A fragmentary papyrus document from Ravenna (north-east Italy) records a grant to a church at Nepi (central Italy) dedicated to *Mary (mother of Christ, S00033), and refers to monastic dedications to *Elijah/Elias (probably the Old Testament prophet, S00217) and (at the same or a separate monastery?) *Stephen (the First Martyr, S00030). Written in Latin, at Nepi or Rome, in or after June 557.
E08421
Documentary texts - Charter or diploma
Documentary texts - Donation document
Late antique original manuscripts - Papyrus sheet
Tjäder P. 49 (excerpt)
[...] Imp(erante) d(omino) n(ostro) Iustiniano p(er)p(etuo) Aug(usto) anno tricensimo primo e[t] p(ost) [c(onsulatum)] Basili u(iri) c(larissimi) anno XVI, ind(ictione) quin[ta], sub d(ie) III Nonar(um) Iuniarum. Scribsi ego [...]lius rog[atu]s a Sitzane u(iro) h(onesto) com[.....]e argi[............]la[.....]ti[.]li[........]ti[.....]gu[..............] et eum esse conuentum per precept[tione]m Adeodati u(iri) s(pectabilis), uicari urb(is) em(inentissimi) p(raefecti), [an]te Andream u(i)r(um) st(renuum), executorem, ad[... a]ctor monasterii S(an)c(t)i Aeliae [..] et S(an)c(t)i Sthefani, ut, quid nobit s[...........s]anctis euangeliis d[i]c[...]e[..] [............]cta, unde scir[.]t u(u) [...............]lio Gundila [............] re[conc]cilia[tu]s, e[t] lege nostra eum [....] reconciliauit. Mis[...........] re[..]atoti[.......] occupauerunt ill[....]c[........]asalent[..] in[........]cone, uel que sibi inuenire potuit. Reconciliat[u]s f[e]cit do[n]u[m e]ccl(esiae) S(an)c[(t)ae] Mariae in Nepe cum uxore sua et filiis s[u]is [...]
'... In the thirty-first year of the imperial reign of our lord Justinian, perpetual Augustus, and in the fifteenth year after the consulship of Basilius, uir clarissimus, in the fifth indiction, on the day of the 3 Nones of June. I, <text missing>, have written on the request of Sitza, uir honestus ... <text missing> ... and this has been convened on the command of Adeodatus, uir spectabilis, vicar of the most eminent urban prefect, before Andreas, uir strenuus, executor <text missing> agent of the monastery of Saint Elias... and Saint Stephen, that <text is highly fragmentary and meaning unclear>... holy gospels... whence... Gundila.... reconciled, and he reconciled him according to our law... <text is highly fragmentary and meaning unclear>... occupied.... or what he might find for himself. Reconciled, he made a gift to the church of Saint Mary in Nepi, with this wife and sons...'
Text: Tjäder 1955-82: ii. 194-9.
Translation: B. Savill
Cult building - independent (church)
Cult building - monastic
Non Liturgical ActivityBequests, donations, gifts and offerings
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesEcclesiastics - lesser clergy
Family
Aristocrats
Officials
Source
Thirty-eight papyrus documents (plus a further four of less certain provenance) dating from the years 445 to c. 700 survive today from the archives of the church of Ravenna. Most were produced in the city, although some appear to have come to Ravenna via interested parties after originally being issued at other centres (e.g. Faenza, Syracuse, Nepi). An exceptionally rare witness to late antique documentary culture, the Ravenna papyri constitute the single largest corpus of Latin papyri documents still extant, although the collection is now dispersed between a number of libraries across Europe and North America. The standard modern edition is Tjäder 1955-82. We have included in our database the eight documents from this corpus which provide evidence for saints' cults before c. 700.This papyrus (460 x 280 mm) is now Ravenna, Archivio arcivescovile, Pap. I.
Discussion
The monastery dedicated to Elijah/Elias was presumably at Castel Sant'Elia, close to Nepi.Bibliography
EditionDie nichtliterarischen lateinischen Papyri Italiens aus der Zeit 445-700, ed. J.-O. Tjäder, 2 vols (Lund and Stockholm, 1955-82).
Benjamin Savill
04/03/2023
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00030 | Stephen, the First Martyr | Sthefanus | Certain | S00033 | Mary, Mother of Christ | Maria | Certain | S00217 | Elijah/Elias, Old Testament prophet | Aelias | Uncertain |
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Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL:
Benjamin Savill, Cult of Saints, E08421 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E08421