A letter, of disputed authenticity, from the imprisoned Leudegar, bishop of Autun (ob. 677/9), to his mother, Sigrada, closes by calling on *Christophoros (martyr of Pamphylia, S00616) to be an intercessor for her. Written in Latin, at Fécamp (northern Gaul), 676/679 (if genuine).
Evidence ID
E05944
Type of Evidence
Literary - Letters
Leudegar, bishop of Autun, letter to his mother Sigrada
This is the letter's closing salutation:
Sanctus Christophorus martyr inclytus sit pro te intercessor assiduus.
‘May the glorious martyr Saint Christopher be a constant intercessor for you.’
Text: Gundlach 1892, 467.
Translation: David Lambert.
Non Liturgical ActivityWomen
Saint as patron - of an individual
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesWomen
Ecclesiastics - bishops
Source
The letter from Leudegar (ob. 677/9), the martyred bishop of Autun (S02098), to his mother Sigrada, consoling her when he was imprisoned before his execution, is transmitted independently of other works related to Leudegar. It survives in two manuscripts: Vatican, Reg. lat. 272 (9th c.), and Paris, BnF, lat. 2077 (11th c.), on which see Dumézil 2017, 77-8. The closing salutation quoted in this entry appears only in the Vatican manuscript.The authenticity of the letter is regarded as dubious in current scholarship: notably, the figure of Sigrada, Leudegar's mother, while prominent in the later medieval traditions about him, does not appear in the earliest sources for his life. See Fouracre and Gerberding 1996, 216, n. 86; Dumézil 2017, 77, 81. However, Dumézil does not absolutely rule out the possibility that it is authentic.
Discussion
Assuming the letter is genuine (see above), it was written from the monastery of Fiscamnus (Fécamp), where Leudegar was confined before being put to death. The letter mostly draws on the Bible, but ends (in one of the two extant manuscripts) with the salutation quoted.Bibliography
Edition:Gundlach, W., Epistolae Merowingici et Karolini aevi (MGH, Epistolae 3; Berlin, 1892), 464-467.
French translation and commentary:
Dumézil, B., Le dossier saint Léger (Paris: Les Belles Lettres, 2017), 82-87.
Further reading:
Fouracre, P., and Gerberding, R.A., Late Merovingian France: History and Hagiography, 640-720 (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1996).
Record Created By
David Lambert
Date of Entry
15/12/2021
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00616 | Christophoros, martyr of Pamphylia | Christophorus | Certain |
|---|
Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL:
David Lambert, Cult of Saints, E05944 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E05944