The Latin Life of *Cassianus (bishop of Autun, central Gaul, ob. c. 330/340, S01290) describes how Cassianus is born in Alexandria, Egypt, founds a church dedicated to *Laurence (deacon and martyr of Rome, S00037) in an Egyptian city during the reign of Julian, and later becomes bishop of the city. In response to a divine command, he leaves his see, travels to Gaul, and settles at Autun, visiting the shrine of *Symphorianus (martyr of Autun, S00322). He assists *Simplicius (bishop of Autun, mid 4th c., S01292) and then succeeds him as bishop and serves for twenty years. After his death, his grave is visited by *Germanus (bishop of Auxerre, ob. c. 448, S00455). Written in Gaul, probably Autun, between c. 600 and c. 850.
E08116
Literary - Hagiographical - Lives
The Life of St Cassianus, Bishop of Autun (BHL 1630)
Summary:
(1) Cassianus was born of noble parents in Alexandria. Holy from an early age, he was trained and educated by Bishop Zonis. At the time, Alexandria was dominated by the pagans; Julian was the emperor, a persecutor of Christians who killed many saints for the name of Christ. Cassianus was not afraid of persecution, and devoted himself to the worship of God. While he fervently implored the help of many holy martyrs, he particularly sought to associate himself with the holy *Hilarinus [see Discussion], for whose sake Cassianus enlarged his dwelling in order to receive pilgrims. (2) He freed many of his slaves, who testified to his holiness and spread his fame not just in Alexandria but throughout Egypt. He made great efforts to care for the poor. He constructed a church in the city of 'Orta' (Ortensi urbe) and endowed its clergy. Saint *Laurence (deacon and martyr of Rome, S00037) appeared to him in a vision and told Cassianus to dedicate it in his name, so it is now called the Laurentiana. (3) Julian was succeeded by Jovian, a Christian emperor who feared the Lord and reopened the churches. The people clamoured with one voice for Cassianus to be made their bishop. Out of humility, he was unwilling to accept, but the people overwhelmed him, crying out his virtues. Another bishop named Cassianus, from Asia, ordained him as bishop. (4) He gave away all his wealth to the poor, strove to instruct his congregation, and was an example of all the virtues that he taught. He never brought sadness to anyone, there was no dishonesty in him, he always lived joyfully with his brothers.
(5) When the holy bishop Zonis, who had educated him, was martyred, Cassianus received his body, and buried it in the church of the holy martyrs. These martyrs were the presbyters, Secundianus, Felix, Terentius, Victor, Reducus, another Victor, Cousus, Duddeus, Fortunius, Spenetius, Afrodosus, Julius, Emeritus, Honorius, Salvanus, Saturnus, Dorigianus, and the deacon Roricianus. Cassianus buried him with the greatest honour next to their tombs on the day before the Kalends of May [30 April] and consecrated holy martyr shrines (sacrosancta martyria) in his memory. (6) Inspired by the example of his martyrdom, Cassianus was inflamed by the fervour of the Holy Spirit and the faith of the martyrs. As he poured out prayers it was revealed to him that he should go to Gaul and preach the word of the Lord. He began to inform his fellow bishops and all the clergy, saying that he wanted to follow the Lord's command and to leave his land and family and go to Gaul. They protested, asking if the land and its people had not been good to him. Cassianus reminded them of the biblical injunctions to leave one's home and parents in the Lord's name, and to leave behind all one has to be his disciple. (7) When Cassianus left, he took with him two presbyters, Domitianus and Dydimus; two deacons, Orion and Neonas; three lectors, Rasamona, Eron, and Honorius; and four subdeacons, Ingenianus, Iustus, Simplex, and Mansuetus. He set off with great joy. There was great lamentation among the clergy and people of Orta at his departure. Weeping and grieving, they asked who would now take care of them, pray for them, and teach them, when he departed for a distant land. (8) Recalling words of Paul, Cassianus rebuked them but blessed them. He kissed his clergy and wept with joy. He prayed to God to guide him and his companions on their journey.
