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 23 December.
Evidence ID
E05062
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 23 December the following feasts:
Possibly *Basileios, martyr of Antioch, (S01112),
Possibly *Thirty Martyrs of Rome, buried on the via Labicana, (S00586),
Probably *Hyginus, bishop of Rome, (S00671),
*Eleutherus, bishop of Rome, (S00673),
*Urbanus, bishop and confessor/martyr of Rome, (S00538),
*Cornelius, bishop and martyr of Rome, (S00172),
*Evaristus, bishop and martyr of Rome, (S00112),
Possibly *Marcellus, bishop and martyr of Rome, (S00529),
*Victor, bishop and martyr of Rome, (S00144),
*Cletus/Anecletus, bishop and martyr of Rome, (S00048),
Possibly *Stephanus, bishop and martyr of Rome, (S00205),
Probably *Fabianus, bishop and martyr of Rome, (S00147),
*Felix I, bishop and martyr of Rome, (S00200),
Possibly *Callixtus, bishop and martyr of Rome, (S00145),
*Eutychianus, bishop and martyr of Rome, (S00662),
*Peter, the Apostle, (S00036),
*Linus, bishop and martyr of Rome, (S00110),
Possibly *Telesphoros, anchorite, bishop and martyr of Rome, (S00131),
*Xystus/Sixtus I, bishop and martyr of Rome, (S00130),
*Xystus/Sixtus II, bishop and martyr of Rome, (S00201),
*Zephyrinus, bishop of Rome, ob. c. 217, (S00546),
*Iohannes and Festus, martyrs of Tuscia, (S02894),
*Other saints, on 23 December in the Martyrologium Hieronymianum: in Rome (S02895).
BnF 10837:
'On the tenth day before the Kalends [of January], in Antioch, the feast of thirty-five martyrs.
And in another place, [the feast of] Evaristus, Victor, and 833 others, Sistus, Appolinis.
In Rome, [the feast of] Eugenus, Eleuterus, Urbanus, Cornelus, Atrianus, Evaristus, Metellus, Victor, Titianus, Elitus, Sirianus, Baselinus, Nicetus, Flavianus, Felix, Pullus, Anicletus, Sopater, Saturninus, Eufrosinus, Cartula, Caelestus, Euticianus, and his companions, also Peter the Apostle, Linus, Telius, Syxtus, again Syxtus, Solanus, Eutaristilus, Basilinus, Zephirinus, Gallinus, again Cornilus.
And elsewhere, [the feast of] Iohannes and Festus.'
Weissenburg 81:
'On the tenth day before the Kalends of January, in the city of Nicomedia, the feast of thirty martyrs, together with those whose names god knows, Sistis, Apollonus.
In Rome, the feast of Egenus, Eleutherus, Urbanus, Cornilus, Traianus, Evaristus, Metellus, Victor, Ticianus, Clitus, Sirianus, Basillinus, Nicetus, Flavianus, Felix, Pullius, Aninclitus, Sopater, Saturninus, Eufrosinus, Castula, and 830 others together and Caelestus, Euticianus, and his companions together with Peter, Apollonus, Thelius, Xistus, again Syxtus, Solanus, Euchar, Tilus, Basilimus, Zeferinus, Gallitus, Cornilus.
And elsewhere, the feast of Iohannes and Felix.'
In Bern 289 all the entries from 22 November to 24 December are missing from the manuscript.
Quentin follows the early manuscripts.
Delehaye suggests emendations for the commemorations in Antioch and Rome.
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 two early manuscripts of the Martyrologium Hieronymianum that have entries for 23 December, BnF 10837 and Weissenburg 81, open with the commemoration of a group of thirty-five or thirty martyrs, which they locate in Antioch (Syria) or Nicomedia (north-west Asia Minor), respectively. Delehaye is sceptical and suggests that this group of saints is actually the *Thirty Martyrs of Rome, (buried on the via Labicana, S00586), repeated from the day before, 22 December (E05061), and here misplaced in Antioch; this is possible, since groups of 30 (or 35) martyrs are not common. Delehaye further suggests that instead of these saints, we should have here a repeat commemoration of Basileus of Antioch, also from the day before, 22 December (E05061). Again this is possible, but based on no textual evidence. [This Basileus is presumably *Basileios (martyr of Antioch, S01112), whose commemoration in Antioch is recorded on 20 and 21 November in the Hieronymianum (E05025, E05026), as well as on 20 November in the Syriac Martyrology (E01586), though there without any specification of the location of the commemoration.]Weissenburg 81 goes on to record the commemoration of two further saints in Nicomedia, namely, Sistis and Apollonus, while BnF 10837 records them, as Sistus and Apollinis, 'in another place', after recording commemoration in this same unspecified place of Evaristus, Victor and '833 others'. None of these saints are otherwise known from Nicomedia and all four names appear below, commemorated in Rome (as well as 830 'others') - Delehaye suggests, probably correctly, that they have been duplicated here.
