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 15 September.
Evidence ID
E04952
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 15 September the following feasts:
Possibly *Serapiōn, presbyter and martyr, (S01080),
*Seleukos and companions, martyrs in Galatia, (S01081),
*Valerianus, Macrobius, and Gordianus, martyrs at Tomis, Romania, (S02989),
Perhaps *Markianos, martyr of Heracleia of Thrace, (S00992),
Possibly *Constantia, sibling martyr during Nero, and companion of Felix, (S02985),
The burial of *Aper, bishop of Toul, ob. 6th c. (S02195),
*Valerianus, martyr of Tournus (Gaul), (S00324),
The burial of *Alpinus, bishop of Lyon, 4th cent., (S02993),
*Other saints, on 15 September in the Martyrologium Hieronymianum: in Campania, and Aquileia/Ancyra (S02994).
BnF 10837:
'On the seventeenth day before the Kalends of October, the feast of Serapio, Leontus.
And in Ancyra of Galatia, [the feast of] Seleucus, Falerus, Cirio.
And in Tomis, [the feast of] Strato, Macrobus.
And in Nuceria of Campania, [the feast of] Constantus, Cyrinus, Crocus, Valerus, bishop Cundianus.
In Nicomedia, [the feast of] Arteus.
In Aquila, [the feast of] bishop Paulinus.
In Caulonnum castle, [the feast of] martyr Valerianus.
In Lyon, [the feast of] bishop Appinus.'
Bern 289:
'On the seventeenth day before the Kalends of October, in Alexandria, the feast of three brothers, that is, Cyrinus, Serapio, and Leontus, Crocus.
And in Ancyra of Galatia, [the feast of] Seleocus, Valerus.
And in the city of Tomis, the feast of Strato, Valerus, Merobius, and bishop Gordianus.
In Nicomedia, [the feast of] Marcius, Archeo.
And in Noceria of Campania, [the feast of] Constantius.
In the city Tullo, the burial of Aprus, confessor and bishop.
In Ancyra, [the feast of] bishop Paulus.
And in Cavilonum castle, [the feast of] martyr Valerianus.
In Lyon in Gaul, [the feast of] blessed Aplinus bishop.'
Weissenburg 81:
'On the seventeenth day before the Kalends of October, in Alexandria, the feast of three brothers, Cyrinus, Leontus, Serapio, Crocus.
And in Ancyra of Galatia, the feast of Seleucus, Valerus.
And in the city of Tomis, the feast of Stratorus, Valerus, Merobus, and bishop Gordianus.
In Nicomedia, [the feast of] Arcius and Archeo.
And in Noceria of Campania, the feast of Constantus.
In Ancyra, the burial of bishop Paulus.
And in the territory of Cavilonum castle, the feast of martyr Valerianus.
In Lyon in Gaul, the burial of bishop Albinus.'
Quentin follows mainly Bern 289 and Weissenburg 81.
Delehaye also follows the early manuscripts, but also introduces some new commemorations.
Translation and comments: M. Vukovic
Festivals
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 three early manuscripts of the Martyrologium Hieronymianum start their entry for 15 September with the commemoration in Alexandria. The manuscript BnF 10837 commemorates Serapio and Leontus, while the two other manuscripts record four saints: Cyrinus, Serapio, Leontus, and Crocus. Delehaye considers various options regarding this group of saints. One of them, Serapio, could be the same saint as *Serapiōn, (presbyter and martyr, S01080), who is commemorated in the Syriac Martyrology on 14 September (E01551). The other saints mentioned with him are considered his companions.Further, the manuscripts record on 15 September the commemoration of Seleucus/Seleocus, Valerus/Falerus, and Cirio in Ancyra of Galatia. On the same day, the Syriac Martyrology records *Seleukos (martyr in Galatia, S01081) with five other saints. The saint in case here must be *Seleukos (S01081). Valerus, who appears in Weissenburg 81 and Bern 289, will be identified further below. Also, Cirio, who is also mentioned, according to Delehaye, could be the same as Cyrinus, mentioned above.
The commemoration in Tomis, which appears in all three manuscripts, brings in the saints Strato and Macrobus (BnF 10837) and Strato/Stratorus, Valerus, Merobius/Merobus, and Gordianus (Weissenburg 81 and Bern 289). They could be identified as *Valerianus, Macrobius, and Gordianus, (martyrs at Tomis, Romania, S02989).
Further, the manuscripts record the commemoration in Nicomedia of Marcius/Arcius and Archeo. Delehaye was not sure as to who was the first saint. He suggested that it may be *Markianos (martyr of Heracleia of Thrace, S00992); the other saint is, in fact, not a name of a saint. In BnF 10837, the first saint is called Arteus.
Also, the manuscripts record the commemoration in Nocera Inferiore (Campania) of the saints Constantus/Constantius, Cyrinus, Crocus, Valerus, Cundianus. Some of these names previously appeared in the commemoration in Alexandria above and are already identified (Cyrinus, Crocus, Valerus). Delehaye considers that Constantius could be the same saint as commemorated on 1 and 17 September (E04938, E04959), *Constantia, (sibling martyr during Nero, and companion of Felix, S02985). Cundianus stays unidentified.
