The Cult of Saints in Late Antiquity

Life of Eligius, Bishop of Noyon (Vita s. Eligii episcopi noviomensis, BHL 2474, CPL 2094)

Summary

Preface
Audoin sets out to write the Life in widely intelligible prose, criticising the sophistry of the ancients. He asks that any copyists take care to transcribe his words carefully, 'for we have often seen many volumes, especially the deeds of saints, corrupted by the errors of scribes' (quia plerumque uidemus nonnulla uolumina et praecipue sanctorum gesta ita scriptorum vitio depreuata).

Book One
(1) On Eligius' birth at Chaptelat near Limoges, (2) and the prophecy that he would become a great priest and holy man (uir sanctus). (3) How his father put him into the service of the goldsmith Abbo as a boy, (4) and later, how he left his homeland for that of the Franks, and entered the guardianship of the royal treasurer Bobo, (5) and from there the service of King Chlothar as his goldsmith. (6) The author recalls how he once witnessed, out in the fields at Rueil, Eligius refuse to take an oath to the king over some relics of unnamed saints, whereupon he burst into tears lest he offend the king, prompting the king's admiration. (7) How, upon reaching manhood, Eligius' undertook self-imposed penance for his adolescent sins; (8) and how he hoped for a sign that God had accepted it. How, one night, sleeping in his usual bed beneath many suspended relics of the saints (in cubiculo ubi assiduae cubitare solitus erat multorum pignora sanctorum in suppremis dependentia), he dreamt that someone informed him that what he sought had been granted; he smelt a most pleasant odour, and sensed sweet drops from the container of the relics falling on his head (ex gerulo reliquiarum guttas suauissimas supra suum lenissimae defluere caput); and suddenly waking up, he found something like balsam dripping from the reliquary (quasi balsamum distillare de crismario). On his friendship at court with Audoin/Dado and his brother Ado, who took 'common counsel' to imitate Eligius' deeds.

(9) How, with the death of King Chlothar and succession of Dagobert, Eligius' stature grew at court, as did the hatred of many. Audoin describes his subject's many virtues. (10) How his fame grew, so that those from Roman, Italian and Gothic legations would come to visit him at the royal palace, and so too 'religious men' and monks; on his manumission of Romans, Gauls, Bretons, Moors and especially Saxons; (11) his daily visits from the poor and vagrant (peregrini); and his donations to monasteries and the needy. (12) On his physical appearance; his closeness to Audoin, to whom he attached his rooms (mansio) when they lived with the king; the relics of many saints he hung up in his bedroom (in cubiculo suo multa sanctorum dependentia pignora). (13) How he brought about peace with the Bretons, and gave many alms on the journey. (14) How the king took sought his private counsel, and gave him whatever he wished in return, (15) such as the uilla near Limoges called Solignac, where he founded a monastery, (16) the remarkable observance of which Audoin witnessed himself. (17) How he thought about founding a hostel (xenodochium) at Paris, but instead resolved to set up a monastery for women there, (18) and also built for the nuns' burial a basilica dedicated to *Paul (the Apostle, S00008), and 'built or rather restored' (aedificauit etiam immoque renouauit) a basilica in honour of the 'pontiff and confessor' *Martialis (first bishop of Limoges, S01168). How he translated relics of Martialis there with a great liturgical procession, during which some prisoners were miraculously freed: 'dumbfounded, all who were present set about extolling the newness of the miracle and the merits of these two saints at once joined together, praising Martialis and acclaiming Eligius' (omnes igitur qui aderant in stuporem uersi coepere adtollere nouitatem miraculi ac merita duorum coniuncta simul sanctorum, Marcialis laudem, Eligii praedicare fauorem). (19) How a great fire in Paris nearly burnt down the monastery and basilica, but changed its course after Eligius invoked the aid of Martialis.

