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 17 November.
Evidence ID
E05022
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 17 November the following feasts:
*Augustinus and Felicitas, martyrs of Capua, (S01993),
*Ammonios, Diophilos and Matrōna, and companions, martyrs in Nicomedia, (S01110),
Possibly *Caecilia, virgin and martyr of Rome, (S00146),
*Gregory the Miracle-Worker (Taumatourgos), bishop and missionary in Pontus, (S00687),
*Zakchaios and Alpheios, martyrs of Caesarea of Palestine, (S00119),
Possibly *Theodotus, presbyter and martyr in Perinthus, and companion of Demetrios, (S01108),
*Anianus, bishop of Orleans, (S01206),
*Other saints, on 17 November in the Martyrologium Hieronymianum: in Campania, Hierapolis, Perinthus-Heracleia, and Carthage (S02956).
BnF 10837:
'On the fifteenth day before the Kalends of December, in Nicomedia, [the feast of] Ammo.
And in Asia, [the feast of] Matrona and virgin Tecla.
In Hierapolis (Turkey), [the feast of] Victoria, Albeus and Romulus, Ammonus.
In Rome, across the Tiber, [the feast of] Cecilus.
In Nicomedia, [the feast of] Diophidis, Matrona, Tecla, Dida.
In Heraclea, [the feast of] Gregoria, Victor.
In Caesarea, [the feast of] Theodota, Alfus, Sacceus, Romanus.
In Carthage, Africa, [the feast of] Dubitatus, Tuscus, Valentinus.
And in Gratum (?), [the feast of] Galendio.
In Gallia, [the feast of] Aurilianus, bishop and confessor.'
Weissenburg 81:
'On the fifteenth day before the Kalends of December, in Campania, the city of Cappadocia (in fact Capua), the feast of Agustinus, Eusarius, and Felicitas.
In Nicomedia, the feast of Ammonus.
In Asia, the feast of Filia, Matrona, virgin Tecla.
In the city Hierapolis, the feast of Victor, Alfus, and Romola, whose Acts are extant.
In Rome, across the Tiber, the feast of Cecilus.
In Nicomedia, the feast of Ammona.
In Asia, the feast of Diobydis, Matrona, virgin Tecla, and Dida.
And in the city of Heraclea, the feast of Gregoria and Victor.
In Caesarea, the feast of Theodota, Alfeus, Zacheus, Romanus.
In Carthage in Africa, [the feast of] Dubitatus, Tuscus, Valentinus, Calendio.
In Gallia, in Orléans, the burial of Anianus, bishop and confessor.'
Bern 289 follows Weissenburg 81, with slight name variations.
Quentin follows the manuscripts carefully in his two versions of the text for the day.
Delehaye makes a selection of the saints for the day mostly from the manuscripts, but he also slightly changes the saintly names.
Translation and comments: M. Vukovic
FestivalsWomen
Saint’s feast
Cult PlacesBurial site of a saint - unspecified
Non Liturgical ActivityComposing and translating saint-related texts
RelicsBodily relic - entire body
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesWomen
Ecclesiastics - bishops
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 entries of the early manuscripts of the Martyrologium Hieronymianum on 17 November are extensive and largely different. The manuscripts Bern 289 and Weissenburg 81 first open their entries with the commemoration of Agustinus, Eusarius, and Felicitas in Capua, Campania. The location is mistakenly written as "Cappadocia" in Weissenburg 81. Delehaye identifies them as Agustinus and Felicitas, while he confirms that Eusarius is an unknown saint. They are registered as *Augustine and Felicity (martyrs at Capua, Italy, 3rd century, S01993), who suffered in 250; their feast day is also 16 November.The saint commemorated in Nicomedia, Ammo/Ammonus, recorded in all three early manuscripts of the Martyrologium Hieronymianum to have commemoration on 17 November is *Ammonios (martyr in Nicomedia and companion of Diophilos and Matrōna, S01110). The other saints commemorated in Nicomedia, Diophidis/Diobydis and Matrōna (*Diophilos and Matrōna, martyrs in Nicomedia and companions of Ammonios, S01110) also appear to have commemoration on this day in Asia and Nicomedia. Tecla, who is commemorated in Asia and Nicomedia, is their companion. Filia, who appears to have commemoration on this day in Asia, is, according to Delehaye, also *Diophilos (S01110). According to Delehaye, Dida, who appears to have had commemoration in Nicomedia and Asia, is in fact the variation of the name Tecla.
