Avitus of Vienne delivers a homily (Homily 21) in a church of *Peter (the Apostle, S00036), founded by Bishop Sanctus of Tarentasia, the present-day Tarentaise (south-east Gaul), probably at its dedication; he mentions relics of the chains of Peter. Delivered in Latin in Tarentasia, 494/518.
Evidence ID
E07117
Type of Evidence
Literary - Sermons/Homilies
Avitus of Vienne, Homily 21
This homily, which survives in a damaged form, is entitled:
DICTA IN BASILICA SANCTI PETRI QUAM SANCTUS EPISCOPUS TARANTASIAE CONDIDIT.
‘SPOKEN IN THE BASILICA OF SAINT PETER WHICH SANCTUS, BISHOP OF TARENTASIA, FOUNDED.’
Text: Peiper 1883, 134.
Translation: Katarzyna Wojtalik.
Cult PlacesContact relic - instrument of saint’s martyrdom
Protagonists in Cult and Narratives
Cult building - independent (church)
RelicsContact relic - instrument of saint’s martyrdom
Contact relic - other object closely associated with saint
Transfer, translation and deposition of relics
Transfer/presence of relics from distant countries
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesEcclesiastics - bishops
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
Homily 21 was preached by Avitus in a church of Peter founded by Bishop Sanctus of Tarentasia (or Darentasia), an episcopal see within the metropolitan province of Vienne, situated in the Alpine valley of the river Isère. The church was very possibly the cathedral (which is later documented as dedicated to Peter).Although this is not stated, Avitus was probably preaching at the church's dedication. Bishop Sanctus, its founder, is also documented at the provincial church council of Épaone, summoned by Avitus in 517. In the homily, Avitus refers to 'ergastolarium reliquiae vincolorum' (relics of the prison-chains), which suggests the church had filings from Rome of the chains of St Peter (for which see E02814 and other entries).
For Sanctus see PCBE: Sanctus 3, p. 1703-1704. For the church of Peter, with discussion of where in the area of present-day Moûtiers-en-Tarentaise it might have been, see Février 1986, 144.
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:
Février, P.-A., “Aime et Moûtiers (Tarentaise),” 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), 141-144.
Pietri L., M. Hejmans, Prosopographie chrétienne du Bas-Empire, vol. 4: La Gaule chrétien, Paris 2013 (PCBE).
Record Created By
Katarzyna Wojtalik
Date of Entry
18/11/2018
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00036 | Peter, the Apostle | Peter | Certain |
|---|
Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL:
Katarzyna Wojtalik, Cult of Saints, E07117 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E07117