(20) Audoin further praises Eligius' qualities. (21) How he often visited Luxeuil, this being a time when there were fewer monasteries in Gaul and Francia, and those others which did exist (save Solignac) lacked the discipline of a rule. (22) On his personal austerities both on journeys and at home. (23) How he healed a crippled man lying before the tomb of *Dionysius (bishop and martyr of Paris, S00349) on that saint's feast day, as the clergy sang vigils in the choir (tempore cum anniuersaria... celebraretur passio, cum uigilia a clero caneretur in choro); and how he forbade the man to say anyone did so 'except the Lord Jesus through Saint Dionysius' (nisi... Dominus Iesus per sanctum Dionysium). (24) How he healed a pauper's withered hand, and (25) quenched the thirst of many poor with only a little wine. (26) How, 'when making a circuit of the places of prayer in Paris' (cum Parisius loca orationum circuiret), he saw a crippled man outside the basilica of the confessor *Germanus (bishop of Paris, d. 576, S01166), and ordered that he brought into the church to be healed, lest he be seen to take the 'glory' for himself. (27) On a paralysed man he healed on his way to the royal uilla of Étrépagny, (28) a miraculous supply of gold which he gave to the poor, (29) and a blind man he healed in Paris. (30) How, when the Parisian basilica of *Columba (virgin and martyr of Sens, S01862) was robbed, he chided the saint in her church (oratorium), threatening to have its entrance barred with thorns: the following day everything was returned, and Eligius praised the martyr. (31) How he received the king's permission to bury executed persons wherever he found them, and how when doing so at Strasbourg, one came back to life, to whom he gave a royal charter, helping him escape from his pursuers.

(32) On the tombs of saints which Eligius adorned with gold, silver, and gems: those of Germanus, *Severinus (perhaps either the bishop of Bordeaux, 5th c., S01273; or the bishop of Cologne, 5th c., S02870), *Piaton (martyr of Tournai, S02943), *Quintinus (martyr of Saint-Quentin, S00379), *Lucius (martyr of Beauvais, S02944), *Genovefa (ascetic of Paris, ob. c. 502, S01156), Columba, *Maximianus and Lolianus (unidentified, S02945: perhaps the first is Maximinus, bishop of Trier, ob. c. 347, S00465; or the abbot of Micy, 6th c., S02064), and *Iulianus (probably the martyr of Brioude, S00035; possibly the bishop of Le Mans, 3rd/4th c., S01182), but especially *Martin (ascetic and bishop of Tours, ob. 397, S00050), together with *Bricius (bishop of Tours, ob. 444, S01170). How Eligius had adorned Martin's shrine on the orders of King Dagobert, who on Eligius' request granted that church a charter of privilege, so that it could claim the city's tax for itself, something still established today through episcopal decrees. How he also fashioned a spectacular mausoleum of marble, gold and gems for Saint Dionysius at Paris.

(33) On the death of King Dagobert, and his burial at that same basilica of Dionysius (Saint-Denis). On the heresy then polluting the Roman Empire, and how *Pope Martin (bishop and confessor of Rome, ob. 655/6, S00859), sought support against the heresiarchs from the king of the Franks. (34) How Martin suffered in exile in Constantinople, where he restored the sight of a blind man. Audoin argues (against the sceptics) that, although when Pope Martin died in exile he had not been executed, 'the heavenly court received him as a martyr, returning to his Lord' (ad Dominum suum redeuntem caelestis aula martyrem suscepit). Audoin states that he has added this passage on Pope Martin so that his 'memory, however much it might be celebrated in the East, will not altogether pass into oblivion in the West' (memoria... quamuis in Oriente frequentetur, non usquequaque in Occidente obliuione tradatur).

