Marius of Avenches, in a chronicle written in Latin at Avenches (eastern Gaul), c. 581, describes how the monastery dedicated to the *Theban legion (S00339) at Saint-Maurice-d'Agaune (eastern Gaul) was sacked by the Lombards in 574.
Evidence ID
E05959
Type of Evidence
Literary - Other narrative texts (including Histories)
Chronicle of Marius of Avenches
Eo anno iterum Langobardi in Vallem ingressi sunt et Clusas obtinuerunt et in monasterium sanctorum Acaunensium diebus multis habitaverunt: et postea in Baccis pugnam contra exercitum Francorum commiserunt, ubi paene ad integrum interfecti sunt, pauci fuga liberati.
'In this year, the Lombards again invaded Valais and took possession of Clusae. They lived in the monastery of the saints of Agaune for many days, and afterwards engaged the army of the Franks in battle at Bex, where they were killed almost to a man; a few escaped by flight.'
Text: Mommsen 1894, 239.
Translation: Murray 2000, 107.
Cult PlacesCult building - monastic
Cult building - monastic
Place of martyrdom of a saint
Source
Marius, bishop of Avenches c. 574-c. 594, composed a short continuation of the chronicle of Prosper of Aquitaine, covering events from the end of Prosper's chronicle in 455 up to 581.Discussion
The reputed site of the martyrdom of Mauritius and the Theban Legion was at Acaunum in the upper Rhône Valley (present day Saint-Maurice-d'Agaune, Switzerland). The monastery there was founded by Sigismund, king of the Burgundians, in 515.This entry in the chronicle of Marius of Avenches is the clearest account of the occupation of the monastery during the Lombard incursion into Francia in 574. This is the event mentioned in the Copenhagen continuation of Prosper (E03573) and the chronicle of Fredegar (E05956).
Bibliography
Edition:Mommsen, T., Marii episcopi Aventicensis chronica, in: Chronica minora saec. IV. V. VI. VII (II) (Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Auctores antiquissimi 11; Berlin, 1894), 232-239.
Translation:
Murray, A.C., From Roman to Merovingian Gaul: A Reader (Peterborough, Ontario, 2000), 100-108.
Record Created By
David Lambert
Date of Entry
15/07/2018
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00339 | Theban Legion, commanded by Maurice, martyrs of Agaune, Gaul | sancti Acaunenses | Certain |
|---|
Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL:
David Lambert, Cult of Saints, E05959 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E05959