The Hibernensis canon law collection quotes an unidentifiable, possibly Irish authority concerning the suitability of relic translation, which cites the translation of the bodies of *Luke (the Evangelist, S00442) and *Andrew (the Apostle, S00288) to Constantinople as an example. Compiled in Latin in Ireland and/or Iona (north-west Britain), c. 690/748.
Evidence ID
E08317
Type of Evidence
Canonical and legal texts
Collectio Hibernensis
De transmigratione martirum
In catalogo: Lucas autem sepultus est Constantinopolim, ad quam urbem XXX-mo anno Contantini ossa eius cum reliquis Andree apostoli translata sunt in exemplum nobis, et reliqua
'Concerning the transmigration of martyrs
In the catalogue: Luke, however, was buried at Constantinople, to which city, in the thirtieth year of Constantine, his bones were translated together with the relics of Andrew the apostle, as an example to us, etc.'
Text: Flechner 2019, 108.
Translation: Flechner 2019, 554.
Non Liturgical Activity
Transmission, copying and reading saint-related texts
RelicsTransfer, translation and deposition of relics
Source
The Hibernensis canon law collection was compiled in Ireland from a wide range of sources in the late seventh or earlier eighth century, primarily by the scholars Ruben of Munster (ob. 725) and Cú Chuimne of Iona (ob. 747). The Hibernensis' use of the probably posthumous collection of canons attributed to Archbishop Theodore of Canterbury (ob. 690) provides the work's terminus ante quem; its terminus post quem derives from its own first identifiable citation, in a Corbie canon law collection of 748. All extant manuscript witnesses of the Hibernensis were produced in continental Europe, where it had a significant influence up to the twelfth century. It survives in two distinct recensions (Hib. A and Hib. B), neither of which can be shown to have priority over the other (for this and all further discussion, see Flechner 2019 and Flechner 2021).Discussion
This canon appears only in manuscripts of the Hib. B recension, between chapters 18.6 and 18.7 of the collection. The cited catalogus is possibly a now-lost miscellany of Irish origin (Flechner 2021, 104-5).Note that this particular section of the Hibernensis, 'On the Law of Burial' (De iure sepulturae), concerns church burials of all kinds, and not strictly speaking the cult of saints: the 'example' cited here may be intended to demonstrate the exceptional rules accorded to the bodies of martyrs, as opposed to those of other clerics, monks and laypeople.
Bibliography
Edition and translationThe Hibernensis, ed. and trans. R. Flechner, 2 vols (Washington, D.C., 2019).
Further reading
R. Flechner, Making Laws for a Christian Society: the Hibernensis and the Beginnings of Church Law in Ireland and Britain (Abingdon, 2021).
Record Created By
Benjamin Savill
Date of Entry
16/08/2022
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00288 | Andrew, the Apostle | Andreas | Certain | S00442 | Luke, the Evangelist | Lucas | Certain |
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