(35) On a heretic who came from overseas to Auxerre, and the episcopal council convened by Eligius and Audoin against him at Orléans, at which Bishop Falvus prevailed; (36) on another heretic expelled by Eligius from Paris. How he also expelled from the kingdom a man pretending to be a bishop. (37) On Eligius' care for the old, widowed, orphaned and infirm. (38) How he was 'equally subject to the king and devoted to Christ' (regi pariter subiectus et Christo deuotus); how, desiring to be a martyr, he sought to martyr himself through his austerities; and how he 'prayed frequently for all people, for the kings, and for those of high status, so that they might live quiet and peaceful lives' (orabat frequenter... pro hominibus, pro regibus, et his qui in sublimitate sunt, ut quietam et tranquillam uitam agant): he was (39) 'the most perfect lay person' (perfectissimum laicum). (40) Audoin concludes this book, saving his account of Eligius' clerical career for later.


Second Preface
Audoin states that he is omitting much from his narrative, but that he is also wary of 'hypocrites' accusing him of including too little.

Book Two
(1) How Eligius had served Chlothar, Dagobert and the younger Chlothar 'under the secular habit.' How he and Audoin and other men in council petitioned the princeps (Chlothar) to rule against the 'heresy' of simony in the kingdom, (2) whereafter Eligius was elected bishop of Noyon, and Audoin bishop of Rouen: after a canonical delay, they were ordained by Bishop Deodatus of Mâcon. How Eligius, tonsured unwillingly, became custos of the Vermandois, the metropolis of Tournai, Flanders, Ghent and Courtrai: in these regions there were still pagans. (3) On Eligius' pastoral care (pastoris cura), going about the cities and towns. How many of the people of Flanders and Antwerp, and the Frisians, Suevi, and other barbarians around the coast were hostile to him at first; but how in time they abandoned their idols and turned to the true God. (4) On Eligius' virtues as a pastor. (5) On the nunnery he founded at Noyon, one of many monasteries built by him and his followers, from which many bishops have been recruited.

(6) How he launched an investigation to discover the body of the martyr Quintinus, thus beating one Maurinus, a cantor at the royal palace who had attempted and abandoned the same task. How he thought the site hitherto venerated by the 'people' (loco uenerabatur populus) had been mistaken, and how he undertook a three-day fast to find the body, after other members of the search party began to lose hope. How, having ordered a trench more than ten feet deep to be dug at the back of a church (in posteriora ecclesiae parte effodiendum designat... defossaque iam in altum ultra pedes decem seu amplius terram), he discovered the body himself, and was struck by 'a flash of light and an indescribable perfume' (fulgore luminis odoreque inenarrabili). How, after raising the body, Eligius extracted the teeth (drawing blood in the process: dentes etiam... abstulit, atque in radice dentis gutta sanguinis exiuit), pulled out the nails hammered into the saint's head and limbs during his martyrdom for his own use as relics (clavos... quos tempore passionis eius persecutores corpori infixerant, ex cerebro ceterisque artubus abstractos, sibi pro reliquiis sequestrauit), and treated the very beautiful hair as separate relics (capillos etiam pulcherrimos reliquiis separatos delegauit). How he wrapped the martyr's body in silk, built a wonderful tomb for him, and renovated the church. How he then interred the relics he had taken from the body at many places, for the healing of the sick.

(7) On Eligius' further discoveries (inuenire) of martyrs' bodies: of Piaton at Séclin in Le Mélentois, from whom he also removed nails 'to show to the people as evidence' (populis in argumentum monstrauit), before building an urban mausoleum; of *Crispinus and Crispinianus (martyrs of Soissons, S00174) in a 'certain crypt' (quadam cripta) at Soissons; and of Lucius, a companion of Quintinus, at Beauvais.

