The Latin Life of *Rusticula, also known as Marcia (abbess of Arles, ob. 627/632, S02433), is written by the presbyter Florentius; it recounts her pious childhood, her many years as abbess of the monastery of saint John at Arles (southern Gaul), her political travails, and several lifetime and posthumous miracles. Written in southern Gaul, c. 627/640. Overview entry.
E06492
Literary - Hagiographical - Lives
Life of Saint Rusticula or Marcia, Abbess of Arles (Vita sanctae Rusticulae sive Marciae abbatissae Arelatensis, BHL 7405, CPL 2136a)
This summary is based primarily on the edition by Bruno Krusch. However, Krusch omitted part of the text, for which we have used the edition by Jean Mabillon (1669). The omission occurs between §§ 8 and 9 of Krusch's edition; the material omitted corresponds to §§ 11-16 in Mabillon's edition and the Acta Sanctorum edition.
Summary:
Preface: The author, Florentius, presbyter of Tricastina, addresses abbess Celsa, saying that he has obeyed her command to write a Life of Rusticula, also known as Marcia, relating her life, character and miracles (virtutes), to be read out (lectitandum) to the community. He states that the Life is based on what Celsa herself had written for him, and what 'certain of the faithful' (quidam fideles) had testified about Rusticula's miracles.
(1.) Rusticula was born near Vaison, the daughter of a noble Roman couple named Valerianus and Clementia. She had an older brother but both he and her father died soon after her birth and she was brought up by her widowed mother. She was named Rusticula at baptism but was called Marcia by the whole household. (2.) One night her mother had a dream in which she was nursing two doves, one white, one with different colours; she was visited by *Caesarius (bishop of Arles, S00491), who took the white dove away with him.
(3.) When Rusticula was five, she was abducted by a noble named Cheraonius, who intended her to be brought up in his household until she reached the legitimate age to marry him. This was revealed by the Holy Spirit to Liliola, the abbess of the monastery in Arles founded by Caesarius. Through Bishop Siagrius [of Autun], Liliola appealed to King Guntram for Rusticula to be sent to her monastery. Cheraonius also appealed to the king and offered him gifts, but through God's grace the king decided to send her to Liliola.
(4.) On the way to Arles, although she was still in infancy, Rusticula began to perform miracles by catching a huge fish to feed her companions. (5.) She was brought to Arles, where the bishop was Sapaudus, and was taken into the monastery by Liliola. Rusticula's mother was distressed, and appealed to the bishop for Rusticula to be returned to her so that she would have someone to support her in old age and to inherit the family property, but the bishop replied that she should console herself that Rusticula would now receive heavenly rather than earthly riches. Messengers were sent to the monastery by Rusticula's mother to try to tempt her to leave, but she despised them. (6.) Rusticula quickly learned all the psalms and the whole of scripture, on one occasion memorising a psalm when it was whispered in her ear while she was sleeping. She showed extraordinary humility and charity and was loved by all. (7.) When Liliola died, the whole congregation wished Rusticula to succeed her. She considered herself unworthy, but eventually accepted. She was then aged about eighteen. She lived with great abstinence, eating only every third day, wearing a hair shirt, and staying up all night praying and singing hymns and psalms.
(8.) Rusticula built a church dedicated to the Holy Cross. She then had a vision of a great church in heaven, and understood that she was commanded to build a church like it. Once it had been constructed she placed the relic of the Cross there and dedicated the previous church to *Michael (the Archangel, S00181). She set up seven altars, dedicated to the Cross, and to *Gabriel (the Archangel, S00192), *Raphael (the Archangel, S00481), *Thomas (the Apostle, S00199), *Mauricius (martyr of the Theban Legion, S00339), *Sebastian (martyr of Rome, S00400), and *Pontius (martyr of Cimiez, S01486). For full discussion of this section, see E08000.