(9) Cassianus and his fellows departed on the day before the Kalends of April [31 March] and travelled for six months. On the way he preached the word of God, destroyed many idols, and baptised very many people in the name of the Trinity. He visited many martyr shrines, and displayed their relics to save souls. After staying some time at a port in Africa they had a prosperous voyage to Marseille, through Christ’s guidance. Amid heretics and pagans and savage persecutions, an angel guided the servant of God to the city of the Aedui [Autun]. At the time, the bishop was the blessed *Simplicius (bishop of Autun, mid 4th c., S01292). (10) Simplicius' preaching caused many worshippers of idols in the city to desert their gods and receive baptism; his prayers, through divine grace, healed many sick people. When Cassianus arrived at the city he went to the oratory of the holy martyr *Symphorianus (martyr of Autun, S00322), where the the relics of his body are venerated. It was announced to Simplicius that a man of God named Cassianus had come across the sea from the East: the bishop received him with great veneration and the singing of hymns. He embraced Cassianus and they celebrated mass together. Simplicius rejoiced that a just man had arrived to help him eradicate lack of faith, and loved him like a brother. (11) Cassianus told Simplicius that he wanted to proceed further, to Britain. But Simplicius, wanting to keep his support, advised him to wait until God showed him the right time. Cassianus was with Simplicius for three years, then Simplicius died on the eighth day before the Kalends of July [24 June]. Cassianus buried him in the cemetery which is within sight of the city and celebrated a mass in his memory. The whole populace with one voice chose Cassianus as bishop. The Lord constantly carried out miracles of healing through him, and he loved everyone as much as himself. The blessed Cassianus governed the church for twenty years then migrated to Christ. After his death his friends and companions, named above, wrote down the acts of the blessed master and recorded the history of his life. When they died they were buried in the same cemetery as him.
(12) The following is worth adding in praise of blessed men: when *Germanus (bishop of Auxerre, ob. c. 448, S00455) was travelling to Rome, divine power manifested itself in the tomb of Cassianus by causing a coloured cross to appear on the stone. When Germanus approached and prayed at the tomb, he asked: 'What are you doing, glorious brother?' A true report says that Cassianus replied, 'I enjoy rest in sweet peace and await the advent of the Redeemer.' To which Germanus is said to have replied, 'Rest long in Christ, brother,' and begged Cassianus to intercede with the Lord on behalf of him and of the people present that they should deserve to obtain the joys of the resurrection.
Text: Sollerius 1735.
Summary: David Lambert.
Cult building - independent (church)
Burial site of a saint - tomb/grave
Martyr shrine (martyrion, bet sāhedwātā, etc.)
Non Liturgical ActivityPilgrimage
Construction of cult buildings
Burial ad sanctos
Visiting graves and shrines
Composing and translating saint-related texts
MiraclesMiracle during lifetime
Apparition, vision, dream, revelation
Healing diseases and disabilities
Miracle after death
RelicsUnspecified relic
Collections of multiple relics
Privately owned relics
Bodily relic - unspecified
Public display of relics
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesEcclesiastics - bishops
Source
The authorship of the Life of Cassianus is unknown, and its date is impossible to pin down with any precision. The author made use of the Martyrologium Hieronymianum, which rules out a date earlier than about 600. A commonly given terminus ante quem is 840, when Cassianus' body was translated from Autun to Saint-Quentin, which (it is presumed) would have been mentioned if the Life had been written subsequently (e.g. Gaiffier 1948, 50). In any event, the text must have been in existence by the second half of the 9th century, since it formed the basis of derivative works which were produced then: it was rewritten in more polished Latin prose (BHL 1631/2), then in classicising Latin verse (BHL 1633). This latter work, the Carmen de sancto Cassiano, has attracted more scholarly attention than the original Life (including a critical edition, Winterfeld 1899), and has been dated on stylistic and codicological grounds to c. 850-900 (Winterfeld 1899, 178-81; Tilliette 1991, 319).An aspect of the Life of Cassianus that might potentially clarify its date, but is currently uncertain, is its relationship to the Vita interpolata of Germanus of Auxerre (E05842). One of the interpolated passages in the Vita interpolata is an account of the visit of Germanus to Cassianus' tomb, most of which is identical to the one in the Life of Cassianus (§ 12). If the Life of Cassianus was the source of this passage, it must predate the Vita interpoloata. If this dates from the early 7th century, as argued by Egmond 2006 (107-127), it would mean that the Life could be dated quite closely to around 600. However, it has recently been argued (Laynesmith 2021) that the Vita interpolata postdates Bede, and could date from as late as the 850s (Laynesmith 2021, 285) which would put the dating of the Life of Cassianus back to square one. A further complication is that (as noted by Gaiffier 1948, 48-9) the passage in the Vita interpolata is somewhat longer and more coherent than the one in the Life of Cassianus, suggesting that it could have been the source of the passage in the Life rather than vice versa, in which case an early date for the Vita interpolata would be irrelevant.