(8) On Eligius' missionary work: his preaching, destruction of pagan shrines, (9-10) and many personal qualities. (11) How, on his way to Provence, he exorcised a man on the road, (12) and a woman at a basilica at the uilla of Ampuis; (13) and how on his way back he discerned who had stolen from Bishop Aurelianus of Uzès a hempen rope used to lead a pack-camel (canuam cum quo camelum onerarium secum semper ducere consueuerat). (14) On Eligius' qualities as bishop. (15) On his journey to visit Bourges and Limoges. How at the former he venerated the confessor *Sulpicius (either the bishop of Bourges, ob. 591, S02151; or his namesake, ob. 646/7, S02436), and miraculously freed the city's prisoners, who then fled to the basilica of Sulpicius for sanctuary; there, he defended them from their pursuers, and by praying broke their chains, a miracle which he credited to Sulpicius. (16) Audoin gives examples of Eligius' preaching, including his warnings against 'the sacrilegious customs of the pagans' (sacrilegas consuetudines obseruatis); the celebration of Kalends (1st) of January; and the celebration of the solstice with dances and 'devilish singing' on the feast of Saint *John (the Baptist, S00020), or any other saints (in festiuitate sancti Iohannis uel quibusque sanctorum sollemnitatibus solestitia aut uallationes aut saltationes aut cantica diabolica).

(17) Audoin relates Eligius' miracles (uirtutes): how he (18) replenished a cask of Falernian wine in Paris; (19) excommunicated a man (a familiaris of Ebroin) with whom he was in a property dispute, causing him to fall lifelessly to the ground; (20) cursed a crowd of detractors on the feast of Saint *Peter (the Apostle, S00036) in Noyon, so that they became possessed, and only exorcised them a year later, on the same feast day; (21) stopped the bells from ringing at the basilica of a priest he had excommunicated; (22) cursed a tree (arbuscula) near Compiègne from which his boys stole nuts, causing it to wither; (23) silenced and exorcised the possessed in church, on the feast of Saint Martin; (24) healed his familaris Ermensind on his deathbed, but only after he had made satisfaction for his sins; (25) healed a deacon; (26) excommunicated a priest, who was later struck dead at the altar; (27) saw a column of fire descend into the lodgings of Erchinoald, praepositus of the palace, who died in agony; (28) prophesied the death of Flavadus, who had killed Willibad, patrician of Burgundy; (29) knew of the death of Bishop Simplicius of Limoges (this when he was still a layman); (30) knew from a vision that some monks would try to flee Abbot Domnolus' monastery; (31) foresaw that Ebrigisil, a hermit of Bourges, would be compelled to visit the royal court at Clichy; (32) and prophesied future political events, which have so far partly come to pass: the rest is left for God's judgment. (33) Audoin reflects again on Eligius' many personal qualities.

(33) On Eligius' death and burial. (34) How, aged seventy, he ordered the restoration of the basilica of Saint *Medard (bishop of Vermand, ob. c. 550, S00168) at Noyon, and foretold his imminent death. How he gathered his followers and servants on the Kalends (1st) of December, and (35) made his deathbed speech, and (36) died, whereupon a great light filled the sky. How the body was brought to the church, and vigils were kept. (37) How Queen Balthild visited the church, and tried to have the body brought to her monastery at Chelles, and how it would not move; meanwhile, others wished it to go to Paris, others that it stay in Noyon. How, when the queen kissed the corpse's face, blood flowed from its nose, which she and the bishops hurried to collect with linen cloths for relics (unda sanguinis ex naribus iacentis profluens... conspicientes episcopi et regina christianissima, confestim subpositis hinc inde billeis linteis... sanguingem collegerunt... deinceps in pignoribus segregarunt). How the queen ultimately accepted that the corpse did not wish to be moved to Chelles, having even tried to pick up the bier herself. (38) On the procession of Eligius' body to its tomb, followed by almost all the city and the queen herself on foot (tota paene ciuitas... regina deuota... pedestri et graui labore sequens); how, after Eligius' burial by the bishops, the queen fasted for three days. Audoin asserts that Eligius went into the bosom of Abraham, and into the Elysian Fields with all the saints (in sinu Abrahae... elisiis in campis cum cunctis a saeculo sanctis).

