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The Cult of Saints in Late Antiquity


from its origins to circa AD 700, across the entire Christian world


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 18 December.

Evidence ID

E05055

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 18 December the following feasts:


*Theoteknos, martyr of Laodicea, (S01091),
Probably *Felix and Honorata, martyrs of Carthage and companions of Clementiana and Massaria, (S02915),
Perhaps *Namphamon, African martyr, probably of Madaura, (S02917),
*African martyrs, commemorated on 17-19 December, (S02089),
Perhaps *Dioskorides, presbyter and martyr of Alexandria, (S01063),
*Luceia, king Auceia, and companions, martyrs of Rome, (S02478),


BnF 10837:

'On the 15th day before the Kalends of January, in Laodicea, the feast of Teotecnus and Basilianus.

In Africa, [the feast of] Victor, Victorianus, Adiutor, Quartus, Honoratus, Simplicus, Ampamovus, Felix, Vincentus and 27 others, Tuturus, Quintus, Donatus, Victuria.

And elsewhere, [the feast of] Dioscorus.
'


Weissenburg 81:

'On the 15th day before the Kalends of January, in the city of Laodicea, [the feast of] Theonus, Basilianus.

In Africa, [the feast of] Quintus, Simplicus, Pompinus, Paulus, Aritifa, Crestus, Dignus, Datulus, Felicianus, Moyses, Rogatianus, Marthyrus, Horatus, Evasus, Victuria, Privatus, Tinnus, Salvator, Situs, Teturus, Victuricus, Caelianus, Semtiminus, Rusticus, Bassa, Lucania, Honoratus, Reductula, Victuria, Felicitas, Quintula, Spina, Privatula, Caecilia, Saturninus, Caeciliana, Namfamon, Felix, Vincentus, Arestus, Muscus, Siddinus, Adiutor.

In Rome, [the feast of] the virgin Luca and king Auceias, together with Antoninus, Aereneus, Theudorus, Papeusa, Cusseus, Appollinia, Ario, Apamia, Poenex, Papiscus, Saturius, Victur, with 9 others.

And elsewhere, the passion of Afra, Victor, Victorina, Basilianus, Honoratus, with 31 others.
'


In
Bern 289 all the entries from 22 November to 24 December are missing from the manuscript.


Quentin follows both manuscripts carefully.

Delehaye does not suggest any emendations to the entries for this day.


Translation and comments: M. Vukovic.

Festivals

Saint’s feast

Protagonists in Cult and Narratives

Women
Monarchs and their family

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 two early manuscripts of the Hieronymianum with entries for 18 December, BnF 10837 and Weissenburg 81, both begin with commemoration of Teotecnus/Theonus and Basilianus in Laodicea (west central Asia Minor). Teotecnus is again recorded by BnF 10837 on the following day, 19 December, here again with commemoration in Laodicea, though on this day he appears without Basilianus and with his name spelled Theoticnus. Given his very unusual name, we suggest (as did Delehaye) that the Theoteknos commemorated in the early fifth-century Syriac Martyrology (E01563) on 4 October might be the same man, even though the dates do not coincide and the Syriac Martyrology gives no indication of where its Theoteknos was commemorated. Whether Basilianus belongs correctly with Teotecnus/Theoticnus in Laodicea is uncertain, because a Basilianus (perhaps the same man) is recorded 'elsewhere' on both 18 and 19 December (E05055 and E05058).

Both manuscripts then record a large number of saints commemorated in Africa, BnF 10837 naming 13 martyrs and mentioning 27 'others', Weissenburg 81 listing 43 martyrs by name. There is some, but by no means a total overlap between the two lists of names. We here provide a joint list: Victor, Victorianus, Quartus, Adiutor, Honoratus, Simplicus, Ampamovus/Namfamon, Felix, Vincentus, Tuturus/Teturus, Quintus, Donatus, Victuria, Pompinus, Paulus, Aritifa, Crestus, Dignus, Datulus, Felicianus, Moyses, Rogatianus, Marthyrus, Horatus, Evasus, Privatus, Tinnus, Salvator, Situs, Victuricus, Caelianus, Semtiminus, Rusticus, Bassa, Lucania, Reductula, Felicitas, Quintula, Spina, Privatula, Caecilia, Saturninus, Caeciliana, Arestus, Muscus, and Siddinus. Some of these saints are also listed in the
Hieronymianum on 17 and 19 December (E05054 and E05058). Most cannot be identified elsewhere, though Honoratus and Felix perhaps appear on 17 December in the Calendar of Carthage (E02203) - see the Discussion in E05054 - and Namfamon (who is probably the same as Ampamovus), as Delehaye points out, shares an unusual Punic name with an African martyr (S02917) mentioned by Maximus of Madaura in a letter to Augustine of Hippo. He may be the same martyr, though it is perhaps more likely that this is simply a coincidence of name. We have grouped together all unidentifiable African saints commemorated on these three days as *African martyrs commemorated on 17-19 December (S02089).

BnF 10837 then records a Dioscorus, commemorated 'elsewhere' (
alibi); he is probably the same saint as a Dioscorus at the end of a list of African martyrs in Weissenburg 81 on the preceding day, 17 December (E05054). Delehaye suggests he is *Dioskorides (presbyter and martyr of Alexandria, S01063), and that the 'alibi' is an erroneous expansion of 'Al(lexandria)'. This reconstruction may be too ingenious; there are several other saints named Dioscorus who are possibilities.

