Evidence ID
E07905
Type of Evidence
Literary - Other
Major author/Major anonymous work
Jerome of Stridon
Jerome, On Illustrious Men (De viris inlustribus) 66 (Cornelius) and 67 (Cyprian)
66. Cornelius... cui ob Christi martyrium coronato successit Lucius.
'Cornelius... He received the crown of martyrdom for Christ, and was succeeded by Lucius.'
67. Cyprianus... passus est sub Valeriano et Gallieno principibus persecutione octaua, eo die quo Romae Cornelius, sed non eodem anno.
'Cyprian... He was put to death under the Emperors Valerian and Gallienus, in the eighth persecution, on the same day that Cornelius was put to death at Rome, but not in the same year.'
Text: Richardson, 1896.
Translation: Richardson, 1892.
Festivals
Saint’s feast
Source
Jerome wrote this collection of very short biographies of 135 Christian authors at the beginning of his stay in Bethlehem in 392/393. Amongst the authors commemorated were several who suffered martyrdom (which Jerome records at the end of their biographies) and others (such as Eusebius of Vercelli and Hilary of Poitiers) who would later attract cult, but Jerome's purpose in writing De viris inlustribus was to show how many learned men there had been, and still were within the Christian church (he closes with a rather longer biography of himself!), rather than to encourage saintly cult. We have therefore only created database entries from the De viris inlustribus in the very few cases (such as this one) where Jerome happens to provide information that sheds significant light on the cult of a saint.Discussion
Cornelius and Cyprian exchanged several letters and Jerome also associates them in his other writings: in the Life of Paul of Thebes he dates the beginning of the story of his hero to the times when Cornelius shed his blood at Rome and Cyprian his at Carthage (Life of Paul 2), although in reality they died five years apart, Cornelius in 253 and Cyprian in 258.Jerome is the first to say that their feasts occurred on the same day of the year. Although Cornelius is missing from the Depositio martirum, the earliest surviving list of the feasts of martyrs (in the Chronography of 354), interestingly Cyprian is included: he was commemorated in Rome at the cemetery of Callixtus on 14 September (E01052). In the 6th century the feast of Cornelius is attested on the same day - see the Liber Pontificalis (E00344).
Bibliography
Text:Richardson, E.C., De viris inlustribus (Texte und Untersuchungen zur Geschichte der Altchristlichen Literatur, vol. 14/1a, Leipzig: J.C. Hinrichs'sche Buchhandlung, 1896), 1-56.
Translation:
Richardson, E.C., On Illustrious Men (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series, vol. 3, Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1892). Revised and edited by K. Knight. <http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/2708.htm>.
Record Created By
Robert Wiśniewski
Date of Entry
04/04/2020
ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00172 | Cornelius, bishop and martyr of Rome, and companion martyrs | Cornelius | Certain | S00411 | Cyprian, bishop and martyr of Carthage | Cyprianus | Certain |
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Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL:
Robert Wiśniewski, Cult of Saints, E07905 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E07905