Paulinus of Périgueux, in Book 6 (Miracle 5) of his verse Life of Saint *Martin (ascetic and bishop of Tours, ob. 397, S00050), recounts how a Hunnic soldier stole a crown displayed at the grave of Martin, was struck blind, repented of his misdeed, and had his sight restored. Written in Latin, presumably in Périgueux, 458/471.
E08132
Literary - Hagiographical - Collections of miracles
Paulinus of Périgueux, Life of Saint Martin, Book 6, verses 215-49 (Miracle 5)
The poet opens his account of three punishing miracles with the following general statement:
Interdum iniustos iusto terrore coegit 215
virtutem sentire Dei. nam saepe rebelles,
si non praecepta regunt, vel verbera cogunt.
'Sometimes Martin compelled the unjust by means of just terror to perceive the power of God. For often, if advice does not direct rebels, at least blows compel them.'
He then proceeds to recount the first of these punishing miracles:
Cum subito pavefacta metu graviore periclo
auxiliatores pateretur Gallia Chunos,
(nam socium vix ferre queas, qui durior hoste 220
extet et adnexum foedus feritate repellat),
horum unus, stimulis furiosi daemonis actus,
inrupit sacram Domini praedo inprobus aedem.
inde altare Dei gressu temerare profano
ausus et intuitus furialia vota secutus 225
abripuit sanctam dextra vellente coronam,
quae meritum sancti propter coniuncta docebat,
effigians illam, quam Christo iudice sumpsit,
fulgentem astrigera caeli sublimis in arce.
''When Gaul, alarmed by an unexpected terror, was suffering its Hunnic allies under yet greater danger [220] (for one can scarcely bear an ally who is harsher than the enemy), one of these, compelled by the goads of a raging demon, burst as a wicked plunderer into the holy temple of the Lord. Thereupon he dared to violate the altar of God with his profane step. [225] Looking with admiration, he followed his hellish intentions, and, plucking it with his right hand, snatched away the holy crown which, joined nearby, marked out the shrine of the saint; the crown portraying that famous crown which he took up when Christ was his judge, a crown shining in the star-bearing vault of sublime heaven.'
The Hun is struck blind. Encouraged by a friend, he returns repentant to the church, restores the crown, and regains his sight.
Text: Petschenig 1888.
Summary and translation: Maurus Mount.
Cult building - independent (church)
Burial site of a saint - tomb/grave
MiraclesPunishing miracle
Miracle after death
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesForeigners (including Barbarians)
Soldiers
Cult Related ObjectsPrecious material objects
Source
Very little is known about Paulinus of Périgueux, all of it from his writings: he himself tells us he was called Paulinus, and manuscripts of his Life of Martin label him as 'of Petrocordium' (ancient Périgueux), though these are all from centuries after his death, so there is doubt over the accuracy of this statement. From his verse it is clear that he had enjoyed a thorough literary education, so must have come from a wealthy family; and from one of his poems we learn that he had an adult grandson and considered himself old in the mid- to late 460s. It is also, of course, clear that he was devoted to Martin of Tours, whom he describes as his patron. In a letter to Perpetuus, bishop of Tours (458/9-488/9), he refers to the bearer of the letter as 'my deacon' (see E08121), which suggests Paulinus was a priest, or even a bishop, at the time of writing. For the details of what is known of his life, see Labarre 1998, 14-18, and Pietri and Heijmans 2013.Paulinus' principal surviving work is his substantial six-book Life of Saint Martin (De vita Sancti Martini) written in hexameters (E06355). This is based on the writings of Sulpicius Severus, except for the final volume, Book 6 (from which this extract comes), which consists of an account of posthumous miracles of the saint. Other than the Life of Martin, the only known works of Paulinus are a letter to Perpetuus of Tours, accompanied by two poems, both also related to Martin (see E08121 for a full text and English translation of these).
There is considerable debate over the origins of Books 1-5 of the Life of Saint Martin: whether Paulinus wrote them independently as an act of personal devotion, or whether he wrote all, or some of them at the prompting of Bishop Perpetuus, who was very active at this time in promoting the cult of Martin, in particular by rebuilding and decorating on an elaborate and grand scale the saint's burial church (see, for instance, E02023, E02805 and E08119). But there is no doubt about the origins of Book 6, because in a poem on the subject (E08121, Poem 2) Paulinus tells us that Perpetuus had supplied him with a document (charta) with an account of twelve posthumous miracles of Martin, which Paulinus was to put into verse - these are the miracles that make up Book 6.
Because of the uncertainty over Bishop Perpetuus' role in encouraging the composition of the greater part of the Life of Martin, there is no reliable way of dating the writing of Books 1-5. Book 6, however, must post-date the beginning of the Perpetuus' episcopate in 458/459, and must have been complete, at the very latest, by 471, since it is referred to in a letter of Paulinus to Perpetuus (E08121), which accompanied a poem for the walls of Martin's new church, which was probably dedicated in that year. It may well have been written by 466, since, in his account of Miracle 3, Paulinus appears to refer to the Roman general Aegidius as if he were still alive, and he is known to have died in 465/466.
Discussion
For an overview of Book 6 of Paulinus' Life of Saint Martin, see E08130, with a brief summary of all twelve miracles that Paulinus recounts. Only the five stories that cast particular light on cult practice (as here) are also covered in individual database entries.This story - of the Hunnic thief - is, of course, primarily interesting for Paulinus' attitude to Gaul's Hunnic allies. But it also reveals one interesting detail about Martin's shrine: that it was decorated with a crown, evidently made of precious materials, since it attracted the Hun's rapacity. Presumably this was a hanging crown, similar to the famous early-seventh-century crowns known from Visigothic Spain.
Bibliography
Editions:Corpet, E.-F., Paulin de Périgueux, Oeuvres, Paris 1849. (Corpet's edition of the Latin is superseded by Petschenig and Labarre, but he also offers a French translation of the whole work, which is currently useful for Books 4-6.)
Labarre, S., Paulin de Périgueux, Vie de Saint Martin, vol.1 (Prologue and Books 1-3) (Sources chrétiennes 581), Paris 2016; with French translation. (Volume 2, at the time of writing, July 2021, is yet to appear.)
Petschenig, M., “Paulini Petricordiae quae supersunt”, in Petschenig, M. and others, Poetae Christianae Minores (Corpus scriptorum ecclesiasticorum latinorum 16; Vienna, 1888), 17-159.
Further reading:
Labarre, S., Le manteau partagé. Deux métamorphoses poétiques de la Vie de saint Martin chez Paulin de Périgueux (Ve s.) et Venance Fortunat (VI s.), Paris 1998.
Pietri, L., La ville de Tours du IVe au VIe siècle: naissance d’une cité chrétienne (Collection de l’École française de Rome 69; Rome 1983).
Pietri, L. and Heijmans, M., Prosopographie chrétienne du Bas-Empire, 4 Prosopographie de la Gaule chrétienne (314-614), 2 vols. (Paris 2013), vol. 2, 1450-52, 'Paulinus 6'.
Van Dam, R., "Paulinus of Périgueux and Perpetuus of Tours", Francia, no. 14 (1986): 567‑573.
Maurus Mount
13/07/2021
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00050 | Martin, ascetic and bishop of Tours, ob. 397 | Martinus | Certain |
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