Avitus of Vienne in his Letter 29, written to Pope Symmachus in Rome on behalf of Sigismund, king of the Burgundians, recounts how he (Sigismund) had distributed relics of *Peter (the Apostle, S00036) in Gaul, and asks for further relics. Written in Latin in Vienne (south-east Gaul), 498/514.
E07086
Literary - Letters
Avitus of Vienne, Letter 29 (JH 1455)
The letter starts as follows:
Dum sacra reliquiarum pignera, quibus per me Galliam vestram spiritali remuneratione ditastis, negare petentibus non praesumo, me quoque sanctorum patrocinia postulare ad irriguum vestri apostolatus fontem necesse est. Quamquam etsi est adhuc apud nos de dono vestro, quod catholicae religionis debeat studio celebrari, etiam illud tamen convenit iustae devotionis intellegi [...]
‘As for the sacred relics with which, through me, you have enriched your own land of Gaul with a spiritual gift, since I do not presume to deny them to those who ask for them, I too am compelled to go to the ever-flowing fount of Your Apostleship to ask for the patronage of the saints. Even though there still remains with us some of your gift to be assiduously worshipped by devout Catholics, it is fit that even this be considered a sign of meet devotion [...]’
After praise for the pope, and reference to one (possibly two) visits to Italy by Sigismund, the letter closes with these words:
[...] et, ut supra superavimus, ambienda nobis venerabilium reliquiarum conferte praesidia: quarum cultu beatissimum Petrum in virtute et vos semper habere mereamur in munere.
‘[...] and, as we hoped above, grant us the protection of the venerable relics. By worshipping them, may we always deserve to have the most blessed Peter present in his strength and you through your gift.’
Text: Peiper 1883, 59.
Translation: Shanzer and Wood 2002, 226-227.
Unspecified relic
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesEcclesiastics - bishops
Monarchs and their family
Source
Alcimus Ecdicius Avitus was born into a prominent Gallo-Roman senatorial family, succeeding his father, Hesychius, as bishop of the important see of Vienne at some point before 494/496. He died in 517/518, probably in February 518.Avitus was the author of a long poem De spiritualis historiae gestis in five books (telling the story of the Old Testament from the Creation to Exodus, accompanied by interpretative passages), and a poem for his sister De consolatoria castitatis laude. He is, however, now best known for his letters: an epistolary corpus of ninety-six letters, which are in no chronological order, nor ordered by recipient. The collection ranges from the personal to the official (several were written on behalf of the Burgundian King Sigismund). Avitus corresponded with many important people of his age and his letters are of considerable importance for the ecclesiastical and political history of the years between around 495 and 518 in the Burgundian kingdom. In the letters, information relating to the churches or relics of saints is occasionally mentioned, and has been collected by us in the database.
Avitus was also the author of homilies, several relating to saints' churches. His homilies are all lost in their complete form, except for two, one of which (Homily 25; E07115) is of particular importance for the cult of saints, being delivered in 515 at the dedication of Sigismund's monastery at Agaune for the martyrs of the Theban Legion. Other homilies, some relating to the dedication of churches, have survived in fragments: preserved either in a damaged sixth-century papyrus manuscript in the Bibliothèque nationale de France, or in excerpts copied by later medieval authors.
For more on Avitus' biography, his works, and on their dating see: Shanzer and Wood 2002, 3-85 and 377; and the full biography in PCBE, 242-263, 'Avitus 2', 242-263.
Discussion
Written by Avitus on behalf of King Sigismund of the Burgundians, Letter 29 requests additional relics of Peter from Pope Symmachus (498-514). His pontificate provides the outer dates of the letter, while Shanzer and Wood (at p. 225) discuss the context of the letter and offer a possible tighter dating for it.Sigismund had a particular devotion to Peter, and almost certainly identified him as his special patron (see E07087). The letter does not tell us anything about the nature of the relics concerned; they were presumably either bits of cloth that had been placed in close proximity with the saint's body, or, perhaps, were filings from Peter's chains.
Bibliography
Edition:Peiper, R., Alcimi Ecdicii Aviti Viennensis episcopi operae quae supersunt (Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Auctores Antiquissimi VI.2; Berolini: Apud Weidmannos, 1883).
Translation:
Avitus of Vienne, Letters and Selected Prose, trans. D. Shanzer and I. Wood (Translated Texts for Historians, Volume 38; Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 2002), also with full notes and discussion.
Further reading:
Descombes, F., “Vienne,” in: N. Gauthier and J.-Ch. Picard (eds.), Topographie chrétienne des cités de la Gaule des origines au milieu du VIIIe siècle, vol. 3: Provinces ecclésiastique de Vienne et d'Arles (Viennensis et Alpes Graiae et Poeninae) (Paris, 1986), 17-35.
Pietri L., M. Hejmans, Prosopographie chrétienne du Bas-Empire, vol. 4: La Gaule chrétien, Paris 2013 (PCBE).
Katarzyna Wojtalik
12/11/2018
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00036 | Peter, the Apostle | Peter | Certain |
|---|
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