The saints commemorated in Hierapolis, Victoria/Victor, Albeus/Alfus/Alfeus, and Romulus/Romola, are not identified.
The saint commemorated in Rome, across the Tiber, Cecilus/Cecilius, who is recorded in all three early manuscripts of the Martyrologium Hieronymianum to have commemoration on 17 November could possibly be *Caecilia (virgin and martyr of Rome, S00146).
According to Delehaye, Gregoria should be read as Gregorius. He hints that this is *Gregory the Miracle-Worker (Taumatourgos) (bishop and missionary in Pontus, ob. c. 270, S00687). A saint Victor, commemorated in Heraclea (Perinthus-Heracleia) is not identified.
Alfus/Alfeus and Sacceus/Zaccheus/Zacheus, who are recorded together with Romanus and Theodota in Caesarea, are *Zakchaios from Gadara and Alpheios from Caesarea (martyrs of Palestine, S00119). Theodota and Romanus in Caesarea are not easily identified. Delehaye suggests that Theodota may be *Theodotus (presbyter and martyr in Perinthus, and companion of Demetrios, S01108), who is commemorated on 14 November in the Syriac Martyrology (E01581).
The saints commemorated in Carthage, Dubitatus, Tuscus, Valentinus, are not identified. Delehaye suggests that they are the same saints who appear on 1 September (E04938), although the saintly name Tuscus is confused with the name of the location, Tuscia.
Galendio/Calendio in Carthage is not identified. Delehaye suggests that this saint appears again on 15 November (E05020).
While BnF 10837 records the commemoration of Aurilianus, bishop and confessor, on this date, Weissenburg 81 and Bern 289 correct this reading and suggest that it was in fact the name of the place, Aurelianum (Orleans in Gaul) that stood instead of Aurilianus. The two latter manuscripts commemorate burial of *Anianus (bishop of Orleans (northern Gaul), ob. AD 453, S01206) on this date.
Unidentified saints are listed by us among *Other saints, on 17 November in the Martyrologium Hieronymianum: in Campania, Hierapolis, Perinthus-Heracleia, Carthage (S02956).
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| XU KL. DEC. IN CAPPUA Ciuit̃ Campanie. Sc̃orũ Agustini. Eusarii. et Felicitatis. | XV k dec̃ in cappadociae ciuit̃ campaniȩ Nat̃ sc̃orum agustini eusarii et felicitatis. | In Cappua civitate Campaniae sanctorum Agustini Eusarii et Felicitatis. | in Capua civitate Campaniae sanctorum Agustini et Felicitatis. | ||||
| XV k dec̃ in nicom̃ ammonis | IN NICOMED. AmmoNi. | In nicomedia nat̃l sc̃i ammoni | in Nicomedia Ammonis. | in Nicomedia Ammonis. | in Nicomedia Ammonis. | ||
| et in assia matronæ et tecle virgiñ | IN ASIA Filiae. MatroNe. Tecle uirg̃ | In asia natł sc̃orum filiae matronae teclae uirg̃ | et in Asia Matronae et Teclae virginis. | et in Asia Filiae Matronae et Teclae virginis. | in Asia Diophili et Matronae. Romae Transtibere Caecilii. | ||
| hierapoli victoriae albei et romuli ammoni | in Hierapoli Victoriae Albei et Romuli Ammoni quorum gesta habentur. | ||||||
| rom̃ transitae herabe cecili | Romae transtibere Cecilii. | ||||||
