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The Cult of Saints in Late Antiquity


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


The Latin Life of the Jura Fathers recounts how an ampulla with the oil of *Martin (ascetic and bishop of Tours, ob. 397, S00050) survived a fire in the monastery in Condat and continued to be venerated there at the time of writing; 496/525. Written at Condat in the Jura mountains (modern Saint-Claude in eastern Gaul), 512/525.

Evidence ID

E05949

Type of Evidence

Literary - HagiographicHagiographical - Livesal - Other saint-related texts

The Life of the Jura Fathers 161-164 (Life of Saint Eugendus the Abbot)

Summary:

161. The author notes that Martin had once been tested and proved by a fire (
Martinum temptari quidem incendio, sed probari). The same thing happened at Condat, but the oil of Martin was not devoured by the flames (Martini oleum nullo flammarum est uoratum incendio).

162. One evening a fire broke out in the monastery, which was built of wood, and by the following morning the whole building was destroyed.

163. After the fire the monks were sifting through the ashes for anything that had survived:

Ecce Antidiolus sanctus presbyter prospicit ampullam cum oleo beati Martini, quae salutis gratia ad lectuli sui capitium dependebat, plenam clausamque, ut fuerat, post uasta incendia ...

'Behold! The holy presbyter Antidiolus sees an ampulla with oil of the blessed Martin, which hung at the head of his bed for his protection, full and sealed, as it had been, after the vast fire ...'

The bottle survived like the three youths in the fiery furnace.

164.
Quae etiiam ampullula cum oleo ipso ad uirtutum testimonium odie usque in eodem monasterio seruatur. Unde non amplius sub Eugendo sancto incendiali arbitror casui licuisse, quam, ut diximus, beatissimo quondam cessisse Martino, uel postmodum Condatescenses monachos cum oleo uirtuteque Martini reminiscimur euasisse.

'That little bottle, with the same oil, is preserved right up to this day in that very monastery as a testimony to its miraculous powers. Thus the fiery misfortune, I believe, was not allowed more power over holy Eugendus than, as I have said, when it retreated from blessed Martin. Consequently, we recall, the monks of Condadisco escaped thanks to the oil and power of Martin.'


Text: Martine 1988, 410, 412, 414 and 416.
Translation: Vivian et al. 1999, 176.
Summary: Katarzyna Wojtalik, David Lambert.

Miracles

Miraculous protection - of people and their property

Relics

Contact relic - oil
Privately owned relics

Protagonists in Cult and Narratives

Ecclesiastics - monks/nuns/hermits

Cult Related Objects

Ampullae, flasks, etc.

Source

The Life of the Jura Fathers (Vita patrum Iurensium) consists of three vitae – of Romanus (ob. 455/460; PCBE 4, 'Romanus 3'), Lupicinus (ob. 472/475; PCBE 4, 'Lupicinus 4'), and Eugendus (ob. 512/515; PCBE 4, 'Eugendus'). Romanus and his brother Lupicinus were the founders of the ascetic communities which grew up in the 5th century in remote rural areas in the Jura mountains of eastern Gaul; Eugendus was their eventual successor in the late 5th century. Romanus' community was located at Condat (Condadisco), modern Saint-Claude, where he seems to have settled sometime in the 430s (to judge from the not always clear chronology of his Life); within a few years he was joined by his younger brother Lupicinus. As the size of the community grew, Lupicinus eventually established his own settlement nearby at Lauconnus (modern Saint-Lupicin). Romanus also founded a female monastic community, headed by his sister (whose name is unknown), at Balma (La Balme, modern Saint-Romain-des-Roches), a few miles from Condat.

The
Life of the Jura Fathers was written after the death of Eugendus, which occurred in the period 512/515 (the date is established by Avitus of Vienne, Letter 19), probably soon after. François Massai pointed out that in spite of the author's demonstrative reverence for Eugendus, the Life attributes no posthumous miracles to him (Massai 1971, 57), suggesting that it was composed only a short time after his death. More debatably, Massai argued (Massai 1971, 50, 56) that references in the text to the shrine of the Theban Legion at Saint-Maurice-d'Agaune – notably the preface (E05898) and § 44 (E07851) – seem to depict it before its refoundation by the Burgundian prince Sigismund in 515. While not dating the work quite so early, Martine 1968, 56, argued that it influenced the Life of the Abbots of Agaune (E06267), which he dated to the mid 520s.