(Omitted by Krusch; section numbers as in the Mabillon/AASS editions) [11-13.] God bestowed such grace on Rusticula that any sick person who sought her prayers immediately regained their health. Once, a woman with an uncontrollable tremor drank water in which her vestments had been washed and was immediately healed. When one of the nuns was suffering from a disease of the eyes, she touched them with water in which Rusticula had washed her face and was healed. How Rusticula cured a girl of demonic possession by praying in the oratory of Caesarius (see E08002). [14.] One day, while Rusticula was washing her face, a maidservant named Onoridia, one of the slaves who served the monastery (ancilla ex famulis quae idem inserviebant), looked at her face and saw it shining with light as brightly as the sun. She was frightened and ran away. Rusticula followed and asked what she had seen. When told about the light she did not react with pride but humbly prayed for God to protect her with the shield of grace. [15-16.] How Rusticula had dream-visions in which she was addressed by Lucia (*Lucia, martyr of Syracuse, S00846) and *Melania (probably Melania the Younger, S01134), and in which, coached by Michael the Archangel, she fought against and defeated a hideous apparition. For full discussion, see E08505.
(9.) One day, when Rusticula was resting in the basilica of *Peter [the Apostle, S00036], a voice admonished her to be like Christ or her 'fellow servant' (conservum) Stephen [the first martyr] and forgive those who persecuted her. Soon after, a bishop named Maximus and a noble named Riccimir falsely told King Chlothar [II] that she was secretly supporting a king (quod illa occulte regem nutriret) [by implication, one of Chlothar's rivals]. Chlothar ordered Riccimir to go to Arles to investigate. Riccimir threatened her, while her flock sang psalms to God to defend her. A member of Riccimir's entourage named Audoald tried to hit her with his sword, but his hands and feet were immediately paralysed and he died. (10.) Riccimir reported on her unfavourably to the king, who, in a rage, sent a noble named Faraulf to bring her to his court. Rusticula resisted all efforts to make her leave the monastery, saying she would rather die than break the Rule (Praeceptum) of Caesarius. Faraulf, knowing he would be in danger if he failed in his mission, put pressure on the chief of the city (princeps civitatis) Nymfidius, to force her out of the monastery. Nymfidius, who venerated her, appealed to her to resolve the situation peacefully, and swore that he was willing to pour out his blood alongside hers. (11-12.) After being held for some days in another monastery in Arles, she was summoned to Chlothar's court. The Holy Spirit revealed her plight to Bishop Domnulus of Vienne, who warned Chlothar that he was committing an offence against God by condemning Rusticula unjustly and that he would be punished with the loss of his son. The frightened Chlothar sent two counts to conduct her to his court with honour and reverence. (13.) On her journey Rusticula performed miracles wherever she went, healing the possessed by placing on their heads 'the Lord's cross of redemption which she carried with her' (redemptionis dominicae crucem quam secum deferebat) [probably a relic of the Cross in a portable reliquary]. (14.) Rusticula miraculously gained entry to the shrine of *Desiderius (martyred bishop of Vienne, S01171). For full discussion, see E08492. (15.) When Rusticula reached Chlothar's court, her holiness was so obvious that Chlothar, the queen, and the whole court venerated her. They accepted her oath that the allegations against her were false. Chlothar was chastened by the death of his son, and accepted the advice of his leading men (primarii) that he should send Rusticula back with honour. (16.) On her journey back, at Sens, a possessed man tried to attack her, but when she made the sign of the cross on his forehead he vomited up blood like an effigy of a man (quasi effigiem hominis) and was immediately cured. (17.) When she returned to Arles, the whole city assembled to greet her. (18.) Not long after, the men who had accused her asked humbly for her forgiveness.
(19.) After her return, she lived for another fourteen years. Once, when a nun was incapacitated through an attack by the noonday demon (ab infestatione meridiani daemonis), she was healed when another nun burned some of Rusticula's hair, and gave her the ashes to drink in a cup of water. (20.) On another occasion, Rusticula healed two nuns from plague by praying in the oratory of Caesarius (see E08002).
