Seven relic labels from Cantù (north-west Italy), datable by their script to c. 700, for relics of various saints. Written in Latin, perhaps at Cantù, or possibly Rome or Milan.
E08363
Documentary texts - Relic label
Late antique original manuscripts - Papyrus sheet
Chartae Latinae Antiquiores, XXIX, no. 862
1.
Sancti Victores
'(Relics) of Saint Victor'
[possibly *Victor, soldier and martyr of Milan, S00312; or perhaps one of the martyrs of Rome, S00144 or S02229]
2.
De Anastasi
'[Relics] of Anastasius'
[probably *Anastasius, monk and martyr of Persia, ob. 628, S02052]
3.
Sancti Petri
'[Relics] of Saint Peter'
[*Peter, the Apostle, S00036]
4.
Sancti Vincenti
'[Relics] of Saint Vincent'
[probably *Vincent, deacon and martyr of Zaragoza and Valencia, S00290; or perhaps one of the martyrs of Rome, S01472 or S02866).'
5.
Sancti Laurenti
'[Relics] of Saint Laurence'
[*Laurence, deacon and martyr of Rome, S00037]
6.
Capilli santi [...] eti [...] sancti [.]er[...] Apostoli
'Of the hair of Saint (...) of Saint (...) Apostle.'
7.
[...] Sanctorum [...]te[..]ri [...]cti [A]lexandri [...]li
'(...) of Saints (...) of Saint Alexander'
[probably *Alexander, bishop and martyr of Rome, S00127; or perhaps the martyr of Bergamo, S01121).
Text: Tjäder et al., 1993
Translation: B. Savill.
Unspecified relic
Collections of multiple relics
Transfer, translation and deposition of relics
Bodily relic - nails, hair and bodily products
Source
These seven relic labels (authentiques) were written on small strips of papyrus - perhaps, according to the view of their most recent editor, by two scribes working in a 'non-professional New Italian Cursive', c. 700 (scribe one: nos. 1-2; scribe two: nos. 3-7). The labels were discovered in the church of San Vincenzo di Galliano, outside Cantù (province of Como), and are now kept at the sacristry of San Paolo di Cantù. It is has not been established whether the labels were written in Rome (as preferred by Tjäder 1993), Cantù, or elsewhere.For further collections of relic labels, see those extant from Saint-Maurice d'Agaune (E07438, E08075, E08076, E08077, E08078, E08079), Sens (E08315), Solignac (E08316) and the Roman Sancta sanctorum (E08361). The other major surviving collection, that of the nunnery of Chelles, does not include any items datable to before 700.
For full discussion of this category of evidence, see Smith 2020.
Discussion
Tjäder argues that there is a 'great probability that the relics came to Cantù from Rome.' However, he allows for the possibility that some may have come from Milan: in part because of the potentially Milanese identity of label no. 1's 'Victor', but also through the (extremely generous) reading of the fragmentary letters er in no. 6 as possibly deriving from 'Gervasius' (martyr of Milan: S00313). In fact, there is no reason to think that there might not have been various routes by which these relics could have ultimately made their way to Cantù, with the labels then written-up at a later stage (by two scribes working together? or on two separate occasions?) around the year 700.Bibliography
Edition:Chartae Latinae Antiquiores XXIX. Italy X, ed. J.-O. Tjäder et al. (Dietikon-Zurich, 1993).
Further reading:
Smith, J.M.H., 'The Remains of the Saints: the Evidence of Early Medieval Relic Collections,' Early Medieval Europe, 28 (2020), 388-424.
Images
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Cantù labels nos. 1-7: from Tjäder 1993
Benjamin Savill
19/11/2022
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00036 | Peter, the Apostle | Petrus | Certain | S00037 | Laurence/Laurentius, deacon and martyr of Rome | Laurentius | Certain | S00084 | Apostles, unnamed or name lost | Apostoli | Certain | S00127 | Alexander, Eventius and Theodolus, bishop, priest and deacon, martyrs of Rome | Alexander | Uncertain | S00144 | Victor, bishop and martyr of Rome | Victor | Uncertain | S00290 | Vincentius/Vincent, deacon and martyr of Zaragoza and Valencia | Vincentius | Uncertain | S00312 | Victor 'Maurus'/the Moor, soldier and martyr of Milan | Victor | Uncertain | S01121 | Alexander, martyr of Bergamo, northern Italy | Alexander | Uncertain | S01472 | Eusebius, Pontianus, Vincentius, Peregrinus, and Companions, martyrs of Rome | Vincentius | Uncertain | S01744 | Saints, name lost or very partially preserved | sancti | Certain | S02052 | Anastasios, monk and martyr of Persia, ob. 628 | Anastasius | Uncertain | S02229 | Victor, Felix, and Alexander, martyrs of Rome, buried on the via Nomentana | Victor | Uncertain | S02866 | Vincentius, martyr of Rome, buried on the via Portuensis | Vincentius | Uncertain |
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Benjamin Savill, Cult of Saints, E08363 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E08363