Manuscripts and editions
There are two printed editions of the Life of Cassianus, both dating from the first half of the 18th century. The first (Fontanini 1708) appeared in a work on the antiquities of the city of Orte in Italy (on the reason for this, see below); in 1735 an edition appeared in the Acta Sanctorum. Both were based on a single manuscript, Saint-Germain-des-Prés ms. 807 (now BnF lat. 11758; 13th c.), though the Bollandist editor claimed to have collated it with other manuscripts (Sollerius 1735, 64). This manuscript seems to have been used simply because of its availability, and there is no evidence that it has any particular significance as a witness to the text. Eight other medieval manuscripts are listed in the Légendiers latins database (https://legendiers-latins.irht.cnrs.fr/5124; consulted 07/04/2025), dating from the 10th to the 13th centuries, plus one early modern manuscript.
Discussion
Cassianus is attested as bishop of Autun in two early sources, the Martyrologium Hieronymianum, which lists his feast day on 5 August (E04908), and Gregory of Tours, who describes his tomb in the cemetery at Autun, noting that it had been worn away by people scratching dust from it in the hope of receiving healing (E02694). In another passage (Glory of the Confessors 74) Gregory mentions that Cassianus was preceded as bishop of Autun by Reticius, and succeeded first by Hegemonius and then by Simplicius. Evidence such as church council attendance shows that Reticius was in office in 313/14 and Simplicius in 344, implying that Cassianus was bishop sometime between the 310s and the 330s.The Life adds nothing to our knowledge of the historical Cassianus. The author seems to have known roughly when he lived (though he places his career several decades too late, in the period after the reign of Julian) and that Simplicius was bishop in approximately the same period (though the Life has him as Cassianus' predecessor, while according to Gregory of Tours he was the second bishop to succeed him). The author knew Simplicius' feast day (24 June), though he could have obtained this from the Martyrologium Hieronymianum (oddly, he does not mention Cassianus' own feast, 5 August, which is also recorded in the Hieronymianum). He was familiar with an anecdote about a visit to the tomb of Cassianus by Germanus of Auxerre (in office c. 418-448). However, the main narrative of the Life – of an Egyptian who, after being educated by an otherwise unknown bishop of Alexandria named Zonis, dedicated a church to St Laurence (a saint with no known cult in Egypt) in an otherwise unknown Egyptian city, the urbs Ortensis (implying the name Orta or Ortum), and then became its bishop, before abandoning his see, moving with a small group of companions to Gaul, and ultimately becoming bishop of Autun (where his activities as bishop are left completely undescribed) – is full of obvious impossibilities. On the rare occasions when modern scholars have discussed the Life, they have usually been dismissive: the Bollandist editor refused to provide any annotation to his edition of the text, on the grounds that it was so full of 'errors and figments' that doing so would be pointless (Sollerius 1735, 65 F). From the 15th century onwards, a number of Italian writers identified the urbs Ortensis as the city of Orte in central Italy, notwithstanding that the text implies it was in Egypt (Gaiffier 1948, 51-52). This is why the editio princeps of the Life appeared in a work on the antiquities of Orte (Fontanini 1708).