The
Life of the Jura Fathers is anonymous, but the author discloses various details about his life: he seems to have been a native of the Jura region, and he himself was a member of the community at Condat. He knew Eugendus personally, and regularly emphasises that he was a witness of events in Eugendus' time and was told about many earlier events by Eugendus himself. His knowledge of Romanus and Lupicinus came from the traditions of the community and the reminiscences of Eugendus and other older monks (by the time the Life of the Jura Fathers was written, thirty to forty years had passed since the death of Lupicinus, and fifty to sixty since the death of Romanus). On the author, and the information that can be established about him, see Martine 1968, 45-53; Vivian et al. 1999, 48-52.

The author was well-read in Latin ascetic literature: he was certainly familiar with the works of Sulpicius Severus on Martin of Tours, which he sometimes quotes directly. Allusions and references in his work suggest that he also knew the
Life of Antony (probably the Latin version by Evagrius, E00930), Jerome's ascetic Lives, Rufinus' Latin version of Eusebius' Church History, and works by Basil of Caesarea (in translation) and John Cassian. See Vivian et al. 1999, 50-51.

For full discussion of the text, author, and date, see primarily the introduction to Martine 1968; see also Vivian et al. 1999, 47-61. For brief accounts of the sites associated with Romanus, Lupicinus and Eugendus, see Vieillard-Troiekouroff 1976, 249-250, 262-264, 273-274. The lives of Romanus and Lupicinus are also recounted by Gregory of Tours in his
Life of the Fathers 1 (see E00003, E00004).

(David Lambert)


Discussion

The reference to Martin of Tours being 'tested but proved' by a fire (Martinum temptari quidem incendio sed probari) is to the event described in Sulpicius Severus, Letter 1 (E00691), which concludes with the same phrase (temptatum quidem illo Martinum periculo sed uere probatum).

While the author does not describe the origin of the 'oil of Martin' (
Martini oleum) possessed by Antidiolus, it must have been obtained from the shrine of Martin at Tours. The use of oil from the shrine is frequently mentioned in the works of Gregory of Tours: for an example of someone taking an ampulla of oil from the shrine, see E03542. Here, the personal possession of the monk Antidiolus, kept for his own protection, became a more important relics, due to it successfully surviving the fire.


Bibliography

Edition:
Martine, F., Vie des pères du Jura (Sources Chrétiennes 142; Paris: Les Éditions du Cerf, 1968).

English translation:
Vivian, T., Vivian, K., and Russell, J.B. The Life of the Jura Fathers (Cistercian Studies Series 178; Kalamazoo: Cistercian Publications, 1999).

Further reading:
Massai, F., "‘La «Vita patrum iurensium» et les débuts du monachisme à Saint-Maurice d’Agaune," in: J. Autenrieth and F. Brunhölzl (eds.), Festschrift Bernard Bischoff zu seinem 65. Geburtstag (Stuttgart, 1971), 43-69.

Pietri, L. and Heijmans, M.,
Prosopographie chrétienne du Bas-Empire, 4 Prosopographie de la Gaule chrétienne (314-614), 2 vols. (Paris 2013), vol. 1, 679-683, 'Eugendus', vol. 2, 1194-1199, 'Lupicinus 4', and 1620-1625, 'Romanus 3'.

Vieillard-Troiekouroff, M.,
Les monuments religieux de la Gaule d'après les œuvres de Grégoire de Tours (Paris, 1976).


Record Created By

Katarzyna Wojtalik

Date of Entry

13/07/2018

Related Saint Records
IDNameName in SourceIdentity
S00050Martin, ascetic and bishop of Tours, ob. 397MartinusCertain


Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL:
Katarzyna Wojtalik, Cult of Saints, E05949 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E05949