Constantius of Lyon, in his Life of *Germanus (bishop of Auxerre, ob. c. 448, S00455), recounts how the empress Galla Placidia had a wooden platter given to her by Germanus set in gold and how a loaf she received from him had miraculous healing powers. Written in Latin at Lyon (south-east Gaul) between c. 460 and c. 480.
E06022
Literary - Hagiographical - Lives
Constantius of Lyon, Life of Germanus of Auxerre 35
For a full account of Constantius' Life of Germanus, see E05841.
After describing Germanus' arrival at Ravenna, Constantius mentions that the bishop of the city was Peter (Chrysologus) and that the rulers were Galla Placidia and her son Valentinian (III).
Qui omnes uenerabilem sacerdotem certantibus studiis pro diuino amore suscipiunt. Ambiunt principes, occurrunt proceres; ecclesia cum exultatione complectitur. Ad diuersorium sacerdotis regina uenerabilis uas argenti amplissimum, refertum cibis delicatioribus sine ulla carnis admixtione, transmisit. Quod susceptum ea ratione distribuit ut cibos a ministris suis traderet ipse uero uindicaret argentum, remittens loco muneris patenulam ligneam panem ordeaceum continentem. Quod illa utrumque cum ingenti gratulatione conplexa est, quod et argentum suum transisset ad pauperes et illa escam beati uiri cum ministerio abiecti uasculi suscepisset. Nam et lignum postea auro ambiit et panem multis remediis et uirtutibus reseruauit.
'All these personages, for the love of God, vied with one another in the reception that they gave to the revered Bishop. Princes courted him, nobles went out to meet him, the body of the faithful were in transports of joy. The revered Empress sent to his lodgings a huge dish of silver laden with many kinds of delicious food, all prepared without meat. He accepted the gift, distributed the food to those who served him and kept the silver, sending back in its place a little wooden platter with a barley loaf on it. The Empress treasured both, immensely delighted, both because her silver had passed through his hands to the poor and because she had received for herself the holy man's food on so humble a dish. Indeed, she afterwards had the wood set in gold and kept the bread to work many miracles of healing.'
Constantius next describes how Germanus miraculously released some prisoners in Ravenna (E08585).
Text: Borius 1965.
Translation: Hoare 1954.
Healing diseases and disabilities
RelicsContact relic - other object closely associated with saint
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesEcclesiastics - bishops
Women
Monarchs and their family
Cult Related ObjectsPrecious material objects
Source
Germanus of Auxerre (PCBE 4, 'Germanus 1', pp. 878-883) was the most important and revered episcopal saint of 5th-century Gaul. The Life of Germanus was written some years after his death (traditionally dated to 448, but perhaps earlier) by Constantius, a literary figure, possibly a cleric, attested in Lyon in the 460s and 470s (PCBE 4, 'Constantius 3', pp. 521-522). The precise date when he composed the Life is not documented, but it must have been sometime between the 460s and the early 480s. For full discussion of the authorship and date of the Life of Germanus, see its overview entry: E05841.Discussion
This event occurs when Germanus is visiting the western imperial capital of Ravenna in order to intercede for the rebellious inhabitants of Armorica. Germanus died during his stay in Ravenna, at a date which is nowhere recorded directly but which the balance of evidence suggests was in the second half of the 440s, though the specific year traditionally given (448) may not be the correct one. It is the death of Galla Placidia (27 November 450) which provides the absolute terminus ante quem for the death of Germanus.Bibliography
Editions:Borius, R., Constance de Lyon, Vie de saint Germain d'Auxerre (Sources chrétiennes 112; Paris: Cerf, 1965), with French translation.
Levison, W., Vita Germani episcopi Autissiodorensis auctore Constantio, in: Passiones vitaeque sanctorum aevi Merovingici V (Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Scriptores rerum Merovingicarum 7; Hannover and Leipzig, 1919), 246-283.
English translation:
Hoare, F.R., The Western Fathers (London, 1954), 283-320. Reprinted in T.F.X. Noble and T. Head (eds.), Soldiers of Christ: Saints and Saints' Lives from Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages (University Park PA: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1995), 75-106.
David Lambert
29/04/2025
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00455 | Germanus, bishop of Auxerre, ob. 445/450 | Certain |
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