The Latin Acts of *Aunemund (bishop and martyr of Lyon, ob. 660/664, S00731) record the saint's life, martyrdom and posthumous miracles. Written in Gaul, perhaps at Lyon, possibly in the 7th c., with 9th c. (or later) adaptations.
E07616
Literary - Hagiographical - Lives
Literary - Hagiographical - Accounts of martyrdom
Acts of Aunemund (Acta Aunemundi, BHL 606b)
(1) The author meditates on how 'those who have followed the path to martyrdom will... perform miracles,' and how an 'effort' should be made so that their 'limbs on earth' provide 'salvation for men' (Enitendum est itaque, ut dum harum merita penetrant cælos, illorum membra in terris salus efficiantur hominibus). The author will therefore set out to describe the life and martyrdom (passio) of Dalfinus, or beatus Aunemund.
(2) Aunemund's background: his parents Sigo and Petronia; his upbringing at the court of kings Dagobert and Clovis; his 'Roman stock' (natione... Romanus); his holding of public office (publicis fascibus honoratus); his extensive almsgiving and extensive property holding. How he was chosen and consecrated as bishop of Lyon by his predecessor Viventiolus while he still held office. His influence at court and how this backfired: 'it certainly seemed to the brethren that he was in company too elevated... Such people treacherously began to plot against him, making the underhand accusation that he was machinating to overthrow the rule of... Clothar who was king at that time.'
(3) How Aunemund failed to attend a royal assembly at Marolle, near Orléans, during which its attendees plotted the murder of his brother, the prefect of Lyon: they accused the latter of treason and the king and Queen Balthild had him decapitated; he was buried at the basilica of the *Apostles (S00084) and the *Forty-Eight Martyrs (of Lyon, S00316). (4) How Aunemund turned back from the assembly to Lyon, desiring martyrdom (martyrio se cupiens munerari), and how Abbot Waldebert of Luxeuil supported him. (5) How the king's men besieged the city; (6) The bishop's speech to the people of Lyon, invoking the example of *Stephen (the First Martyr, S00030); (7-8) and how he presented himself to the army to be arrested. (9) How the bishop and his clerical entourage came to Macon as they were being led away, where he wished to 'visit and pray at the churches of the *saints' (S00518), but was prevented from doing so by the army's commander. (10-11) How the bishop was 'secretly murdered by the sword' (gladio necaretur occulte) in his tent at Chalon.
(12) How, after he had 'endured martyrdom' (perpesso... martyrio), his body was taken by boat along the Saône back to Lyon; along the way his body was washed by the monks of the monastery of île-Barbe; and the next morning he was received with honour in the city and buried at the basilica of Saint *Peter (the Apostle, S00036), 'where he himself had recently installed paupers to be fed by his own alms.'
(13) The posthumous miracles worked through him: an oil vessel placed over the tomb which never depleted and often overflowed; a blind man whose sight was restored at the tomb; a paralytic who walked again. How a piece of his pastoral staff or of the bed in which he was killed, when placed over suffering limbs, would restore health. How demoniacs or other diseased persons who visited the church of Aunemund's grave 'for love of the glorious martyr' would leave cured. (14-15) How a 'certain German' (quidam Theuton), who had been blind since birth, had a dream telling him to head to Aunemund's tomb in Lyon, where he was healed. The author ends with an appeal that the 'brides of Christ' (sponsae Christi) who serve at the basilica of Saint Peter and who witnessed this miracle ought to pray to God to drive out disbelief, and stay chaste 'so that you may deserve to receive the crown of perpetual joy.'
Text: AASS Sept. VII, 744-6.
Translation: Fouracre and Gerberding 1996, 179-92.
Summary: B. Savill.
Cult building - independent (church)
Burial site of a saint - tomb/grave
Non Liturgical ActivityVisiting graves and shrines
Distribution of alms
Composing and translating saint-related texts
Ceremonies at burial of a saint
Demoniacs at the site
MiraclesMiracle after death
Healing diseases and disabilities
Apparition, vision, dream, revelation
Exorcism
Power over objects
RelicsContact relic - other object closely associated with saint
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesEcclesiastics - lesser clergy
Ecclesiastics - abbots
Ecclesiastics - monks/nuns/hermits
Relatives of the saint
Monarchs and their family
Aristocrats
Soldiers
Women
Crowds
Cult Related ObjectsOil lamps/candles
Theorising on SanctityConsiderations about the veneration of saints
Source
The manuscripts of the Acts of Aunemund are lost, and the work survives only via post-medieval printed editions. Although the text as we have it appears to be ninth-century or later, a compelling argument has been made for seeing the underlying core of the Acts as essentially Merovingian, and perhaps even dating to within a few years of the saint's death (Fouracre and Geberding, 1996, 168-79).Discussion
The Acts follow the pattern of a number of comparable 'political martyrdoms' from later seventh-century Merovingian Gaul (e.g. The Martyrdom of Leudegar, E06462 or The Martyrdom of Praeiectus, E06482). Aunemund is presented as a fairly straightforwardly political, if also pious, figure, who works no miracles within his lifetime. The Balthild who orders Aunemund's brother's (and by implication, his own) execution in chapter 3 is the titular saint of the possibly near-contemporary Life of Lady Balthild (E06266).An alternative account of Aunemund/Dalfinus' 'martyrdom' occurs in Stephen of Ripon's Life of Wilfrid (probably composed c. 713), suggesting that elements of the saint's cult, and perhaps his Acts, may have already reached northern Britain by the end of the seventh century.
Bibliography
EditionActa S. Aunemundi alias Dalfini episcopi, ed. P. Perrier, AASS, Sept. VII (Antwerp, 1760), 744-6.
Translation and commentary
P. Fouracre and R.A. Gerberding, Late Merovingian France: History and Hagiography, 640-720 (Manchester, 1996), 166-192.
Further reading
M. Heinzelmann, 'L'hagiographie mérovingienne: panorama des documents potentiels,' in M. Goullet, M. Heinzelmann and C. Veyrard-Cosme, eds., L'hagiographie mérovingienne à travers ses réécritures (Ostfildern, 2010), 83-102.
Benjamin Savill
09/06/2019
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00030 | Stephen, the First Martyr | Stephanus | Certain | S00036 | Peter, the Apostle | Petrus | Certain | S00084 | Apostles, unnamed or name lost | apostoli | Certain | S00316 | Martyrs of Lyon | quadraginta octo martyres | Certain | S00518 | Saints, unnamed | sancti | Certain | S00731 | Aunemund, bishop and martyr of Lyon, ob. 660/664 | Aunemundus, Annemundus, Dalfinus | Certain |
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