(21.) Florentius declares that he could write more about Rusticula’s miracles but will press on to recount her last days. (22.) Rusticula died in her seventy-seventh year. How she constantly inspired, comforted and taught the members of her community. (23-24.) One Friday she was taken ill during vespers and the next day began to suffer a high fever. Knowing that her death was at hand, she consoled her flock. On the Monday, which was the feast [10 August] of *Laurence (martyr of Rome, S00037), she grew much worse, and on the following day she died; her face lit up and her eyes shone as her soul was borne to heaven. The community was united in grief. (25.) Rusticula's funeral (see E08003).
(26.) Rusticula's posthumous miracles. A nun suffering from a fever washed the sheet in which Rusticula’s body had been wrapped and drank the water. She was healed immediately. (27.) A servant of the monastery had lost the ability to walk. He was told in a dream to ask the nuns to wash the corners of the pallet (grabatus) where Rusticula had slept and give him the water to drink: he was immediately healed. Any sick person who placed a piece of linen or cloth from her garments on their body and sought her intercession was healed. (28.) Even after her death, she continued to visit and admonish those she had cared for [i.e. in dreams/visions].
(29-30.) Florentius concludes by addressing Rusticula, asking her to intercede for her flock so that all join her in paradise. He asks the nuns that whenever Rusticula’s deeds are recited (recensita) they will remember the author in their prayers.
Text: Krusch 1902 and Mabillon 1669.
Summary: David Lambert.
Dating by saint’s festival
Cult PlacesCult building - independent (church)
Cult building - dependent (chapel, baptistery, etc.)
Cult building - oratory
Burial site of a saint - tomb/grave
Altar
Non Liturgical ActivityComposing and translating saint-related texts
Oral transmission of saint-related stories
Construction of cult buildings
Renovation and embellishment of cult buildings
Prayer/supplication/invocation
Saint as patron - of an individual
Visiting graves and shrines
MiraclesMiracle during lifetime
Miracle after death
Apparition, vision, dream, revelation
Revelation of hidden knowledge (past, present and future)
Healing diseases and disabilities
Exorcism
Miraculous sound, smell, light
Punishing miracle
Power over elements (fire, earthquakes, floods, weather)
RelicsBodily relic - entire body
Bodily relic - nails, hair and bodily products
Contact relic - saint’s possession and clothes
Contact relic - cloth
Contact relic - water and other liquids
Eating/drinking/inhaling relics
Touching and kissing relics
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesEcclesiastics - abbots
Ecclesiastics - monks/nuns/hermits
Women
Angels
Demons
Monarchs and their family
Source
Authorship and dateThe preface to the Life of Rusticula states that it was written shortly her death at the request of Celsa, her successor as abbess. Rusticula's death has traditionally been dated to 632, though it has recently been argued (by Pietri 2004, 82-3, reiterated in Pietri and Heijmans 2013, 1653-55) that it should actually be placed in 627 (see discussion below). The author of the Life describes himself as Florentius, 'presbyter of the church of the city of Tricastrina' (present-day Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux, about 120 km north of Arles). Nothing is known about Florentius except what can be inferred from the Life of Rusticula, but the fact that he was commissioned to write it suggests that he had some kind of connection with the church in Arles. He was evidently well-read: apart from numerous echoes of the Bible (analysed by Van Uytfanghe 2003), the Life includes quotations from a number of texts about Gallic religious figures: the preface echoes the letter to Patiens of Lyon which precedes Constantius' Life of Germanus of Auxerre (E05841), and the main text quotes from letters of Sulpicius Severus (E00635, E00691), and the Lives of the bishops of Arles, Honoratus (E06026), Hilary (E06072), and Caesarius (E06283).