Both BnF 10837 and Weissenburg 81 then record a long list of male saints commemorated in Rome: Eugenus/Egenus, Eleuterus/Eleutherus, Urbanus, Cornelus/Cornilus, Atrianus/Traianus, Evaristus, Metellus, Victor, Titianus/Ticianus, Elitus/Clitus, Sirianus, Baselinus/Basillinus, Nicetus, Flavianus, Felix, Pullus/Pullius, Anicletus/Aninclitus, Sopater, Saturninus, Eufrosinus, Cartula/Castula, Caelestus, Euticianus and his companions, Peter the Apostle, Linus (rendered as 'Peter Apollonus' in Weissenburg 81), Telius/Thelius, Syxtus/Xistus, Syxtus, Solanus, Eutaristilus (rendered as Euchar Tilus in Weissenburg 81), Basilinus/Basilimus, Zephirinus/Zeferinus, Gallinus/Gallitus, Cornilus, and 830 others.
A number of these saints are wholly unidentified: Atrianus/Traianus, Baselinus/Basillinus, Nicetus, Pullus/Pullius, Sopater, Saturninus, Eufrosinus, Cartula/Castula, Solanus, Basilinus/Basilimus, and the 830 others. But Delehaye, following a suggestion by De Rossi, argues that most of the names are those of popes between the time of Peter and Marcellus (at the beginning of the fourth century), although they are not in chronological order, ten papal names are missing, and some names are duplicated (or at least possibly duplicated). De Rossi and Delehaye's identifications of the popes are as follows (set out in the order they are listed in the Hieronymianum):
Eugenus/Egenus = *Hyginus, bishop of Rome, ob. c. 140, (S00671),
*Eleutherus, bishop of Rome, ob. c. 189, (S00673),
*Urbanus, bishop and confessor/martyr of Rome, ob. c. 230, (S00538),
*Cornelius, bishop and martyr of Rome, ob. c. 253, (S00172),
*Evaristus, bishop and martyr of Rome, ob. c. 105, (S00112),
Metellus = *Marcellus I, bishop and martyr of Rome, ob. 309, (S00529),
*Victor I, bishop and martyr of Rome, ob. c. 198, (S00144),
Titianus/Ticianus = *Eutychianus, bishop and martyr of Rome, ob. c. 283, (S00662), (If so, duplicated below.)
*Cletus/Anecletus, bishop and martyr of Rome, ob. c. 92, (S00048),
Sirianus = *Stephanus, bishop and martyr of Rome, ob. c. 257, (S00205),
Flavianus = *Fabianus, bishop and martyr of Rome, ob. c. 250, (S00147),
*Felix I, bishop and martyr of Rome, ob. c. 274, (S00200),
Caelestus = *Callixtus I, bishop and martyr of Rome, ob. c. 222, (S00145),
*Eutychianus, bishop and martyr of Rome, ob. c. 283, (S00662),
*Peter, the Apostle, ob. c. 64, (S00036),
*Linus, bishop and martyr of Rome, ob. c. 76, (S00110),
Telius = an abbreviation of *Telesphoros, anchorite, bishop and martyr of Rome, ob. c. 136, ($S00131),
*Xystus/Sixtus I, bishop and martyr of Rome, ob. c. 125, ($S00130),
*Xystus/Sixtus II, bishop and martyr of Rome, ob. c. 258, ($S00201),
Eutaristilus = a repeat of *Evaristus, bishop and martyr of Rome, ob. c. 105, (S00112),
*Zephyrinus, bishop of Rome, ob. c. 217, ($S00546).
Gallinus = a repeat of *Callixtus I, bishop and martyr of Rome, ob. c. 222, (S00145),
As a reading of this list makes clear, some of these identifications are very hypothetical. but it seems likely that De Rossi and Delehaye were correct in their overall hypothesis. Delehaye suggests that these names were originally written into the margins of a copy of the Hieronymianum and later absorbed into the main text - though even if this were so, it is hard to imagine how the chronological order became quite so jumbled. Furthermore, the purpose of recording all these papal names on 23 December is also unclear.
Finally, both manuscripts of the Hieronymianum record on 23 December two saints commemorated 'in another place': Iohannes and Festus (in BnF 10837; he is Felix in Weissenburg 81). A Iohannes and Festus appear together, with commemoration in Tuscia (north of Rome), also on 21 December (E05060). Delehaye argues that they are Roman saints (and there are indeed individual martyrs from Rome with these names); but we prefer to view them as *Iohannes and Festus, (companion martyrs of Tuscia, S02894), even though nothing else is known about them.
All unidentified saints are listed by us among *Other saints, on 23 December in the Martyrologium Hieronymianum: in Rome (S02895).
