The Latin Martyrdom of *Felix, Fortunatus, and Achilleus (martyrs of Valence, S02308) recounts how they were sent by *Irenaeus (bishop and martyr of Lyon, S02832) to establish the Christian church in Valence (south-east Gaul), and how they were arrested, interrogated, tortured and eventually killed. Written in eastern Gaul, possibly in the early 6th c.
Evidence ID
E06306
Type of Evidence
Literary - Hagiographical - Accounts of martyrdom
The Martyrdom of Felix, Fortunatus and Achilleus (Passio Felicis, Fortunati et Achillei, BHL 2896).
Very brief summary:
The Martyrdom has an opening section which it shares with the Martyrdom of Ferreolus and Ferrucio of Besançon (S00348) – for which, see E06312 – telling how the priest Felix, and deacons Fortunatus and Achilleus were sent by Irenaeus, bishop of Lyon, to establish the Christian church in Valence, while Ferreolus and Ferrucio were sent to Besançon.
It then tells of the arrest, torture and eventual martyrdom of the three saints at the hands of the dux Cornelius, and of their burial by the Christians of the city. At one point the martyrs are temporarily released from prison by an angel, in order to smash statues of various pagan gods.
The Martyrdom closes with the author hoping that: 'There [at their graves], obtained by the entreaty of our tears, they might deign, with the support of their celestial influence, to protect our city, invigorate the needy with merciful aid, and also loosen the tight bonds of the many sinners, with the agreement of our Lord Jesus Christ ...' (Ibidem fletuum nostrorum exoratione obtinente, dignentur, nobis superno adminiculante suffragio, urbem propriam protegere, indigos misericordiæ auxilio roborare, populi quoque multiplicium delictorum vincula adstricta laxare, annuente Domino nostro Iesu Christo ...)
Text: Acta Sanctorum, Apr. III, 98-100.
Summary and translation: B. Ward-Perkins.
Cult PlacesMiracle at martyrdom and death
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesSoldiers
Burial site of a saint - tomb/grave
Non Liturgical ActivitySaint as patron - of a community
MiraclesMiracle at martyrdom and death
Miracle after death
Material support (supply of food, water, drink, money)
Miraculous protection - of communities, towns, armies
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesSoldiers
Officials
Source
The Martyrdom of Felix, Fortunatus and Achilleus survives in a comparatively small number of manuscripts: Bibliotheca Hagiographica Latina Manuscripta database lists eight, none earlier than the 12th century.It is one of a group of six interrelated Martyrdoms from Burgundy, along with those of *Irenaeus of Lyon (BHL 4458; E08522); *Andochius, Thyrsus and Felix of Saulieu (BHL 424; E08523); * Benignus of Lyon (BHL 1153; E06532); *Speusippus, Melasippus and Elasippus of Langres (BHL 7829; E06512); and *Ferreolus and Ferrucio of Besançon (BHL 2903; E06312). Many of these martyrs feature in supporting roles in the Martyrdoms of the others, as well as in their own primary Martyrdom, as does a further Burgundian martyr, *Symphorianus of Autun (S00322). All the commemorated martyrs are presented as disciples either of Irenaeus, the bishop and martyr of Lyon (S02832), or directly of Irenaeus' master, *Polycarp (bishop and martyr of Smyrna, S00004), and all except Irenaeus, who dies under Severus, are martyred under the emperor Aurelian.
In its fully evolved form, a coherent story is told through these Martyrdoms of how Polycarp (a disciple of the Apostle and Evangelist John, and in these texts bishop of Ephesus, not Smyrna) first sent Irenaeus to proselytise in Gaul, and, after Irenaeus was martyred in Lyon (and spurred on by the appearance of the latter in a vision), sent Benignus, Andochius and Thyrsus to Gaul; and how, through the actions of these three (combined with the earlier work of Irenaeus), Christianity was established in many of the cities of Burgundy. (Though this is not of importance for our purposes, the story follows an impossible chronology: the historical Polycarp long predeceased the historical Irenaeus, rather than vice-versa, and neither lived in anything like the times of the emperor Aurelian, who reigned from 270 to 275.)