| IN HIERAPOLI Uictoris. et alfei. et romole. quorũ gesta habentur. | In civĩ hierapuli nat̃ sc̃orum uictoris et alfi et romolae quorum gesta habentur | in Hierapoli Victoriae Albei et Romuli quorum gesta habentur. | |||||
| nicom̄ sc̃orū diophidis matronae teclae didae | in Nicomedia sanctorum Diophidis Matronae Teclae et Didae. | ||||||
| ROME. Trans tibere. cecilii | Romae trans tibere Nat̃ sc̃i cecili | Romae transtibere Cecilii. | |||||
| in eraclia gregoriae victoris | in Eraclia Gregoriae et Victoris. | in Eraclea Theodoti. | |||||
| IN NICOMED. Ammoni. | In nicomedia nat̃ sc̃ae ammonȩ | in Nicomedia Ammoni. | |||||
| in ces̃s̃ theodotae alfi saccei romani | in Caesarea Theodotae Alfi Saccei Romani. | in Caesarea Alphaei, Zacchaei, Romani. | |||||
| IN ASIA. Natał Sc̃o℞ Diophidis. MatroNȩ Teclȩ uirginis. et didȩ | In asia nł sc̃orum diobydis matronae teclae uirg̃ et dide | in Asia natale sanctorum Diophidis Matronae Teclae virginis et Didae. | |||||
| IN HERACLEA Gregoriȩ. et Uictoris. | et in eraclea ciuit̃ natł sc̃orum gregoriae et uictoris | in Eraclia Gregoriae et Victoris. | |||||
| kartag̃ af̃f̃ dubitati tusci valentini | Cartagine Africae Dubitati Tusci Valentini | ||||||
| IN CESAREA. Theodotȩ. Alfei. Zacchei. Romani. | in cȩsaria Ntł sc̃orum theodote alfei zachei romani | in Caesarea Theodotae Alfi Saccei Romani. | |||||
| et in gratĩ sc̃i galendionis | et in Grati sancti Calendionis. | ||||||
| CARTAGINE africȩ. Dubitati. Tusci. Ualentini. Sc̃i. Calendionis. | cartaginae africae dubitati tusci ualentini sc̃i calendionis | Cartagine Africae Dubitati Tusci Valentini sancti Calendionis. | |||||
| in gałł auriliani ep̃i et confes̃. | IN GALL. Aurelianis. Depos̃ Sc̃i Aniani ep̃i et cf̃ | In gałł aurilianis dep̃ sc̃i aniani ep̃i et conf̃ | in Galliis Aurelianis depositio sancti Aniani episcopi et confessoris. | in Galliis Aurelianis depositio sancti Aniani episcopi et confessoris. | in Galliis Aurelianis depositio sancti Aniani episcopi et confessoris. | ||
| [in margine: ipso die obiit leo diaconus] |
Record Created By
Marijana Vukovic
Date of Entry
14/10/2021
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00119 | Zakchaios and Alpheios, martyrs of Caesarea of Palestine | Alfus/Alfeus; Sacceus/Zaccheus/Zacheus | Certain | S00146 | Caecilia, virgin and martyr of Rome | Cecilus/Cecilius | Uncertain | S00687 | Gregory the Miracle-Worker (Thaumatourgos), bishop and missionary in Pontus, ob. c. 270 | Gregoria | Certain | S01108 | Theodotos and Dēmētrios, presbyters and martyrs in Perinthus | Theodota | Certain | S01110 | Ammonios, Diophilos, Matrona, and companions, martyrs of Nicomedia | Ammonus/Ammo; Diophidis/Diobydis; Matrōna; Tecla | Uncertain | S01206 | Anianus/Annianus, bishop of Orléans, ob. 454 | Anianus | Certain | S01993 | Augustinus and Felicitas, martyrs of Capua | Agustinus; Felicitas | Certain | S02956 | Other saints, on 17 November in the Martyrologium Hieronymianum: in Campania, Hierapolis, Perinthus-Heracleia, and Carthage | Eusarius; Victoria/Victor; Albeus/Alfus/Alfeus; Romulus/Romola; Victor; Dubitatus; Tuscus; Valentinus; Galendio/Calendio | Certain |
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