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| X k iañ in antioc̃h nt̃ martyrū XXXV | X KL. IAN. In civit̃ nicomedia nat̃ sc̃orum XXX mar̃ simul quorum nomina ds̃ scit sistis apolloni | In Antiochia natale martyrum XXXV. | In civitate Nicomedia natale sanctorum XXX martyrum simul quorum nomina Deus scit Sisti Appollinis. | in Antiochia Basilei. | |||
| et in alio loco evaristi victoris et aliorum DCCCXXXIII sisti appolinis | --------------- | et in alio loco Evaristi Victoris et aliorum DCCCXXXIII Sisti Appollinis. | --------------- | ||||
| rom̄ eugeni eleuteri urbani corneli atriani evaristi metelli victoris titiani eliti siriani baselini niceti flaviani felicis pulli anicleti sopatri saturnini eufrosini cartulae caelesti euticiani et sociorū eius It̃ petri apos̃ lini telii syxti It̃ syxti solani eutaristili basilini zephirini gallini It̃ cornili | Rom̄ nat̃ sc̃orum egeni eleutheri urbani cornili traiani evaristi metelli victoris ticiani cliti siriani basillini niceti flaviani. felicis pullii anincliti sopatri saturnini eufrosini castulae et aliorum DCCCXXX simul et caelesti euticiani et sociorum eius simul petri apolloni thelii xisti item syxti. solani eucharis tili basilimi zeferini galliti cornili | Romae natale sanctorum Eugeni Eleuteri Urbani Corneli Atriani Evaristi Metelli Victoris Titiani Cliti Siriani Baselini Niceti Flaviani Felicis Pulli Anicleti Sopatri Saturnini Eufrosini Cartulae Caelesti Euticiani et sociorum eius. item Petri apostoli Lini Telii Syxti item Syxti Solani Eutaristili Basilini Zephirini Gallini item Cornili. | Romae natale sanctorum Eugeni Eleuteri Urbani Corneli Atriani Evaristi Metelli Victoris Titiani Cliti Siriani Baselini Niceti Flaviani Felicis Pulli Anicleti Sopatri Saturnini Eufrosini Cartulae et aliorum DCCCXXX simul et Caelesti Euticiani et sociorum eius. item Petri apostoli Lini Telii Syxti item Syxti Solani Eutaristili Basilini Zephirini Gallini item Cornili. | Romae Petri apostoli, Lini, Cleti, Anacleti, Evaristi, Xysti, Telesphori, Hygini, Aniceti, Eleutheri, Victoris, Zephyrini, Callisti, Urbani, Fabiani, Cornelii, Stephani, Xysti II, Felicis, Eutychiani, Marcelli. | |||
| et alibi iohannis et festi. | et alibi nat̃ sc̃orum iohannis et felicis. | et alibi Iohannis et Festi. | et alibi Iohannis et Festi. | ||||
Record Created By
Marijana Vukovic
Date of Entry
13/03/2021
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00036 | Peter, the Apostle | Peter Apollonus/Apostolus | Certain | S00048 | Cletus/Anecletus, bishop and martyr of Rome | Elitus/Clitus/Anicletus/Aninclitus | Certain | S00110 | Linus, bishop and martyr of Rome | Linus | Certain | S00112 | Evaristus, bishop and martyr of Rome | Evaristus/Eutaristilus/Euchar | Certain | S00130 | Xystus/Sixtus I, bishop and martyr of Rome | Syxtus/Sistus/Sistis | Certain | S00131 | Telesphoros, anchorite, bishop and martyr of Rome | Telius/Thelius | Uncertain | S00144 | Victor, bishop and martyr of Rome | Victor | Certain | S00145 | Callixtus, bishop and martyr of Rome | Caelestus/Gallinus/Gallitus | Uncertain | S00147 | Fabianus, bishop and martyr of Rome | Flavianus | Uncertain | S00172 | Cornelius, bishop and martyr of Rome, and companion martyrs | Cornelus/Cornilus | Certain | S00200 | Felix I, bishop and martyr of Rome | Felix | Certain | S00201 | Xystus/Sixtus II, bishop and martyr of Rome | Syxtus/Xistus | Certain | S00205 | Stephanus, bishop and martyr of Rome, with many companions | Sirianus | Uncertain | S00529 | Marcellus, bishop and martyr of Rome | Metellus | Uncertain | S00538 | Urbanus, bishop and confessor/martyr of Rome, buried on the via Appia | Urbanus | Certain | S00546 | Zephyrinus, bishop of Rome, ob. c. 217 | Zephirinus/Zeferinus | Certain | S00586 | Thirty Martyrs of Rome, buried on the via Labicana | martyrū XXXV/XXX | Uncertain | S00662 | Eutychianus, bishop of Rome, ob. c. 282 | Euticianus/Titianus/Ticianus | Certain | S00671 | Hyginus, bishop of Rome, ob. c. 140 | Eugenus/Egenus | Uncertain | S00673 | Eleutherus, bishop of Rome, ob. c. 180 | Eleuterus/Eleutherus | Certain | S01112 | Basileios, martyr of Antioch | Uncertain | S02894 | Iohannes and Festus, companion martyrs of Tuscia | Iohannes; Festus | Certain | S02895 | Other saints, on 23 December in the Martyrologium Hieronymianum: in Rome | Atrianus/Traianus; Nicetus; Pullus/Pullius; Sopater; Saturninus; Eufrosinus; Cartula/Castula; Solanus; Tilus; 830 other saints | Certain |
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