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 19 September.
Evidence ID
E04961
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 19 September the following feasts:
*Kastōr, martyr in Alexandria (S01085),
Perhaps *Demetrios, bishop of Alexandria (189–232), (S01935),
Perhaps *Eight martyrs of Caesarea in Palestine, (S00198),
Possibly *Saturus, brother of Ambrose of Milan, lawyer and prefect of Liguria (Italy), (S02640),
*Genuarius/Ianuarius, bishop of Benevento and martyr of Naples, (S01322),
*Trophimos, martyr in Synnada (Phrygia, central Asia Minor), ob. c. 276-282, (S00606),
*Ferreolus, soldier and martyr of Vienne, ob. 303/304, (S01893),
*Julian, martyr of Brioude (southern Gaul), (S00035),
*Marianus, recluse near Bourges, probably 6th c., (S01295),
*Felix and Constantia, sibling martyrs during Nero, 68 AD, (S02985),
Possibly *Euphemia, martyr of Chalcedon, (S00017),
*Sequanus, abbot in the territory of Langres, 6th c., (S01300),
*Other saints, on 19 September in the Martyrologium Hieronymianum: in Alexandria, Naples, Trier, and "elsewhere" (S02987).
BnF 10837:
'On the thirteenth day before the Kalends of October, in Alexandria, [the feast of] Demeter, Castor, and Anicetus.
And in Campania, Naples, [the feast of] Ianuarus.'
Bern 289:
'On the thirteenth day before the Kalends of October, in Alexandria, [the feast of] Demeter, Paleus, Nilus, Parimadus, Helius, Castor, Saturus, bishop Nicetus.
And in Naples, [the feast of] Ianuarius and Anicetus.
And in Synnada of Phrygia, the feast of Trophus.
In Gaul, the city of Vienne, [the feast of] bishop and martyr Ferreolus, and many saints, with the head of Iulianus, martyr of Brivata, placed under the altar.
In the city of Trier, [the feast of] bishop Militus.
And elsewhere, [the feast of] bishop Trogus, deacon Pius, Quapileus, Nilus, Paternus, Muscius, with 150 others.
In Gaul, the village of Villaunum, in the territory of Bourges, [the feast of] Marianus.
In Noceria, [the feast of] Heremias.
And elsewhere, [the feast of] bishop Beatus.
In the territory of Lingonica, the city of Monassa, [the feast of] Felix and Constantia, who suffered during Nero, Privatus and Eufemia, priest Siggonus.'
Weissenburg 81:
'On the thirteenth day before the Kalends of October, in Alexandria, the feast of Dimeter, Paleus, Niliparus, Madihelius, Castor, Saturus, bishop Nicetus.
In Naples, the feast of Ianuarius and Ancius.
And in Synnada of Phrygia, the feast of Trophus.
And in Gaul, the city of Vienne, the feast of Feriolus, and the dedication of his basilica, and the translation of many bodies of saints, with the head of Iulianus, martyr of Brivata, placed under the altar.
And in the city of Trier, the burial of bishop Militus.
And elsewhere, the feast of bishop Trogus, deacon Pius, Quapileus, Paternus, Muscius, with 150 others.
In Gaul, in the territory of the city Bourges, in the village Villaunum, the feast of Marianus.
In Noceria, [the feast of] Hermes.
And elsewhere, [the feast of] bishop Beatus.
In the territory of the city of Lingonica, the monastery Segestrum, the burial of priest and confessor Sigones, Felix and Constantia, who passed during Nero, Privatus, Eufemia, Sigonus.'
Quentin follows the early manuscripts.
Delehaye also follows the early manuscripts to a significant extent.
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 display different entries for 19 September. While BnF 10837 displays quite a short entry, the two other manuscripts have extensive entries. All three manuscripts start with the commemoration in Alexandria. BnF 10837 records three saints: Demeter, Castor, and Anicetus, while the two other manuscripts display longer lists: Demeter/Dimeter, Paleus, Nilus, Parimadus, Helius, Castor, Saturus, Nicetus, Niliparus, and Madihelius. Among them, Castor must be *Kastōr (martyr in Alexandria, S01085), who is commemorated on the 19 September in the Syriac Martyrology (E01556). The Synaxarion of Constantinople also records the same saint, together with a saint Theodora.A saint Demeter/Dimeter also appears recorded in the same location. In Delehaye´s view, his entry is testified by Les martyrs d'Égypte. Our database records the saint *Demetrios, (bishop of Alexandria (189–232), S01935), who could perhaps be a saint in case here. Further saints may be identified among the *Eight martyrs of Caesarea in Palestine, (S00198). Some of the saints mentioned above, such as the saints Paleus, Nilus, Parimadus, and Helius, are not necessarily testified by the entry of Eusebius´ Martyrs of Palestine, but rather by the Synaxarion of Constantinople, according to Delehaye. The view to the names of these saints in the manuscripts demonstrates their distortion from one manuscript to the other; for example, In Weissenburg 81, the name Niliparus merges the name Nilus with the first part of the name Parus or Parimadus. At the same time, Parimadus from Bern 289 is in Weissenburg 81 Madihelius, which merges Madus and Helius. We consider Delehaye´s identification unlikely, and leave these saints unidentified.