Precisely when these six 'Burgundian' Martyrdoms, were written, and how many different hands were involved, has been the subject of scholarly debate. Duchesne (1907, 48-59) believed that they were all the work of a single falsifier, writing in the early 6th century, while Meyer (1904, 67-71) and van der Straeten (1961) convincingly argued that they were the work of at least two authors. Philippart (2014, 259-262) is certainly correct that the issue requires further research.
For our purposes, the detail of who precisely wrote them and when is less important than the general scholarly consensus that at least the central core of these Martyrdoms (with the proselytising work of Polycarp and Irenaeus) emerged in the 6th century, probably in its early years. There are reasonably secure termini ante quem for three of the six Martyrdoms: Gregory of Tours in his Glory of the Martyrs 50 (written in the 580s or early 590s), describes a miraculous stone at Dijon, which plays an important role in the Martyrdom of Benignus (compare E00574 and E06532), and in Glory of the Martyrs 70 (E00606) refers to a Martyrdom of Ferreolus and Ferrucio that could well be our 'Burgundian' text; while in around 615 a version of the Martyrdom of the Langres triplets is known to have been sent to a bishop of Paris (E05943).
Though more tentatively, we can probably assign this clutch of Martyrdoms to a more precise chronological envelope: the early 6th century. They are almost certainly later than the end of the 5th century, because several of them include in their stories Symphorianus, a prominent martyr of Autun (S00322), while the Martyrdom of Symphorianus (E06496), which was probably written in the late 5th century, is entirely silent about any of our saints. An early 6th-century date for one of our Martyrdoms is then suggested by the detailed account by Gregory of Tours of how his great-grandfather, Gregory, bishop of Langres between 507/8 and 539/40, built up (indeed discovered) Benignus of Dijon (E00573). The story includes an account of how Gregory of Langres 'acquired from men travelling to Italy a history of Benignus' suffering' (ab euntibus in Italiam passionis eius historiam adlatam ... accepit). This could very well be our Martyrdom of Benignus, here given a respectable (if implausible) Italian source of origin.
These Burgundian Martyrdoms established martyrs and an origin story for many of the churches of eastern Gaul/Burgundy entirely different from the origin story of many sees in southern and western Gaul, which traced their beginnings to a mission from Rome in the time of the emperor Decius (for this, see, for instance, E01530). Instead, in Burgundy, two men from the East – Irenaeus of Lyon and his master Polycarp – play the central role; with, furthermore, a link back to apostolic times through Polycarp (who was a disciple of the Apostle John during the latter's time at Ephesus). All of this would fit well a context when the kingdom of Burgundy was a powerful and independent force, before it was swallowed up by the Franks in 533/534.
Bibliography
Edition:Acta Sanctorum, Apr. III, 99-101
Further reading:
Beaujard, B., Le Culte des saints en Gaule. Les premiers temps. D’Hilaire de Poitiers à la fin du VIe siècle (Histoire religieuse de la France 15; Paris: Les Éditions du Cerf, 2000), 217-223.
Duchesne, L., Fastes épiscopaux de l'ancienne Gaule, 2nd ed. (Paris, 1907), vol. 1, 48-59.
Mayer, W., Die Legende des h. Albanus der Protomartyr Angliae in Texten vor Beda (Berlin, 1904).
Philippart, G., "4. Passio Speusippi, Eleusippi, Meleusippi, BHL 7829", in Goullet, M. (ed.), Le légendier de Turin: ms. D.V.3 de la Bibliothèque nationale universitaire (Florence: SISMEL edizioni del Galluzzo, 2014), 257-278.
van der Straeten, J., "Les actes des martyrs d'Aurélien en Bourgogne. Étude littéraire," Analecta Bollandiana 79 (1961), 115-144.
Record Created By
Bryan Ward-Perkins
Date of Entry
28/03/2024
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00348 | Ferreolus and Ferrucio, martyrs of Besançon | Ferreolus et Ferrucio | Certain | S02308 | Felix, Fortunatus, and Achilles, priest and two deacons, martyrs of Valence, Gaul | Felix, Fortunatus et Achilleus | Certain | S02832 | Irenaeus, bishop and martyr of Lyon | Irenaeus | Certain |
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