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 26 November.
Evidence ID
E05032
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 26 November the following feasts:
The burial of *Siricius, bishop of Rome, (S00527),
*Valerian, bishop of Aquileia, (S01977),
Perhaps *Nicander, saint of Rome, (S00788),
Possibly *Felicissimus, martyr in Perugia, Italy, (S01979),
Probably *Ammonus, martyr of Alexandria, and companion of *Petros, bishop and martyr of Alexandria, (S00247),
*Petros, bishop and martyr of Alexandria, (S00247),
The burial of *Amator, bishop and confessor in Auxerre, France, (S01980),
*Other saints, on 26 November in the Martyrologium Hieronymianum: in Rome, Aquileia, Capua, and Africa (S02940).
BnF 10837:
'On the sixth day before the Kalends [of December], in Rome, burial of bishop Siricus.
And in Aquileia, [the feast of] bishop Valentinus.
And in Capua, [the feast of] Nicander, Cassianus and Felicissimus, Saturninus, Ammonus, Serenus, Heromana.
In Alexandria, [the feast of] Petrus.
And in Africa, [the feast of] Nonna, Melesus, Berena, Victurina, Marcellinus.
In Autun (France), the burial of Amator.'
Weissenburg 81:
'On the sixth day before the Kalends of December, in Rome, [the feast of] bishop Syricus and Saturninus.
And in Aquileia, [the feast of] bishop and confessor Valerianus, Serena, Romana.
In Alexandria, [the feast of] Petrus.
In Africa, [the feast of] Monna, Melisius, Berma, Victurina, and Marcellinus.
In Autun (France), the burial of bishop Amator.'
In Bern 289 all the entries from 22 November to 24 December are missing from the manuscript.
Quentin follows the manuscripts.
Delehaye suggests an assortment from the manuscripts, but he does not add any new saintly commemorations.
Translation and comments: M. Vukovic
Festivals
Saint’s feast
Cult PlacesBurial site of a saint - unspecified
RelicsBodily relic - entire body
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesEcclesiastics - 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 early manuscripts of the Martyrologium Hieronymianum commemorate on 26 November, first, bishop Siricus/Syricus in Rome, who is, according to Delehaye, *Siricius (bishop of Rome, ob. 399, S00527). Saturninus, who is commemorated together with Syricus according to Weissenburg 81 of the Martyrologium Hieronymianum, is otherwise unidentified.Further, a number of saints are commemorated in Aquileia on 26 November. Valentinus/Valerianus, who is recorded in both early manuscripts of the Martyrologium Hieronymianum, is, according to Delehaye, *Valerian (bishop of Aquileia, ob. 388, S01977).
Several other saints commemorated in Aquileia, according to Weissenburg 81, Serenus/Serena and Heromana/Romana, and in Capua, according to BnF 10837, who are recorded by different names, gender, and commemoration in different places in the two early manuscripts of the Martyrologium Hieronymianum, are otherwise unidentified. Delehaye mentions that some of Origen´s disciples had such names.
As for the saints commemorated in Capua according to BnF 10837: this manuscript records the commemoration of Nicander and Cassianus in Capua. Delehaye is not certain about the identity of these saints, and offers several possibilities. Nicander is either *Nicander (venerated in Rome, S00788), commemorated in the Martyrologium Hieronymianum also on June 17 (E04854), or *Nicander (martyr of Egypt under Maximian, companion of Marcian, Hyperechius, Apollonius, Leonidas, Arius, Gorgias, Pambo, Selenia and Eirene, S01765), commemorated on June 5 in the Georgian Church Calendar of Ioane Zosime (E03761), besides the Hieronymianum (E01765), or *Nicander (martyr and officer at Silistra, Bulgaria, and companion of Marcian, ob. 297, S01978). Considering that this entry does not have Marcian, and considering the location of Capua, we suspect this may be *Nicander (venerated in Rome, S00788).