The rest of the saints commemorated in Alexandria also cannot be easily identified. Saturus, according to Delehaye, could be the same as the saint commemorated on 18 September (E04960), *Saturus, (brother of Ambrose of Milan, lawyer and prefect of Liguria (Italy), S02640). Anicetus is not identified.
However, the saint with the same name is further commemorated in Naples, Campania, according to the early manuscripts of the Hieronymianum, on this date, together with Ianuarius/Ianuarus. The latter saint could be *Genuarius/Ianuarius, (bishop of Benevento and martyr of Naples, S01322). Anicetus here, again, stays unidentified.
The manuscript BnF 10837 has no further commemorations. The two other manuscripts record the saint Trophus in Synnada, who must be *Trophimos, (martyr in Synnada (Phrygia, central Asia Minor), ob. c. 276-282, S00606).
Further, the two early manuscripts of the Hieronymianum provide the information of the commemoration of *Ferreolus, (soldier and martyr of Vienne, ob. 303/304, S01893) and *Julian, (martyr of Brioude (southern Gaul), S00035), in Vienne, Gaul.
The bishop Militus, commemorated in Trier, cannot be easily identified. Delehaye also does not give a straightforward answer. Thus, he stays unidentified.
A number of saints are commemorated "elsewhere": Trogus, Pius, Quapileus, Nilus, Paternus, and Muscius. Some of these names are already identified above among the *Eight martyrs of Caesarea in Palestine, (S00198), for example, Nilus. The others stay unidentified.
Also, the two early manuscripts record on this date *Marianus, (recluse near Bourges, 6th c., S01295). Delehaye records him as a hermit who lived in the village of Evaunum in Gaul.
It is not certain who was the saint Heremias/Hermas, commemroated in Noceria, nor who was a saint Beatus, commemorated "elsewhere." They stay unidentified.
Finally, the two early manuscripts record on 19 September the commemoration of Felix and Constantia, who suffered during Nero, Privatus, Eufemia, and priest Siggonus/Sigones/Sigonus. The saints *Felix and Constantia, (sibling martyrs during Nero, 68 AD, S02985) are also commemorated on 20 September (E04962). Delehaye believes that the saint Eufemia could be *Euphemia (martyr of Chalcedon, S00017), also commemorated on 16 September (E04958). Privatus is, according to Delehaye, not the name of the saint but of a location, Brivata. Finally, Siggonus/Sigones/Sigonus is *Sequanus, (abbot in the territory of Langres, 6th c., S01300), who was mentioned by Gregory of Tours in his Glory of the Confessors (see E02448, E02720). The location of their commemoration is Langres, the monastery Segestrum or Segustrum, Saint-Seine- l'Abbaye (dép. de la Côte d'Or, arr. Dijon).
Unidentified saints are listed by us among *Other saints, on 19 September in the Martyrologium Hieronymianum: in Alexandria, Naples, Trier, and "elsewhere" (S02987).
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| XIII k. oct̃ in alēx demetri castoris et aniceti | XIII KL. OCT. IN ALEXAND. Demetri. Palei. Nili. Parimadi Helii. Castoris. Saturi. Niceti ep̃i | XIII KL. OCT. In alexđ nat̃ sc̃orum dimetri palei nilipari madihelii castoris saturi niceti ep̃i | In Alexandria Demetri Pallei Nili Parimadi Heli Castoris Saturi Niceti episcopi. | In Alexandria Demetri Pallei Nili Parimadi Heli Castoris Saturi Niceti episcopi. | in Alexandria Demetrii, Castoris. | ||
| 〈in Palaestina〉 Pelei, Nili, Patermuthii, Heliae cum aliis centum quinquaginta | |||||||
| et in camp̃ neapoli ianuari | ET NEAPOLI Sc̃orum Ianuarii. et aniceti. | In niapolim nł sc̃orum ianuarii et ancii | et Neapoli sanctorum Ianuari et Angi. | et Neapoli sanctorum Ianuari et Angi. | Neapoli sancti Ianuarii. | ||
| ET IN SINADA frigie. natał Trophi | et in sinada frigiae nał scorum trophy | et in Sinnada Frigiae natale Trophi. | et in Sinnada Frigiae natale Trophi. | in Sinnada Phrygiae natale Trophimi. | |||