(39) On the miracles after his death. How he appeared in a vision to: Abbot Sparvus, revealing that the deacon Uffo had stolen a rough fabric (rachina) kept at the bier; (40) the hermit Dulciolenus; (41) and an attendant of Queen Balthild, prompting her to further embellish the saint's tomb. (42) Of a miracle at the tomb: how the linen wrapped around it in Lent became drenched with sweat, which was then collected into a vessel and used as a medicine (linteum quo tumba cingebatur sudare... uberius rore infuso umectari... Deinde cum distillare cernerent linteum... ut auferentes eum e tumulo atque extorquentes in uasculo, aliqua ex eodem liquore medicina fore). (43) On the great sickness (morbus) which at that time lay waste to many cities in Francia, and how Count Ingomar of Thérouanne procured some of the tomb fluid (liquor) and gave it to those living on his estates for their protection, taking from them tithes for Eligius' church in return. (44) How Eligius appeared in a vision to a vintner exulting over his death, and struck him with his staff. (45-6) How those in chains were freed at his tomb. (47) How after Eligius' death his horse went into the possession of the abbot of the basilica [where he was buried?]; was then seized by Bishop Mummolenus; and fell ill and misbehaved, until it was retuned to the abbot.

(48) How the bishop and queen resolved to translate Eligius' body, hitherto buried to one side of the altar (in latere altaris esset sepultum), to a newly built vault 'beyond' it (aedificata ultra altare uolutione); how the correct place was revealed by a miraculous crack in the wall; how the queen prepared expensive silk vestments (uestimenta omnia olosirica nimium pretiosa) for the saint; how when the bishops raised him from the tomb, it was revealed that the body was uncorrupted (incorruptum); and how once his clothes had been changed, he was carefully entombed again, 'under seals' (cum magna diligentia reposuerunt sub sigillis).

(49) On the further miracles which followed the translation: the healing of the blind, and a crippled girl; (50) the wondrous behaviour of the lamp that hung above the saint's head (cecindillus qui ad caput beati uiri dependebat); (51) the healing and exorcism of a crippled boy; (52) the healing of a blind and speechless woman, (53) and a speechless girl. (54) How, during the plague which depopulated Paris (cum nefanda clades depopularet urbem Parisiacum), Eligius appeared in a vision in the basilica of his monastery for virgins, dressed in a white toga (ueste candida amictus, togarum uelamine comptus), where he portended the death of Abbess Aurea (after whom a further 160 nuns died).

(55) More miracles at the tomb. On the vision experienced by Count (graffio) Garefred, after which he found gold in his hands and clothes. (56) How Bobo, the son of Ebroin, the mayor of the palace, was healed. (57) How a man who perjured himself at the tomb soon defecated his bowels onto the ground. (58) How a man in a dispute with Abbot Sparvus over land at Chaumont belonging to Eligius' basilica pressed his case at the royal palace, which ruled that he was to take an oath at the saint's tomb; and how he died when perjuring himself. (59) How another perjurer died on his way home. (60) On a demoniac exorcised at the tomb. (61) How the wife of Modulenus, an official (centenarius) of Noyon was healed by oil from the tomb. (62) How the bishop and duke (duke) brought an irresolvable dispute between a father and his son to the tomb, causing the latter to become possessed. (63) How he cleansed a leper, and (64) healed a lame man. (65) How a thief, snatching one of the gold chains hanging about the tomb (unam ex catenis aureis, in qua dependere uidebatur) when the basilica was empty, was frozen to the spot. (66) How a man facing execution at court was pardoned after keeping a vigil at the tomb.