As for Cassianus, Deleaye suggests that the name Cassianus could have been confused with Marcianus or Cantianus. However, this is unlikely. We leave this saint unidentified.
Further among the saints in Capua, Delehaye suggests that Felicissimus is the saint who is commemorated also on November 24 (E05030) in the Martyrologium Hieronymianum: *Felicissimus (martyr in Perugia, Italy, early 4th century, S01979). Delehaye suggests that *Ammonus in Capua, who is commemorated on November 26 in BnF 10837 of the Martyrologium Hieronymianum is in fact among the companions of *Petros (bishop and martyr of Alexandria, S00247). This is possible as *Petros (bishop and martyr of Alexandria, S00247) is also commemorated on this day in the Martyrologium in both early manuscripts. Saturninus in Capua is not identified.
The saints commemorated in Africa on this date, Nonna/Monna, Melesus/Melisius, Berena/Berma, Victurina, and Marcellinus, are not identified.
Finally, Delehaye suggests that Amator, whose burial is commemorated in Autun on November 26, is in fact *Amator (bishop and confessor in Auxerre, France, ob. 418, S01980), who is commemorated on May 1 in the Martyrologium (E04795).
Unidentified saints are listed by us among *Other saints, on 26 November in the Martyrologium Hieronymianum: in Rome, Aquileia, Capua, and Africa (S02940).
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| VI k rom̈ depos̃ sirici ep̃i | VI KL. DEC. Romae sc̃orum syrici ep̃i et saturnini | Romae depositio Sirici episcopi | Romae depositio Sirici episcopi et Saturnini. | Romae depositio Siricii episcopi. | |||
| et in aquileia valentini ep̃i | et in aquileia ualeriani ep̃i et conf̃ serene romane | et in Aquileia Valentini episcopi et confessoris Saturnini Ammoni Sereni Heromanae. | et in Aquileia Valentini episcopi et confessoris Ammoni Sereni Heromanae. | in Aquileia Valeriani episcopi et confessoris. | |||
| et in capua nicandri cassiani et felicissimi saturnini ammoni sereni heromanae | --------------- | ---------------- | ---------------- | ---------------- | |||
| In alāx petri | In alexad̄ petri | in Alexandria Petri. | in Alexandria Petri. | in Alexandria Petri. | |||
| et in af̃f̃ nonnae melesi berenae victurinae marcellini | In africa monnȩ melisii bermȩ uicturinȩ et marcellini | et in Africa Nonnae Melesi Berenae Victurinae et Marcellini. | et in Africa Nonnae Melesi Berenae Victurinae et Marcellini. | ||||
| austiduno depos̃ sc̃i amatoris. | Agustiduno dep̃ sc̃i amatoris ep̃i | Agustiduno depositio sancti Amatoris episcopi. | Agustiduno depositio sancti Amatoris episcopi. | Augustoduno depositio sancti Amatoris episcopi. |
Record Created By
Marijana Vukovic
Date of Entry
01/10/2021
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00247 | Petros, bishop and martyr of Alexandria, and companion martyrs | Petrus; Ammonus | Certain | S00527 | Siricius, bishop of Rome, ob. 399, buried on the via Salaria | Siricus/Syricus | Certain | S00788 | Nicander, saint of Rome | Nicander; Cassianus | Uncertain | S01977 | Valerianus, bishop of Aquileia, ob. 388 | Valentinus; Valerianus | Certain | S01979 | Felicissimus, martyr of Perugia (Italy), early 4th cent. | Felicissimus | Uncertain | S01980 | Amator, bishop of Auxerre, ob. c. 418 | Amator | Certain | S02940 | Other saints, on 26 November in the Martyrologium Hieronymianum: in Rome, Aquileia, Capua, and Africa | Saturninus; Serenus/Serena; Heromana/Romana; Cassianus; Nonna/Monna; Melesus/Melisius; Berena/Berma; Victurina; Marcellinus | Certain |
|---|
Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL:
Marijana Vukovic, Cult of Saints, E05032 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E05032