Agnellus of Ravenna, writing in 830/846 in his Liber Pontificalis Ecclesiae Ravennatis (22), states that Bishop Liberius III (ob. c. 405) built and was buried in a monasterium at Ravenna (northern Italy) dedicated to *Pullio (martyred lector of Cibalae in Pannonia, S00694). Written in Latin at Ravenna.
Evidence ID
E05770
Type of Evidence
Literary - Other narrative texts (including Histories)
Major author/Major anonymous work
Agnellus of Ravenna
Agnellus of Ravenna, Liber Pontificalis Ecclesiae Ravennatis 22
Sepultus que est in monasterio sancti Pullionis, quem suis temporibus aedificatum est, non longe a porta quae uocatur Noua; cuius sepulchrum nobis cognitum est.
‘And he [Liberius III, bishop of Ravenna, ob. c. 405] was buried in the monasterium of St Pullio, which was built in his time, not far from the gate which is called the Porta Nova; his tomb is known to us.’
Text: Deliyannis 2006
Translation: Deliyannis 2004
Cult PlacesCult building - monastic
Non Liturgical Activity
Cult building - monastic
Cult building - dependent (chapel, baptistery, etc.)
Non Liturgical ActivityBurial ad sanctos
Source
Agnellus of Ravenna (ob. c. 846) was a deacon of the cathedral in Ravenna and – by hereditary right – abbot of two monasteries in the city. He wrote his Liber Pontificalis Ecclesiae Ravennatis between 830 and 846, following the model of the Roman Liber Pontificalis. It provides biographies of all the bishops of Ravenna from the legendary founder bishop Apollinaris to those active in Agnellus’ own day, and was originally composed to be delivered orally, most likely to clerics of Ravenna. The text is preserved in two manuscripts: one from the 15th century (Bibliotec Estense Cod. Lat. 371 X.P.4.9.) and a fragmentary manuscript from the 16th century (MS Vat. Lat. 5834). Agnellus bases his account of the lives of late antique bishops on documents preserved in Ravenna, stories transmitted orally, and his own experience of the architectural landscape of 9th c. Ravenna.Agnellus' work contains invaluable architectural and art historical information about Ravenna: Agnellus refers to several religious buildings there and in the neighbouring settlements of Caesarea and Classe. He describes their decoration and preserves several inscriptions, many of which are now lost. It must be remembered that this is a 9th c. work. Agnellus’ descriptions of buildings and their fixtures is based on his 9th c. experience, not late antique reality. Indeed, his accounts of the events of earlier years are often riddled with inaccuracies. Yet it is likely that his descriptions of the churches of Ravenna are more trustworthy. As Deborah Mauskopf Deliyannis argues, a comparison of surviving late antique mosaics with Agnellus’ account suggests that his descriptions were largely accurate. This is limited to what he does tell us – for example Arian foundations are often ignored whilst orthodox foundations are emphasised. Yet, overall, this text provides invaluable information about the cult of saints in late antique Ravenna.
Discussion
J. M. Stansterre and E. Morini have both convincingly shown that, throughout Agnellus’ account, monasterium can be used to mean any foundation – for example a chapel or church. In this case Agnellus is probably describing a funerary chapel. The information he gives about the date of this chapel is likely to be accurate, but whether it was, from its origin, dedicated to Pullio, the martyr of Cibalae, is less certain.Agnellus is likely to have derived the date from an inscription - very possibly the epitaph on Liberius' tomb, a tomb which he had seen. That the chapel was from the time of its foundation dedicated to Pullio is possible but less certain: it could have acquired this dedication at some point in the intervening centuries up to Agnellus' day.
Bibliography
Text:Deliyannis, Deborah Mauskopf, Agnelli Ravennatis Liber pontificalis ecclesiae Ravennatis (Corpus Christianorum Continuatio Mediaevalis 199; Turnhout, 2006).
Translation:
Deliyannis, Deborah Mauskopf, The Book of Pontiffs of the Church of Ravenna (Washington D.C., 2004).
Further Reading:
Deichmann, Friedrich Wilhelm, Ravenna, Hauptstadt des spätantiken Abendlandes, vol. 1-3, (Wiesbaden, 1958-89).
Deliyannis, Deborah Mauskopf, Ravenna in Late Antiquity (Cambridge, 2010).
Mackie, Gillian, Early Christian Chapels in the West: Decoration, Function and Patronage (Toronto, 2003).
Moffat, Ann, "Sixth Century Ravenna from the Perspective of Abbot Agnellus," in: P. Allen and E.M. Jeffreys (eds,), The Sixth Century – End or Beginning? (Brisbane, 1996), 236-246.
Morini, E., "Le strutture monastische a Ravenna," in: Storia di Ravenna, 2.2, Dall’età bizantia all’ età ottania, ed. A. Carile (Ravenna, 1992), 305-312.
Schoolman, Edward, Rediscovering Sainthood in Italy: Hagiography and the Late Antique Past in Medieval Ravenna (Basingstoke, 2016).
Stansterre, J. M., "Monaci e monasteri greci a Ravenna," in: Storia di Ravenna, 2.1, Dall’età bizantia all’ età ottania, ed. A. Carile (Ravenna, 1992), 323-329.
Verhoeven, Mariëtte, The Early Christian Monuments of Ravenna: Transformations and Memory (Turnhout, 2011).
Record Created By
Frances Trzeciak
Date of Entry
13/07/2018
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00694 | Pullio, martyred lector of Cibalae in Pannonia | Pullio | Certain |
|---|
Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL:
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