Passage added in some manuscripts of the Passion of the Agaunensian Martyrs describing the discovery and translation of the body of Innocentius, one of the Theban Legion (martyrs of Agaunum, Gaul, S00339). Written in Latin, probably at Saint-Maurice-d'Agaune (eastern Gaul), c. 500.
E07725
Literary - Hagiographical - Accounts of martyrdom
Passion of the Agaunensian Martyrs (BHL 5737), interpolated passage
Neque enim hoc omittendum est, quod per longum temporis tractum beati Innocenti martyris membra Rhodanus revelavit. Iugi enim eluviae vicinum in se caespitem vergens, religiosa quadam soli pernicie ad sepulturam martyris famulatrix unda pervenit. Prolatas namque reliquias liniter [sc. leniter] lambens, non ideo a sinu terrae protulit, ut in gurgitis sui procella demergeret, sed ob gloriosam devocione intra ambitum basilicae ceteris martyribus sepulturae praeciperet sociari. Cuius translationem a sanctae recordationis Domiciano Genavensi et Grato Agustane urbis vel Protasio tunc temporis huius loci episcopis caelebratam recolentes, cotidiana devotione et laudibus frequentamus.
'Neither is this to be omitted, that, through the long passage of time, the Rhône revealed the limbs of the blessed martyr Innocentius. For with the nearness of the ever-flowing river drawing the earth towards itself, through a kind of religious damage to the soil, the helpful wave reached the burial of the martyr. For lapping gently at the emerging remains, it did not bring them forth from the embrace of the earth in such a way that a storm should submerge them in its flood, but indicated that for the sake of glorious devotion they were to be united within the embrace of a church with the other martyrs in the tomb. Recalling his celebrated translation by bishops Domitianus of Geneva, of holy memory, and Gratus of Aosta, also Protasius, then bishop of this place, we gather together with daily devotion and praises.'
Text: Krusch 1896, 40-41.
Translation: David Lambert.
Burial site of a saint - tomb/grave
RelicsBodily relic - entire body
Discovering, finding, invention and gathering of relics
Transfer, translation and deposition of relics
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesEcclesiastics - bishops
Source
This passage was added to the Passion of the Agaunensian Martyrs some decades after its composition (see E06108), appended to the text between the end of the Passion itself and the beginning of the letter from Eucherius to Salvius. It was edited by Krusch in an appendix to his edition of the Passion.The interpolation seems to date from around the beginning of the 6th century: it was written after the death of the three bishops named in the text, who can be dated to the second half of the 5th century, but on the other hand it make no reference to the refoundation of the monastery of Agaune by the Burgundian king Sigismund in 515, suggesting (if not conclusively) that it predates this event.
Discussion
The passage commemorates a seemingly simple event: erosion of the bank of the River Rhône revealed the grave of the martyr Innocentius, and his body was then reburied in the established shrine of the martyrs of the Theban Legion. However, the passage raises questions which it leaves unanswered. One is how and why the body was identified as one of the Theban martyrs – it may have been found at or close to the site believed to be that of the martyrdom. Another is that the text refers to 'the blessed martyr Innocentius' as if his identity was self-evident, but no one of that name is mentioned in the original text of the Passion of the Agaunensian Martyrs, written by Eucherius of Lyon sometime between about 430 and 450.The translation of Innocentius' remains can be dated to the second half of the 5th century by the dates of the bishop involved, but these are known only very approximately and do not allow greater precision. Protasius (PCBE 4, 'Protasius 1'), the bishop in whose see Agaune was located (Octodurum/Martigny), is attested only in this passage. Domitianus of Geneva (PCBE 4, 'Domitianus 2') is also mentioned in the Martyrdom of Ursus and Victor (E07726), which commemorates two soldiers said to have been of the Theban Legion but martyred separately at Solothurn; in this he is said to have translated their remains to a church in Geneva in the time of the late 5th century Burgundian queen Theodelinda (cf. E05933). Gratus, bishop of Aosta (PCBE 2, 'Gratus'), is assumed to be the same person as the Gratus, then a presbyter, who attended a church council at Milan as the representative of the bishop of Aosta in 451; he had died by 502, when the next bishop of Aosta is attested.
Bibliography
Edition:Krusch, B., Passiones vitaeque sanctorum aevi Merovingici et antiquiorum aliquot (Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Scriptores rerum Merovingicarum 3; Hannover, 1896), 40-41.
Further reading:
Pietri, C., Pietri, L, and Desmulliez, J., Prosopographie chrétienne du Bas-Empire, 2 Prosopographie de l'Italie chrétienne (313-604) (Paris, 1999). (= PCBE 2)
Pietri, L., and Heijmans, M., Prosopographie chrétienne du Bas-Empire, 4 Prosopographie de la Gaule chrétienne (314-614) (Paris, 2013). (= PCBE 4)
David Lambert
12/11/2023
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00339 | Theban Legion, commanded by Maurice, martyrs of Agaune, Gaul | Innocentius | Certain |
|---|
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