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The Cult of Saints in Late Antiquity


from its origins to circa AD 700, across the entire Christian world


The Latin Martyrdom of *Benignus (martyr of Dijon, S00320) recounts the interrogation, torture and death of the martyr, who had been sent to Gaul by *Polycarp (bishop and martyr of Smyrna, S00004), at Dijon (eastern Gaul) under the emperor Aurelian. Written in eastern Gaul, possibly in the early 6th c.

Evidence ID

E06532

Type of Evidence

Literary - Hagiographical - Accounts of martyrdom

Martyrdom of Benignus the Presbyter (Passio Benigni presbyteri, BHL 1153)

Brief summary:

The
Martyrdom opens with the emperor Aurelian visiting Dijon, which he has recently fortified and where he plans to build a large temple. He asks Terentius, the comes of that place, if there are Christians there, which leads to Benignus being brought before him. In response to Aurelian's questioning, Benignus explains that he has been sent to preach Christianity in Gaul by *Polycarp (bishop and martyr of Smyrna, S00004). Aurelian offers him much wealth if he will become a pagan priest, which Benignus refuses, outlining his Christian faith. Aurelian hands him over to Terentius to have him tortured on a rack (ad trocleas extensus), but afterwards an angel visits him in prison and undoes the ill effects of the torture. The next day Aurelian has him taken to a temple in order to force him to eat sacrificial meat; but Benignus prays and all the idols miraculously go up in smoke. Aurelian orders that Benignus be shut in prison with twelve ravening dogs for six days, without water, that 'a large stone be found into which his feet be secured with lead' (exhibite saxum grandem in quo pedes eius implumbate), and that his hands be pierced by hot metal spikes. In prison an angel calms the dogs, removes the stone and spikes, and feeds Benignus with celestial bread (panem caelestem). On the sixth day, hearing that Benignus is entirely unharmed, Aurelian orders his death, struck on the neck by a metal bar and pierced by a lance. A dove is seen ascending into heaven from the prison, which is filled with a sweet smell. The most blessed *Leonilla (companion martyr of Speusippus, Melasippus and Elasippus, triplets and martyrs of Langres, S02046) takes his body by night and buries it close by, where many miracles occur. He suffered on the Kalends of November [= 1 November].


Text: van der Straeten 1961, 465-468.
Summary: B. Ward-Perkins.

Cult Places

Burial site of a saint - tomb/grave

Non Liturgical Activity

Composing and translating saint-related texts

Miracles

Miracle at martyrdom and death
Miracle after death
Miracles experienced by the saint
Miraculous sound, smell, light

Protagonists in Cult and Narratives

Monarchs and their family
Ecclesiastics - bishops
Ecclesiastics - lesser clergy

Source

The Martyrdom of Benignus (BHL 1153) survives in many manuscripts, the earliest being of the 9th 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); *Speusippus, Melasippus and Elasippus of Langres (BHL 7829; E06512); *Ferreolus and Ferrucio of Besançon (BHL 2903; E06312); and *Felix, Fortunatus and Achilleus of Valence (BHL 2896; E06306). 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.


Discussion

The stone in which Benignus' feet were fixed with lead was, in the late 6th century, preserved at Dijon as a relic, where it is described by Gregory of Tours (E00574): people poured liquid onto it, collected the liquid, and used it to effect cures, particularly of the eyes. Gregory himself had used this miraculous liquid, to immediate effect, to cure an inflammation of his eyes.

The Leonilla who recovers and buries the body of Benignus, is the grandmother of the triplet martyrs of Langres (Speusippus, Melasippus and Elasippus), in whose
Martyrdom she plays an important role, herself eventually dying for her faith (E06512).

Bede, in early 8th-century Northumbria, had access to a copy of this text, which he summarised accurately and in some detail in his
Martyrology (see E05663).


Bibliography

Edition:
van der Straeten, J., "Les actes des martyrs d’Aurélien en Bourgogne: Le texte de Farfa," Analecta Bollandiana 79 (1961), 447-468.

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

Related Saint Records
IDNameName in SourceIdentity
S00004Polykarpos/Polycarp, bishop and martyr of Smyrna, and his companion martyrsPolycarpusCertain
S00320Benignus, martyr of DijonBenignusCertain
S02046Speusippos, Elasippos and Melesippos, triplets and martyrs of Cappadocia, and later of LangresLeonillaCertain


Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL:
Bryan Ward-Perkins, Cult of Saints, E06532 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E06532