(67) Miracles beyond the tomb. The author recalls one that happened recently in his own monastery (in meo nuper gesta est monasterio), when a monk was healed by the oil which was hung over the relics of the saint kept in that monastery's oratory (in eodem monasterio oratorium... in quo reliquiae beati Eligii depositae erant... ex oleo quod medendi gratia ente pignora praefati antestitis dependebat). (68) How, in Tours, some hair and beard clippings (capillis et barba) of the saint kept by a matrona, who snatched them when he was alive and working on the restoration of Saint Martin's tomb, began after his death to emit the music of psalms in her bedroom at night (post obitum... noctibus... audiebat plerumque in suum cubiculum ducli modolamine celebrare psallentium); how this terrified and confused her; and how Aegericus, abbot of the basilica of Saint Martin, identified the source of the music. (69) How at Noyon, light shone from the hair relics of Eligius which an old lady kept in a device over her bed (supra suum discubitum in machinile). (70) How a monk in the Touraine was healed by wearing Eligius' cloak (amphibalum); (71) and another, at the author's monastery, by a piece of Eligius' linen. (72) How a man built a basilica dedicated to Eligius not far from Rheims, and obtained relics from Noyon, and how one monk there expected him to give something in return (pro eisdem munus praeberet), which, once received, set his clothes on fire (uestimentis eius uasto incendio conflagare). (73) On further relics of Eligius taken from Noyon and interred at basilicas (one unspecified, another in Aquitaine), where they also worked healing miracles. (74) On a deacon whose toothache was cured by relics of the saint, (75) and a monk cured of gout by Eligius' sheepskin coat (melotes).

(76) On the house near Compiégne where the saint used to stay, and how the bishop's bed (stratum, lectum) was later misused by Waldolenus, who lived there, causing him to be punished by a fever. How a basilica was then founded there, which Bishop Clemens of Beauvais has under his authority (regimen), and where many miracles take place. (77) How Kings Chlothar and Theuderic went to pray there, and how the former did not give alms, and then fell into a fever. (78) How a girl pledged to marriage, corrupted by a fornicator (moechus), perjured herself when swearing an oath of innocence at Eligius' tomb, and died. (79) On a miraculous excess of oil from a lamp which healed people at Compiégne, and the miracles at Eligius' bed on his estates at Vitry. (80) The author refrains from telling any further miracles, lest the reader become vexed, and (81) concludes the work.


Text: Ghesquière 1785; Krusch 1902.
Summary: B. Savill.

Service for the saint
Procession
Chant and religious singing
Ceremony of dedication

Saint’s feast

Cult building - independent (church)
Cult building - monastic
Burial site of a saint - tomb/grave
Altar
Place associated with saint's life

Begging
Production and selling of eulogiai, tokens

Uncertainty/scepticism/rejection of a saint

Visiting graves and shrines
Construction of cult buildings
Composing and translating saint-related texts
Transmission, copying and reading saint-related texts
Visiting/veneration of living saint
Awarding privileges to cult centres
Prayer/supplication/invocation
Visiting graves and shrines

Miracle during lifetime
Miracles experienced by the saint
Healing diseases and disabilities
Freeing prisoners, exiles, captives, slaves
Miraculous behaviour of relics/images
Punishing miracle
Saint denying or suspending miracles
Miracle with animals and plants
Healing diseases and disabilities
Exorcism
Revelation of hidden knowledge (past, present and future)
Saint aiding or preventing the translation of relics

Unspecified relic
Myrrh and other miraculous effluents of relics
Collections of multiple relics
Oath made on a relic
Privately owned relics
Reliquary – privately owned
Transfer, translation and deposition of relics
Bodily relic - bones and teeth
Bodily relic - nails, hair and bodily products
Contact relic - instrument of saint’s martyrdom
Discovering, finding, invention and gathering of relics
Construction of cult building to contain relics

Ecclesiastics - Popes
Heretics
Foreigners (including Barbarians)
Monarchs and their family
Aristocrats
Slaves/ servants
Prisoners
The socially marginal (beggars, prostitutes, thieves)
Officials
Ecclesiastics - lesser clergy
Ecclesiastics - bishops
Ecclesiastics - abbots
Ecclesiastics - monks/nuns/hermits
Pagans
Women
Crowds

Oil lamps/candles
Precious cloths

Relationships with pagan practices

Source

Discussion

Bibliography