In 1948, however, the Life was examined in detail by Baudouin de Gaiffier, who showed that it was essentially a composite of material from identifiable literary sources, minimally reshaped by the author:
a) The Martyrdom of Gallicanus (Gaiffier 1948, 35-38). The greater part of §§ 1-4 of the Life of Cassianus is simply lifted from the account of Gallicanus' activities at Rome and Ostia in the Martyrdom of Gallicanus (E02520 – see the fourth paragraph of the summary of BHL 3236). Thus Hilarinus (no further identification), to whom Cassianus is said to have been devoted, turns out to be the Hilarinus who is martyred in the Martyrdom of Gallicanus, the church dedicated by Cassianus to St Laurence is the church in Ostia dedicated to Laurence by Gallicanus, and the mysterious urbs Ortensis is simply Ostia (urbs Ostiensis). In the Martyrdom of Gallicanus, Gallicanus travels to Alexandria before his martyrdom, which presumably suggested it to the author as Cassianus' place of origin.
b) The Martyrologium Hieronymianum (Gaiffier 1948, 38-41). When Cassianus buries Bishop Zonis (§ 5), the Life names eighteen martyrs to whom the church is said to be dedicated. This list is based on a list of martyrs 'in Alexandria' which appears in the Hieronymianum entry for 30 April (E04794). Zonis 'bishop of Alexandria' probably comes from a Zonus (otherwise unidentified) who is listed by the Hieronymianum entry for 12 March (E04714) as being commemorated in Alexandria. And most of the names of Cassianus' companions when he went to Gaul (§ 7) come from the martyrology, mainly individuals listed as being commemorated 'in Alexandria' or 'in Egypt' (entries for 9 February, 28 February, 12 March, 1 April; E04673, E04702, E04714, E04756).
c) Though the direct debt to individual texts is not quite so obvious, many elements in the account of the journey of Cassianus and his companions from Egypt to Autun (prompting by a dream or vision; scriptural words and exchange of kisses on departure; guidance by an angel or by Christ; Marseille as point of arrival), parallel those in the journeys to Gaul of the protagonists in the so-called Burgundian cycle of Martyrdoms (Gaiffier 1948, 41-47), such as those of Irenaeus (E08522), Benignus of Dijon (E06532), and Andochius and Thyrsus (E08523).
d) As noted above, Gaiffier believed that the concluding passage of the Life (§ 12) was taken from the Vita interpolata of Germanus of Auxerre (Gaiffier 1948, 48-49). If so, the source used by the author of the Vita interpolata is unknown (and it may have been this source, not the Vita interpolata, that was used by the author of the Life of Cassianus).
Bibliography
Editions:Fontanini, G., De antiquitatibus Hortae (Rome, 1708), 335-340.
Sollerius, J.B., Acta Sanctorum, Aug. II (Antwerp, 1735), 64-65.
Rewritten version (BHL 1631):
Analecta Bollandiana 4 (1885), 159-166 [no named editor].
The Carmen de sancto Cassiano (BHL 1633):
Winterfeld, P. von, Poetae Latini aevi Carolini IV.1 (Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Poetae Latini medii aevi 4; Berlin, 1899), 181-196.
Further reading:
Egmond, W. van, Conversing with the Saints: Communication in Pre-Carolingian Hagiography from Auxerre (Turnhout: Brepols, 2006).
Gaiffier, B. de, "Les sources de la vie de S. Cassien, évêque d'Autun," Analecta Bollandiana 66 (1948), 33-52.
Laynesmith, M., "How Old is the Vita s. Germani interpolata (BHL 3454)?", Analecta Bollandiana, 139:2 (2021), 272-288.
Tilliette, J.-Y., "Métrique carolingienne et métrique auxerroise," in: D. Iogna-Prat, C. Jeudy, and G. Lobrichon (eds.), L'école carolingienne d'Auxerre de Murethach à Remi (Paris: Beauchesne, 1991), 314-327.
David Lambert
13/04/2025
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00037 | Laurence/Laurentius, deacon and martyr of Rome | Laurentius | Certain | S00322 | Symphorianus, martyr of Autun | Symphorianus | Certain | S00455 | Germanus, bishop of Auxerre, ob. 445/450 | Germanus | Certain | S01290 | Cassianus, bishop of Autun, ob. 320/344 | Cassianus | Certain | S01292 | Simplicius, bishop of Autun, mid 4th c. | Symplicius | Certain | S01518 | Hilarinus, martyr of Ostia | Hilarinus | Certain |
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