In 1902, the Life of Rusticula was edited for MGH by Bruno Krusch. As with many of the texts he edited, Krusch dismissed it as without merit and argued that it was written only in the 9th century (Krusch 1902, 338-9). He therefore rejected the information in the preface, and even the name Florentius, as inventions. Krusch's criticisms of the Life (not untypically of his procedure with texts he disliked) combine ex cathedra declarations that various events in it are absurd and unbelievable with attempts to pick holes in points of detail such as its internal chronology. He also argued that its Latin is too good for the 7th century. Krusch's arguments have been effectively refuted in subsequent scholarship, primarily by Riché 1954; a point made by Riché that is worth emphasising (Riché 1954, 371) is that while Krusch picks out seeming errors or inconsistencies in some very narrow points of detail, he never acknowledges the numerous accurate references to datable events, and to kings, bishops, and aristocrats or officials (including quite obscure ones) in office at various points in Rusticula's life, something that would have been difficult if not impossible for a forger working two-hundred years later. The Life therefore has a very strong claim to credibility as a contemporary document.
Krusch's antipathy towards the Life of Rusticula has had one baleful effect that persists to this day: he omitted from his edition part of the text (equivalent to about 15% of the total), containing a number of healing miracles and accounts of Rusticula's visions, apparently regarding it as unworthy of his efforts. While he does signal this omission, stating in the preface that he has 'omitted numerous visions and miracles' (praetermissis visionibus miraculisque nonnullis, Krusch 1902, 339), and putting an ellipsis mark in his text at the point where the omitted passage begins (the end of § 8), it has clearly passed unnoticed by some of those who have used the text since Krusch's time. The most unfortunate instance is the English translation of the Life in the 1992 volume Sainted Women of the Dark Ages, which since its appearance has undoubtedly been the form in which most readers have encountered the text (and which in most respects is excellent), which omits the material left out by Krusch without any indication that its version of the Life is incomplete.
Manuscripts and editions
No surviving manuscript of the Life dates from earlier than the 14th century. The only medieval manuscript is Paris, Bibliothèque nationale, lat. 3820, fol. 47r-54r (14th c.); digitised: https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b90678086. This is a large, miscellaneous collection of hagiographies and sermons on the saints, whose provenance before the 17th century seems to be undocumented, but which has characteristics that associate it with Arles: the Bibliothèque nationale website describes it as follows: 'provient sans doute de la cathédrale Saint-Trophime d'Arles' (https://archivesetmanuscrits.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cc61785z). There are two 17th century manuscripts: Paris, Bibliothèque nationale, Duchesne 85, and Vatican, Reg. Lat. 519 (Riché 1954, 370). Some short extracts from the Life appear in a breviary from the cathedral of Arles (Bibliothèque nationale, lat. 752, fol. 255v-256r) which can be dated to the years 1343-47.
Extracts from the Life were published in 1636 by the antiquarian André Du Chesne (Andreas Chesnius, 1584-1640), who used a manuscript in his own possession. In 1669, the full text was published for the first time by Jean Mabillon, who stated that he used Du Chesne's manuscript and 'other copies' ('aliisque apographis', Mabillon 1669, 139). The Acta Sanctorum edition is based on Mabillon's, collated with their own transcription of Du Chesne's manuscript (Sollers 1735, 657). The subsequent fate of Du Chesne's manuscript is unknown, and when Krusch prepared his edition at the end of the 19th century he was unable to trace it (Krusch 1902, 339). His edition was based on BnF lat. 3820, collated with Mabillon's edition. One of the 17th century manuscripts (BnF Duchesne 85) comes from Du Chesne's papers, which suggests that it may be a copy of the lost manuscript, but it was evidently unknown to Krusch.
The lack of any manuscript evidence for the Life of Rusticula before the 14th century should be taken into account when judging aspects of the text. One of Krusch's more plausible arguments against its authenticity was that its Latin does not resemble that of most 7th century Gallic texts (Krusch 1902, 338): it is much more conventionally correct and contains few of the irregularities in grammar and spelling characteristic of Merovingian Latin. Riché retorted that its correctness proved that the study of classical Latin was still flourishing in 7th century Provence (Riché 1954, 376-7). But given the gap in our knowledge of the text's transmission it is possible that neither hypothesis is necessary: the author's original Latin could simply have been corrected by a scribe at some point between the 9th century and the 14th, something we know happened to other Merovingian texts for which the manuscript evidence is fuller.
