Pope Pelagius I, in a letter of 558/561 to Bishop Eleutherius (of Syracuse), authorises the consecration of an oratory in honour of a 'martyr Cantiana' (just possibly *Cantianilla, martyr of Aquileia, S01552), on an estate named 'Pancellus', in the diocese of Syracuse (Sicily). Written in Latin in Rome.
E06878
Documentary texts - Letters
Pope Pelagius I, Letter 86 (Gassó and Batlle) ('Maximus diaconus', JK 959/JH 2003)
PELAGIUS ELEUTHERIO EPISCOPO
Maximus, diaconus ecclesiae dilectionis tuae, nobis suggessit, in fundo qui appellatur Pancellus oratorium se pro sua deuotione fundasse, quod in honore beatae Cantianae martyris desiderat consecrari. Et ideo, frater carissime, si in tuae diocesi<s> memorata constructio iure consistit, et nullum corpus ibidem constat humatum, percepta primitus donatione legitima, id est, possessione ill· et ill·, praesetantes liberos a fiscalibus titulis solidos tot, gestisque municipalibus allegatis, praedictum oratorium absque missis publicis solemniter consecrabis. [...]
‘PELAGIUS TO BISHOP ELEUTHERIUS
Maximus, deacon of Your Affection's church, has informed us of his desire that an oratory he has founded for his devotion, on the estate which is called Pancellus, be consecrated in honour of the blessed martyr Cantiana. And so, dearest brother, if the aforementioned building rightly belongs in your diocese, and it is clear that no body is buried there, after receiving the legitimate donation, that is, from such and such property offering a such and such an amount of money free from fiscal claims, and entering it in the municipal records, you will solemnly consecrate the aforesaid oratory without public masses. ...’
Text: Gassó and Batlle 1956, 209-10.
Translation: Frances Trzeciak.
Ceremony of dedication
Cult PlacesCult building - dependent (chapel, baptistery, etc.)
Non Liturgical ActivityConstruction of cult buildings
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesEcclesiastics - bishops
Ecclesiastics - lesser clergy
Source
Letter of Pope Pelagius I (556-561). The letter in its surviving form is not dated and could date from any point in Pelagius' papacy. It survives through being included in medieval canonical collections, beginning with the Collection of Canons (Collectio canonum) by Cardinal Deusdedit, issued in 1087 (Collectio canonum 3.128 (107)). See Kéry 1999, 228.Collections like that of Deusdedit made use of genuine material from the papal archives, but they were not compiled for historical or documentary purposes but as sources of canon law. The compilers therefore frequently edited the original letters to remove material (usually including the date) which was not relevant to the point of canon law they were cited to illustrate.
Discussion
This is one of a number of surviving papal letters – two from Pelagius I (556-561) and four from Gregory the Great (590-604) – permitting, while also carefully regulating, the consecration and dedication to saints of private oratories, either on aristocratic estates or in monasteries, by the use of a set form of wording: E06878 and E06880 (both from Pelagius); E06377, E06390, E06399, E06403 (all from Gregory).Although his bishopric is not named in this letter, Eleutherius can be identified as Eleutherius, bishop of Syracuse. The estate 'Pancellus' will have been within his diocese.
The identity of the martyr 'Cantiana' is problematic. She is probably an otherwise undocumented local martyr, or she could just possibly be Cantianilla, a martyr of Aquileia (S01552). However, Cantianilla otherwise never appears without her siblings and companion martyrs, Cantius and Cantianus, and is very unlikely to have been venerated in Sicily.
Bibliography
Editions:Gassó, P.M., and Batlle, C.M., Pelagii I Papae epistulae quae supersunt (556-561) (Montserrat, 1956).
Wolf von Glanvell, V., Die Kanonessammlung des Kardinals Deusdedit (Paderborn, 1905).
Further Reading:
Kéry, L., Canonical Collections of the Early Middle Ages (ca. 400-1140): A Bibliographical Guide to the Manuscripts and Literature (Washington DC, 1999).
Pietri, C. and Pietri, L., Prosopographie chrétienne du Bas-Empire, 2 Prosopographie de l’Italie chrétienne (313-604), vol. 1. (École française de Rome, 1999), 616-617, 'Eleutherius 1'.
Frances Trzeciak and David Lambert
20/10/2018
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S01552 | Cantius, Cantianus and Cantianilla, martyrs of Aquileia | Cantiana | Certain |
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