| IN GALL. CIUIT. uigenne. Ferreoli ep̃i. et martyr̃ et multorum Sc̃orū cum caput sc̃i Iuliani. martyr̃ DE BRIUATE sub altare positū | et in gałł ciuit̃ uienna. nat̃ sc̃i ferioli et dedicatio basilicȩ ipsius et translatio multorum sc̃orum corporum cum capud sc̃i iuliani mar̃ briuate sub altario positum | in Galliis civitate Vienna Ferrioli martyris et dedicatio basilicae ipsius et translatio multorum sanctorum corporum cum caput sancti Iuliani martyris de Brivate sub altare positum. | in Galliis civitate Vienna Ferrioli martyris et dedicatio basilicae ipsius et translatio multorum sanctorum corporum cum caput sancti Iuliani martyris de Brivate sub altare positum. | in Galliis civitate Vienna Ferreoli martyris et dedicatio basilicae ipsius et translatio multorum sanctorum corporum cum capite sancti Iuliani martyris de Brivate sub altare posito. | |||
| IN TREUERIS ciuitate. Militi ep̃i | et in ciuit̃ treueris dep̃ militi ep̃i | in Treveris civitate Militi episcopi. | in Treveris civitate Militi episcopi. | in Treveris civitate Militi episcopi. Anicii in Vellavo 〈territorio〉 Georgii episcopi. | |||
| et alibi. Trogi ep̃i Pii diaconi. Quapilei. Nili. Paterni. Muscii. cū aliis centum quinquaginta | et alibi nat̃ sc̃orum trogi ep̃i pii diac̃ quapilei ni paterni muscii cum aliis CL. | et alibi Georgi episcopi Pii diaconi Quapili Nili Paterni Musci et aliorum CL. | et alibi Georgi episcopi Pii diaconi Quapili Nili Paterni Musci et aliorum CL. | ||||
| IN GALL. UICO. uillauno. in t̃riturio beturiȩ ciuitat̃ Sc̃i MariaNi. | In gałł terreturio betorio ciuit̃ uico uillauno nał sc̃i mariani | in Galliis vico Vellano in territorio Beturicae civitatis sancti Mariani. | in Galliis vico Vellano in territorio Beturicae civitatis sancti Mariani. | in Galliis vico Evauno in territorio Beturicae civitatis sancti Mariani eremitae. | |||
| IN NOCERIE Heremie | In noceria hermȩ | in Nuceria Heremitis item Felicis et Constantiae Privatae et Eufemiae Singoni presbyteri. | in Nuceria Heremitis | ||||
| et alibi Beati ep̃i | et alibi beati ep̃i | et alibi Beati episcopi. | |||||
| IN TERRITURIO. lingonicȩ. ciuitat̃ Monasse. It. Felicis et constantiae qui passi sunt sub nerone Priuati et eufemie Siggoni presbiteri. | In territurio lingonice ciuit̃ monasterio segestro dep̃ sc̃i sigonis prƀi et conf̃ felicis et constantiȩ qui passi sunt sub nerone priuati eufemiȩ sigonȩ | in territurio Lingonicae civitatis monasterio Segestro depositio sancti Sigonis presbyteri et confessoris item Felicis et Constantiae qui passi sunt sub Nerone Privatae et Eufemiae Singoni presbyteri. | in territorio Lingonicae civitatis monasterio Segestro depositio sancti Sigonis presbyteri et confessoris. |
Record Created By
Marijana Vukovic
Date of Entry
13/04/2022
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00017 | Euphemia, martyr of Chalcedon | Eufemia | Uncertain | S00035 | Julian, martyr of Brioude (southern Gaul) | Iulianus | Certain | S00198 | Eight martyrs of Caesarea in Palestine | Paleus; Nilus; Parimadus; Helius | Uncertain | S00606 | Trophimos, martyr in Synnada (Phrygia, central Asia Minor), ob. c. 276-282 | Trophus | Certain | S01085 | Kastor, martyr of Alexandria | Castor | Certain | S01295 | Marianus, recluse near Bourges, probably 6th c. | Marianus | Certain | S01300 | Sequanus, abbot in the territory of Langres, 6th c. | Siggonus/Sigones/Sigonus | Certain | S01322 | Ianuarius/Genuarius, bishop of Benevento and martyr of Naples | Ianuarus/Ianuarius | Certain | S01893 | Ferreolus, soldier and martyr of Vienne | Ferreolus/Feriolus | Certain | S01935 | Demetrios, bishop of Alexandria (189–232) | Demeter/Dimeter | Uncertain | S02640 | Saturus, brother of Ambrose of Milan, lawyer and prefect of Liguria (Italy) | Saturus | Uncertain | S02985 | Felix and Constantia, sibling martyrs under Nero | Felix; Constantia | Certain | S02987 | Other saints, on 19 September in the Martyrologium Hieronymianum: in Alexandria, Naples, Trier, and "elsewhere" | Anicetus/Nicetus; Paleus; Nilus; Parimadus; Helius; Niliparus; Madihelius; Militus; Trogus; Pius; Quapileus; Nilus; Paternus; Muscius; Heremias/Hermas; Beatus | Certain |
|---|
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