Discussion
Rusticula was the fourth abbess of the women's monastery of St John in Arles, founded by Caesarius of Arles in 512 (see E06932, E07949; for the way of life prescribed by Caesarius in his Rule for Virgins, see Klingshirn 1994, 118-23). She was preceded by Caesarius' sister Caesaria the Elder (ob. c. 524), his niece Caesaria the Younger (ob. c. 559), and Caesaria the Younger's successor Liliola (ob. 569/574). She was abbess for 58 years: from 574 to 632 according to the traditionally accepted chronology, or 569 to 627 according to the revised chronology suggested by Pietri (see below). Her tenure was so long because she was appointed at the age of only eighteen. There are few if any parallels for someone being appointed to lead a monastic institution at such a young age, and this was predictably seized upon by Krusch as evidence that the text was a later fiction, but there is no reason to doubt it given the overall credibility of the Life and the coherence of its narrative with our information from other sources.Sources and composition: the roles of Celsa and Florentius
Florentius' preface to the Life makes it clear that it was produced for the use of Rusticula's own monastic community: commissioned by the abbess, Celsa, to be read at communal gatherings. Florentius depended on material provided by Celsa, which he describes as 'what you have frankly and faithfully indicated to me in a faithful report by means of written documents, also what some of the faithful have narrated in clear testimony about what they saw or learned of the virtues [or miracles] of the above-mentioned woman' (quod relatione fideli tu mihi ... scriptis simpliciter ac fideliter indicasti, etiam et quidam fideles de virtutibus praefatae se simul nosse et vidisse testificatione perspicua narraverunt). Celsa must have been the source for stories about Rusticula from within the monastery: miracles and visions such as those contained in the section omitted by Krusch (Mabillon/AASS §§ 11-16) and in §§ 19-20, Rusticula's death (§§ 23-24), and the posthumous miracles described in §§ 26-28 (though Florentius has evidently reworked some passages, for example by adding quotations). Florentius presumably used other sources for events outside the monastery, in particular the story of Rusticula's removal from it to face charges before King Chlothar (§§ 9-18), which constitutes the longest single narrative in the Life. There is a noticeable difference in atmosphere between incidents in the Life within the monastery, mostly rather low-key healing miracles which take place through touching or ingesting material that has been in contact with Rusticula, and her miracles outside the monastery, such as the spectacular exorcism described in § 16, or her miraculous entry to the shrine of Desiderius of Vienne (§ 14, E08492), which may reflect the greater authorial role of Florentius in these incidents.
The other aspect of the Life that must be due to Florentius is the unusually abundant use of allusions to earlier hagiographic literature. Among other instances, the account of how Rusticula's personality inspired the members of her monastic community (§ 22) quotes heavily from a passage in the Sermon on the Life of Honoratus which describes the effect of Honoratus' personality on the monks of Lérins (Serm. Hon. 18-19); Rusticula's ability to memorise Scripture as a child (§ 6) is described in words taken from the Life of Caesarius of Arles (1.16), as is one of her posthumous miracles (§ 26; Life of Caesarius 2.38), the account of her death (§ 23) quotes from Sulpicius Severus' description (Letter 3) of the death of Martin of Tours, and of her funeral from the Life of Hilary of Arles (see E08003).
Rusticula's life dates
Florentius indicates (§ 22) that Rusticula died at the age of seventy-six, in a year in which 11 August fell on a Tuesday. There are two such years in the relevant timeframe: 627 and 632. The former implies that Rusticula was born in 551 and became abbess in 569; the latter in 556 and 574. The former matches Florentius' statement (§ 19) that Rusticula lived for fourteen years after her accusation before Chlothar II (which is universally assumed to be connected with the civil war that concluded in 613), but conflicts with his account of the abduction of Rusticula during her childhood (§ 3), which seems to imply that she was aged five during the reign of King Guntram. Since Guntram came to the throne in 561, this means she could not have born before 556.
