
et alibi sisinni amausi | et alibi Sc̃orum Sisinni. Amausi. | et alibi nat̃ sc̃orum sisinni amausi | et alibi sanctorum Sisinni Amausi. | et alibi sanctorum Sisinni Amausi. | |||
celomanis victoris ep̃i et conf̃. | CINOMANNIS ciuit̃. Natł sc̃i Uictoris episcopi. et confes̃. | cennomannis ciuit̃ dep̃ uictoris ep̃i | Cenomannis civitate natale sancti Victoris episcopi et confessoris. | Cenomannis civitate natale sancti Victoris episcopi et confessoris. | Cenomannis civitate natale sancti Victoris episcopi et confessoris. | ||
i(n) alexa(n)dria sci petri epi. | |||||||
Senonis ciuit̃ depos̃ sc̃i lupi ep̃i et conf̃ | Senonis civitate depositio sancti Lupi episcopi et confessoris. | ||||||
et in aquis civ. pas. sci vincentii epi et mr. | in Aquis civitate passio sancti Vincentii episcopi et martyris. | ||||||
Ambianis civitate depositio sancti Firmini episcopi et confessoris. |
Marijana Vukovic
09/07/2022
ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00247 | Petros, bishop and martyr of Alexandria, and companion martyrs | Petrus | Certain | S00257 | Theodote and her three sons, martyrs of Nicaea | Erodus/Euodus/Euotus; Hermogenes; Calesta/Calista | Certain | S01280 | Victorius, bishop of Le Mans, ob. c. 490 | Victor | Certain | S02174 | Lupus, bishop of Sens, ob. c. 620 | Lupus | Certain | S02490 | Terentianus, bishop and martyr of Todi | Terentianus | Certain | S02538 | Priscus, martyr of Capua | Priscus | Certain | S02579 | Twelve brothers, four groups of southern Italian martyrs enshrined in Benevento (Italy), early 4th cent. | Felix; Donatus | Certain | S02597 | Vincentius, martyred bishop of Dax in Gascony (Gaul) | Vincentius | Certain | S02956 | Other saints, on 17 November in the Martyrologium Hieronymianum: in Campania, Hierapolis, Perinthus-Heracleia, and Carthage | Tascia; Dubitatus; Valentus; Donata | Certain | S02985 | Felix and Constantia, sibling martyrs during Nero, 68 AD | Constantus | Uncertain | S03006 | Other saints, on 9 September in the Martyrologium Hieronymianum: in Caessarea | Furtunatus; Felix; Donatus | Uncertain | S03010 | Other saints, on 1 September in the Martyrologium Hieronymianum: in Bettausia Prima and "elsewhere" | Marcus/Marcianus/Maternus; Sisinnus; Amausus | Certain |
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