The saints whose commemoration in Rome is recorded by Weissenburg 81 - namely, Luca, Auceia, Antoninus, Aereneus, Theudorus, Papeusa, Cusseus, Appollinia, Ario, Apamia, Poenex, Papiscus, Saturius, Victur and nine (unnamed) 'others' - are certainly the virgin *Luceia, king Auceia, and their companions (martyrs of Rome, S02478), who are the subject of a somewhat fanciful
Martyrdom (E03256) and who are recorded by BnF 10837 in the Hieronymianum on the next day, 19 December (E05058).

Finally, Weissenburg 81 mentions the commemoration 'elsewhere' of the following saints: Afra, Victor, Victorina, Basilianus, Honoratus, 'with 31 others'. The same saints are recorded by BnF 10837, but on the next day, 19 December, and with eight further named saints, and 40 (rather than 31) 'others'. Three of these names - Victor, Victorina and Honoratus - appear elsewhere in the records for 17-19 December in the
Hieronymianum as saints of Africa, leading Delehaye to suggest, very plausibly, that 'Afra' (the martyr who heads the list) is a transcription error for 'Africa' (i.e. 'in Africa'). We have included all these martyrs amongst the *African martyrs, commemorated on 17-19 December (S02089).

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 10837Bern 289Weissenburg 81BAV 238Other MssQuentinQuentinDelehaye
XV k iañ laodicia nt̃ teotecni et basiliani XU KL. IAN. In laudo civit̃ theoni basiliani In Laodicia civitate natale Teotecni et Basiliani. In Laodicia civitate natale Teotecni et Basiliani. ---------------
in af̃f victoris victoriani adiutoris quarti honorati simplici ampamovi felicis vincenti et aliorum XXVII tuturi quinti donati victuriae In africa quinti simplici pompini pauli aritife. cresti digni datuli feliciani moysitis rogatiani marthyri horati evasi victuriae privati tinni salvatoris siti teturi victurici caeliani semtimini rustici bassae. lucaniae honorati reductulae Victuriae felicitatis quintulae spinȩ privatulae caeciliae saturnini caeciliane Namfamonis felicis vincenti aresti musci siddini adiutoris in Africa Victoris Victoriani Adiutoris Quarti Honorati Simplici Ampamovi Felicis Vincenti et aliorum XXVII Tuturi Quinti Donati Victuriae in Africa Quinti Simplici Pompini Pauli Aritife Cresti Digni Datuli Feliciani Moysitis Rogatiani Marthyri Horati Evasi Victuriae Privati Tinni Salvatoris Siti Teturi Victurici Caeliani Semtimini Rustici Bassae Lucaniae Honorati Reductulae Victuriae Felicitatis Quintulae Spinae Privatulae Caeciliae Saturnini Caeciliane Namfamonis Felicis Vincenti Aresti Musci Siddini Adiutoris.
et alibi dioscori.et alibi Dioscori.
Rom̄ lucae virg̃ et auceiae regis simul et antonini aerenei theudori papeusae cussei appolliniȩ arionis apamiȩ poenecis papisci saturii uicturis cum aliis VIIII. Romae Lucae virginis et Auceiae regis simul et Antonini Aerenei Theudori Papeusae Cussei Appolliniae Arionis Apamiae Poenecis Papisci Saturii Victuris cum aliis VIIII.
et alibi pas̃ sc̃ae afre victoris victorinȩ basiliani honorati cum aliis XXXI et alibi passio sanctae Afrae Victoris Victorinae Basiliani Honorati cum aliis XXXI




Record Created By

Marijana Vukovic

Date of Entry

13/04/2021

Related Saint Records
IDNameName in SourceIdentity
S01063Dioskorides, presbyter and martyr of AlexandriaDioscorusUncertain
S01091Theoteknos, martyrTeotecnus/TheonusCertain
S02089African martyrs, commemorated on 17-19 DecemberVictor; Victorianus; Quartus; Adiutor; Honoratus; Simplicus; Ampamovus; Felix; Vincentus; Tuturus/Teturus; Quintus; Donatus; Victuria; Pompinus; Paulus; Aritifa; Crestus; Dignus; Datulus; Felicianus; Moyses; Rogatianus; Marthyrus; Horatus; Evasus; Privatus; Tinnus; Salvator; Situs; Victuricus; Caelianus; Semtiminus; Rusticus; Bassa; Lucania; Reductula; Felicitas; Quintula; Spina; Privatula; Caecilia; Saturninus; Caeciliana; Namfamon; Arestus; Muscus; Siddinus; Afra; Victorina; BasilianusCertain
S02478Luceia, king Auceia, and companions, martyrs of RomeLuca; Auceias; Antoninus; Aereneus; Theudorus; Papeusa; Cusseus; Appollinia; Ario; Apamia; Poenex; Papiscus; Saturius; VicturCertain
S02915Felix, Clementiana, Honorata, and Massaria, martyrs commemorated at CarthageFelix, HonoratusUncertain
S02917Miggin, Sanam, Namphamon and Lucitas, African martyrs, probably of MadauraNamfanoUncertain


Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL:
Marijana Vukovic, Cult of Saints, E05055 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E05055