Florentius' direct, unambiguous statement of the length of time between Rusticula's return from Chlothar's court and her death (§ 19) ought to to carry considerable weight: the accusation against her and her removal from her monastery and from Arles to be judged by Chlothar were public events whose date must have been known to many, and they took place in the relatively recent past. Prima facie it seems more likely for Florentius to have been in error about distant events in Rusticula's childhood than about something so recent. In spite of this, it is the later chronology (556-632) which became canonical, from Mabillon and the Bollandists onwards, and is almost always given in published references to Rusticula.
In a 2004 article, however, Luce Pietri, put forward a new argument for the earlier chronology (Pietri 2004, 83), which is also given in the entry for Rusticula in the Prosopographie chrétienne du Bas-Empire (Pietri and Heijmans 2013, 1653-55). This tries to square the circle by separating Rusticula's abduction from Guntram's intervention, arguing that the events between her abduction and release, which in Florentius' narrative (§ 3) appear to follow in rapid succession, actually took place over several years (Pietri 2004, 83; Pietri and Heijmans 2013, 1653): thus she would have been born in 551 and abducted in 556, but not released from her abduction until some point after Guntram's accession in 561. At first sight this seems to offer a way to reconcile all the Life's statements about Rusticula, but there are difficulties. It is evident from his references to Rusticula that Florentius believed she was still a very young child at the time of her release: he describes her (§ 4) as being 'in the rudiments of infancy' (in rudimentis infantiae), and when she joins the monastery shortly afterwards (§ 6), as an 'infant' (infans), whereas if Pietri's chronology is correct, she would have been at least ten when these events took place. The revised chronology is therefore not a total success in solving the chronological problems in the Life, though it is arguably still preferable to the traditional chronology, which directly contradicts Florentius' statement about the length of Rusticula's life after her accusation. Since the issue has not been decisively resolved, both sets of dates are given in this database in entries on Rusticula.
Rusticula's later cult
The history of Florentius' Life and of the cult of Rusticula between the composition of the Life and the later middle ages seems never to have been investigated. While there is no reasonable doubt that the Life is a genuine Merovingian text, it is notable that for several centuries after its composition there is no evidence for its circulation. As noted above, the earliest surviving manuscript dates from the 14th century, and we have no idea of the text's previous transmission. There is a similar situation for the cult of Rusticula in general: surviving documents such as breviaries show that she was commemorated in the liturgy in Arles during the later middle ages, but according to Riché 1954, 370, her feast day does not appear in martyrologies or breviaries before the 12th century (she is certainly absent from the early medieval martyrologies collected in Quentin 1908). The earliest traceable evidence for Rusticula after the composition of the Life appears to be her entry in a document known as the Martyrology of Toulon, a localised adaptation of the 9th century martyrology of Ado of Vienne, dated to the early 12th century by Morin 1898, 11. This (unlike Ado's original) contains an entry for Rusticula (published in Morin 1898, 20), whose author cites the Life and refers to some of its contents. The entry also states that 'heroic verses still indicate her tomb' (cuius adhuc bustum heroica carmina monstrant) next to the altar in the basilica of Mary at Arles (these do not survive), but that her body had been translated to a church inside the city. The Life was therefore being read at least two hundred years before the date of the surviving manuscript, but this still leaves a very long gap from Rusticula's lifetime. The evidence seems to suggest that any cult of Rusticula, if it existed at all outside her own institution, died out relatively quickly (for a parallel instance, from one of the men's monasteries in Arles, see E07946), and she was forgotten for around four hundred years (the total absence of her name from early martyrologies argues against a cult even local to Arles). Her cult then re-emerged in the 11th or 12th century – perhaps because someone discovered a copy of the Life.
