Venantius Fortunatus, in a poem (3.7) about the cathedral of Nantes (north-west Gaul), newly built by bishop Felix, and dedicated to the Apostles *Peter and *Paul (S00036 and S00008), makes a possible reference to relics of the two apostles, and tells how two parts of the building were dedicated respectively to *Hilary (bishop of Poitiers, ob. 367, S00183) and *Ferreolus (soldier and martyr of Vienne, S01893). Written in Latin in Gaul, 565/576.
E05683
Literary - Poems
Venantius Fortunatus
Venantius Fortunatus, Poems 3.7 (In honore eorum quorum ibi reliquiae continentur, 'In honour of those whose relics are contained there'), 17-18 and 51-58
This poem is part of a group of texts addressed to Felix, bishop of Nantes (Poems 3.4-10); it follows a poem (3.6) describing the dedication of the cathedral at Nantes which had been built by Felix. In this poem, the first part contains praise of Peter and Paul, the Apostles and patrons of the cathedral. The title of the poem shows that the building had relics of Peter and Paul, as well as of Hilary of Poitiers and Ferreolus of Vienne. The following lines are a possible reference to relics of the Apostles being sent to Nantes from Rome:
Gallia, plaude libens, mittit tibi Roma salutem: 17
fulgor apostolicus visitat Allobrogas.
'Gaul, rejoice with full heart, for Rome sends you salvation; the bright light of the Apostles has come to the Allobroges.'
Then Fortunatus describes the beauty of the church, stressing the light of the building and that of the relics it contains:
Dextera pars templi meritis praefulget Hilari,
compare Martino consociante gradum.
Gallia sic proprios dum fudit ubique patronos,
quos hic terra tegit, lumina mundus habet.
Altera Ferreoli pars est, qui vulnere ferri 55
munere martyrii gemma superba nitet.
Obtulit haec Felix, ut sit magis ipse sacerdos,
Christe, tuum templum, qui tibi templa dedit.
'The right side of the building shines bright with the virtues of Hilary; Martin was his partner and his companion in rank. While Gaul in this way sends a flood of its patrons in every direction, the world wins as its lights those whom the earth here conceals. The other side holds Ferreolus, who by the stroke of a sword glistens as a glorious jewel in reward for his martyrdom. Felix made this offering so that he, your bishop, who gave you a temple, would himself thereby become your temple, Christ.'
Text: Leo 1881, 58.
Translation: Roberts 2017, 147, 149 and 151.
Cult building - independent (church)
RelicsUnspecified relic
Transfer/presence of relics from distant countries
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesEcclesiastics - bishops
Source
Venantius Fortunatus was born in northern Italy, near Treviso, and educated at Ravenna. In the early 560s he crossed the Alps into Merovingian Gaul, where he spent the rest of his life, making his living primarily through writing Latin poetry for the aristocracy of northern Gaul, both secular and ecclesiastical. His first datable commission in Gaul is a poem to celebrate the wedding in 566 of the Austrasian royal couple, Sigibert and Brunhild. His principal patrons were Radegund and Agnes, the royal founder and the first abbess of the monastery of the Holy Cross at Poitiers, as well as Gregory, the historian and bishop of Tours, Leontius, bishop of Bordeaux, and Felix, bishop of Nantes, but he also wrote poems for several kings and for many other members of the aristocracy. In addition to occasional poems for his patrons, Fortunatus wrote a four-book epic poem about Martin of Tours, and several works of prose and verse hagiography. The latter part of his life was spent in Poitiers, and in the 590s he became bishop of the city; he is presumed to have died early in the 7th century. For Fortunatus' life, see Brennan 1985; George 1992, 18-34; Reydellet 1994-2004, vol. 1, vii-xxviii; Pietri and Heijmans 2013, 801-22, 'Fortunatus'.The eleven books of Poems (Carmina) by Fortunatus were almost certainly collected and published at three different times: Books 1 to 7, which are dedicated to Gregory of Tours, in 576; Books 8 and 9 after 584, probably in 590/591; and Books 10-11 only after their author's death. A further group of poems, outside the structure of the books, and known from only one manuscript, has been published in modern editions as an Appendix to the eleven books. For further discussion, see Reydellet 1994-2004, vol. 1, lxviii-lxxi; George 1992, 208-211.
Almost all of Fortunatus' poems are in elegiac couplets: one hexameter line followed by one pentameter line.
For the cult of saints, Fortunatus' poems are primarily interesting for the evidence they provide of the saints venerated in western Gaul (where most of his patrons were based), since many were written to celebrate the completion of new churches and oratories, and some to celebrate collections of relics. For an overview of his treatment of the cult of saints, see Roberts 2009, 165-243.
Discussion
This poem was probably written on the occasion of the dedication of the new cathedral of Nantes in the 560s or early 570s. The building, begun by his predecessor, Bishop Numerius, was completed by Felix, who was bishop from 551 to 584. The term 'Allobroges' used in line 18 of the poem is a metonym of Gaul.For more details about the cathedral and its possible form, see Vieillard-Troiekouroff 1976, 180-181, no. 172, and Pietri 1987, 88-91. For Felix of Nantes, see George 1992, 113-123; Pietri and Heijmans 2013, 752-57, 'Felix 9'.
Bibliography
Editions and translations:Leo, F., Venanti Honori Clementiani Fortunati presbyteri Italici opera poetica (Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Auctores Antiquissimi 4.1; Berlin: Apud Weidmannos, 1881).
Roberts, M., Poems: Venantius Fortunatus (Dumbarton Oaks Medieval Library 46; Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2017).
George, J., Venantius Fortunatus, Personal and Political Poems (Translated Texts for Historians 23; Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 1995).
Reydellet, M., Venance Fortunat, Poèmes, 3 vols. (Paris: Les Belles Lettres, 1994-2004).
Further reading:
Brennan, B., "The Career of Venantius Fortunatus," Traditio 41 (1985), 49-78.
George, J., Venantius Fortunatus: A Latin Poet in Merovingian Gaul (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992).
Pietri, L., "Nantes," in: N. Gauthier and J.-Ch. Picard (eds.), Topographie chrétienne des cités de la Gaule des origines au milieu du VIIIe siècle, vol. 5: Province ecclésiastique de Tours (Lugdunensis Tertia) (Paris: Boccard, 1987), 83-94.
Pietri, L. and Heijmans, M., Prosopographie chrétienne du Bas-Empire, 4 Prosopographie de la Gaule chrétienne (314-614), 2 vols. (Paris 2013).
Roberts, M., The Humblest Sparrow: The Poetry of Venantius Fortunatus (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2009).
Vieillard-Troiekouroff, M., Les monuments religieux de la Gaule d'après les œuvres de Grégoire de Tours (Paris, 1976).
Katarzyna Wojtalik
09/06/2018
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00008 | Paul, the Apostle | Paulus | Certain | S00036 | Peter, the Apostle | Petrus | Certain | S00050 | Martin, ascetic and bishop of Tours, ob. 397 | Martinus | Certain | S00183 | Hilarius/Hilary, bishop of Poitiers, ob. 367 | Hilarius | Certain | S01893 | Ferreolus, soldier and martyr of Vienne | Ferreolus | Certain |
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