Further, the manuscript Bern 289 records on this date the burial of *Aper, (bishop of Toul, ob. 6th c. S02195). This saint is further mentioned in the record E05936. *Aper (S02195) had a martyrdom dedicated to him, BHL 616-617.
All three manuscripts further record Paulus/Paulinus of Aquileia/Ancyra. Weissenburg 81 records the burial of this saint. Delehaye discusses several options in his attempt to identify the saint; we leave him unidentified because none of the options is certain.
Further, the three manuscripts record on this date *Valerianus, (martyr of Tournus (Gaul), S00324). This saint is recorded by Gregory of Tours (E00367).
Finally, the manuscripts record on this date Appinus/Aplinus/Albinus in Lyon, France. He is identified as *Alpinus, (bishop of Lyon, 4th cent., S02993).
Unidentified saints are listed by us among *Other saints, on 15 September in the Martyrologium Hieronymianum: in Campania, and Aquileia/Ancyra (S02994).
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| XVII k oct̃ Nt̃ serapionis leonti | XUII. KL. OCT. IN ALEXANDR. NAtał Sc̃orum trium fratrum id est Cyrini. Serapionis. et Leonti. Croci. | XVII KL. OCT. In alexandria nat̃ sc̃orum trium fratrum cyrini. leonti serapionis croci | natale Serapionis et Leonti | In Alexandria natale sanctorum trium fratrum id est Cyrini Serapionis et Leonti Croci. | in Alexandria natale sanctorum trium fratrum, id est Cyrini, Serapionis et Leontii. | ||
| et in ancira gallit̃ seleuci faleri cirionis | ET ANCIRA galacie. Seleoci. Ualeri. | Et ancyra galatiȩ nł sc̃orum seleuci valeri | et in Ancira Galatiae Seleuci Valeri Cirionis | et in Ancira Galatiae Seleuci Valeri | in Ancyra Galatiae Seleuci. | ||
| et in tomis stratonis macrobi | ET IN THOMIS. ciuitat̃ Natale Stratonis Ualeri. Merobii. et gordiani ep̃i | et in thomis civit̃ nat̃ stratori valeri merobi et gordiani ep̃i | et in Thomis civitate natale Stratonis Macrobi | et in Thomis civitate natale Stratonis Valeri Macrobi et Gordiani episcopi. | in Tomis civitate natale Stratonis, Valerii, Macrobii et Gordiani. | ||
| NICOMEDIA. Marcii. Archeon | et in nicomedia nat̃ sc̃orum arcii et archeon | Nicomedia Marcii Archeon. | Cavillono castro Trenortio sancti Valeriani martyris. | ||||
| et̃ in nuceria campañ constanti cyrini croci valeri cundiani ep̃i | ET IN NOCERIE campanie. Constantii | et in noceria campania nat̃ sc̃i constanti | et in Nuceria Campaniae Constanti Cyrini Croci Valeri Cundiani episcopi. | et in Nuceria Campaniae Constanti | Lugduno Galliae Alpini episcopi. | ||
| nicom̄ artei | Nicomediae Artei. | Romae Nicomedis martyris. | |||||
| IM TULLO Ciuit̃ depos̃. Sc̃i Apri conf̃ et ep̃i. | in Tullo civitate depositio sancti Apri confessoris et episcopi. | ||||||
| in aquila paulini ep̃i | IN ANQUIRA. Pauli ep̃i | In anquira dep̃ sc̃i pauli ep̃i. | in Aquila Paulini episcopi. | In Aquila Paulini episcopi. | |||
| et caulonno castro valeriani mar̃ | ET CAUILON. castro trenortio Sc̃i Ualeriani martyr̃ | et in territurio cavilonens̃ castro trenorcino nat̃ sc̃i valeriani mart̃ | et Cavillono castro Trenortio sancti Valeriani martyris. | et Cavillono castro Trenortio sancti Valeriani martyris. | |||
| lugduñ appini ep̃i. | LUGDUNO GALL. Beati. Aplini. ep̃i. | lugduno gallea depos̃ albini ep̃i | Lugduno Galliae beati Appini episcopi. | Lugduno Galliae beati Appini episcopi. |
Record Created By
Marijana Vukovic
Date of Entry
28/05/2022
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00324 | Valerianus, martyr of Tournus | Valerianus | Certain | S00992 | Markianos, martyr of Heracleia in Thrace | Marcius/Arcius/Arteus | Uncertain | S01080 | Serapiōn, presbyter and martyr | Cyrinus; Serapio; Leontus; Crocus | Uncertain | S01081 | Seleukos, martyr in Galatia | Seleucus/Seleocus | Certain | S02195 | Aper, bishop of Toul, 6th c. | Aprus | Certain | S02985 | Felix and Constantia, sibling martyrs under Nero | Constantus/Constantius | Uncertain | S02989 | Valerianus, Macrobius, and Gordianus, martyrs at Tomis, Romania | Strato/Stratorus; Valerus; Merobius/Merobus/Macrobus; Gordianus | Certain | S02993 | Alpinus, bishop of Lyon, 4th cent. | Appinus/Aplinus/Albinus | Certain | S02994 | Other saints, on 15 September in the Martyrologium Hieronymianum: in Campania, and Aquileia/Ancyra | Cundianus; Paulus/Paulinus | Certain |
|---|
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