Bibliography
Editions:Krusch, B., Vita Rusticulae sive Marciae abbatissae Arelatensis, in: Passiones vitaeque sanctorum aevi Merovingici II (Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Scriptores rerum Merovingicarum 4; Hannover and Leipzig, 1902), 339-351 (incomplete).
Sollers, J.B., Acta Sanctorum, Aug. II (Antwerp, 1735), 657-664.
Mabillon, J., Acta Sanctorum Ordinis S. Benedicti II (Paris, 1669), 139-147 (2nd ed. 130-38).
Chesnius, A., Historiae Francorum scriptores coaetanei (Paris, 1636), vol. 1, 564 ff. (extracts).
Translation:
McNamara, J.A., Halborg, J.E, and Whatley, E.G., Sainted Women of the Dark Ages (Durham NC/London: Duke University Press, 1992), 122-136 (based on Krusch's edition and therefore omits part of the text).
Further reading:
Bibliothèque nationale de France, Département des manuscrits, description of ms. lat. 3820: https://archivesetmanuscrits.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cc61785z (accessed 14/09/2023).
Klingshirn, W., Caesarius of Arles: The Making of Christian Community in Late Antique Gaul (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994).
Milazzo, V., "Sogni e visioni nella Merovingia «Vita Rusticulae»," Augustinianum 29 (1989), 257-268.
Morin, G., "Un martyrologe d'Arles antérieur à la «Tradition de Provence»," Revue d'Histoire et de Littérature religieuses 3 (1898), 10-25.
Pietri, L., "Les premières abbesses du monastère Saint-Jean d’Arles," in: M. Fixot (ed.), Paul-Albert Février de l'Antiquité au Moyen Age. Actes du colloque de Fréjus, 7 et 8 avril 2001 (Aix-en-Provence, 2004), 73-85.
Pietri, L., and Heijmans, M., Prosopographie chrétienne du Bas-Empire 4. Prosopographie de la Gaule chrétienne (314-614), 2 vols. (Paris, 2013).
Quentin, H., Les martyrologes historiques du Moyen Age (Paris, 1908).
Riché, P., "Notes d'hagiographie mérovingienne. La Vita S. Rusticulae," Analecta Bollandiana 72 (1954), 369-377.
Simonetti, A., "La Vita di Rusticola nell'agiografia merovingia," Studi medievali 27 (1986), 211-220.
Van Uytfanghe, M., "La saveur biblique du latin mérovingien: l'exemple de la Vie de Sainte Rusticule, abbesse à Arles (VIIe siècle)," in: F. García Martínez and G.P. Luttikhuizen (eds.), Jerusalem, Alexandria, Rome: Studies in Ancient Cultural Interaction in Honour of A. Hilhorst (Leiden: Brill, 2003), 341-357.
David Lambert
30/09/2023
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00033 | Mary, Mother of Christ | Maria | Certain | S00036 | Peter, the Apostle | Petrus | Certain | S00037 | Laurence/Laurentius, deacon and martyr of Rome | Laurentius | Certain | S00181 | Michael, the Archangel | Michael | Certain | S00192 | Gabriel, the Archangel | Gabriel | Certain | S00199 | Thomas, the Apostle | Thomas | Certain | S00339 | Theban Legion, commanded by Maurice, martyrs of Agaune, Gaul | Mauricius | Certain | S00400 | Sebastianus, martyr of Rome | Sebastianus | Certain | S00481 | Raphael, the Archangel | Raphahel | Certain | S00491 | Caesarius, bishop of Arles, ob. 542 | Caesarius | Certain | S00846 | Lucia, virgin and martyr of Syracuse | Lucia | Certain | S01134 | Melania the Younger, aristocratic ascetic in Jerusalem, ob. 439 | Melania | Uncertain | S01171 | Desiderius, bishop and martyr of Vienne, ob. 606/7 | Desiderius | Certain | S01486 | Pontius, martyr of Cimiez | Pontius | Certain | S02433 | Rusticula, also known as Marcia, abbess of Arles, ob. 627/632 | Rusticula, Marcia | Certain |
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