The Latin Martyrdom of *Irenaeus (bishop and martyr of Lyon, S02832) recounts how he was sent to Lyon by *Polycarp (bishop and martyr of Smyrna, S00004), was very successful in spreading Christianity, and was eventually martyred by the emperor Severus. Written in eastern Gaul, possibly in the early 6th c.
E08522
Literary - Hagiographical - Accounts of martyrdom
Martyrdom of Hereneus the Bishop (Passio Herenei episcopi, BHL 4458)
Summary:
The Martyrdom of Irenaeus opens with a prelude that sets the scene. This prelude only appears in manuscripts in which the Martyrdom of Irenaeus appears as the first of a chronological series of 'Burgundian' Martyrdoms (van der Straeten 1962):
(1.) Generic praise of martyrs and martyrdom.
(2.) Among these martyrs was '*Polycarp, bishop of Ephesus, the disciple of *John the Apostle and Evangelist' (Polycarpum, Ephesii episcopum apostoli Iohannis evangelistae discipulum) (= Polycarp, bishop and martyr of Smyrna, S00004; John the Apostle and Evangelist, S00042). Amongst his many miracles and good deeds, 'he sent his disciples to various provinces' (per diversas provincias suos transmittebat discipulos) to spread the word of Christ.
(3.) Polycarp learned that the emperor Antoninus [= Marcus Aurelius, r. 161-180] was savagely persecuting the Christians of Gaul, and that *Photinus, the bishop of Lyon (one of the 'Martyrs of Lyon', S00316) and many of his flock had been martyred.
Irenaeus is introduced and his Martyrdom proper begins:
(4.) Polycarp sent his priest Irenaeus to Lyon, to comfort the Christians and convert the pagans. Irenaeus arrived and entered Lyon, accompanied by the deacon Zaccharia and two other clerics. Thanks to his miracles and preaching, the whole city soon became Christian.
(5.) The whole city came to rejoice in Christ, and Irenaeus converted many more, where he could not go in person, through letters sent with his disciples.
(6.) The emperor Severus [r. 193-211] was stirred up against the Christians, and ordered that those who refused to sacrifice to the gods be tortured and executed.
(7.) That most evil Caesar was in Gaul acting against the Christians. 'The holy Irenaeus assumed the dignity of pontifical grace from the pope of the city of Rome' (Sanctus vero Herenaus a papa urbis Romae pontificalis gratiae adsumpserat dignitatem), and the Christians began to build churches.
(8.) This Caesar, hearing that the city had rejected the traditional cults, came to Lyon, ordered that all Christians should die.
(9.) Christ had warned Irenaeus of his martyrdom through an angel who spoke to him 'face to face' (facie ad faciem), in the presence of Zaccharia [here described as a priest].
(10-11.) In a long passage, the precise words of the angel are reported: promising to Irenaeus and his fellow soon-to-be martyrs the rewards of heaven, where he will join his predecessor Photinus, and telling him that the priest Zaccharia and two deacons should hide, in order to provide comfort for the Christians and to bury his body.
(12.) Irenaeus replies, thanking Jesus for his grace and asking that he grant his flock constancy.
(13.) Irenaeus strengthens the fortitude of his brothers for the martyrdom ahead.
(14.) The most evil Caesar has the city surrounded by soldiers and orders that all Christians must die by the sword.
(15.) The city is surrounded, and the Christians seized; they willingly give their children to be killed, all accepting the crown of martyrdom.
(16.) The streets ran with the blessed blood of the martyrs.
(17.) Irenaeus, after suffering many torments is killed, and his body is buried in a 'very hidden crypt' (in crypta abtissima) by Zaccharia.
Text: van der Straeten 1961, 455-459.
Summary: B. Ward-Perkins.
Burial site of a saint - tomb/grave
Non Liturgical ActivityComposing and translating saint-related texts
MiraclesMiracle during lifetime
Healing diseases and disabilities
Apparition, vision, dream, revelation
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesMonarchs and their family
Ecclesiastics - bishops
Source
The Martyrdom of Irenaeus circulated as an individual text (BHL 4458), but generally without the prelude summarised here. This prelude is only found in manuscripts (primarily a 9th-century text from Farfa) in which the Martyrdom is part of a chronological sequence – followed by the Martyrdom of Andochius, Thyrsus and Felix (E08523) and the Martyrdom of Benignus (E06532) – which between them tell the full story of the Christianisation of Burgundy.It is one of a group of six interrelated Martyrdoms from Burgundy, along with those of *Andochius, Thyrsus and Felix of Saulieu (BHL 424; E08523); *Benignus of Dijon (BHL 1153; E06532); *Speusippus, Melasippus and Elasippus of Langres (BHL 7829; E06512); *Ferreolus and Ferrucio of Besançon (BHL 2903; E06312); and *Felix, Fortunatus and Achilleus of Valence (BHL 2896; E06306). Many of these martyrs feature in supporting roles in the Martyrdoms of the others, as well as in their own primary Martyrdom, as does a further Burgundian martyr, *Symphorianus of Autun (S00322). All the commemorated martyrs are presented as disciples either of Irenaeus, the bishop and martyr of Lyon (S02832), or directly of Irenaeus' master, *Polycarp (bishop and martyr of Smyrna, S00004), and all except Irenaeus, who dies under Severus, are martyred under the emperor Aurelian.
In its fully evolved form, a coherent story is told through these Martyrdoms of how Polycarp (a disciple of the Apostle and Evangelist John, and in these texts bishop of Ephesus, not Smyrna) first sent Irenaeus to proselytise in Gaul, and, after Irenaeus was martyred in Lyon (and spurred on by the appearance of the latter in a vision), sent Benignus, Andochius and Thyrsus to Gaul; and how, through the actions of these three (combined with the earlier work of Irenaeus), Christianity was established in many of the cities of Burgundy. (Though this is not of importance for our purposes, the story follows an impossible chronology: the historical Polycarp long predeceased the historical Irenaeus, rather than vice-versa, and neither lived in anything like the times of the emperor Aurelian, who reigned from 270 to 275.)
Precisely when these six 'Burgundian' Martyrdoms, were written, and how many different hands were involved, has been the subject of scholarly debate. Duchesne (1907, 48-59) believed that they were all the work of a single falsifier, writing in the early 6th century, while Meyer (1904, 67-71) and van der Straeten (1961) convincingly argued that they were the work of at least two authors. Philippart (2014, 259-262) is certainly correct that the issue requires further research.
For our purposes, the detail of who precisely wrote them and when is less important than the general scholarly consensus that at least the central core of these Martyrdoms (with the proselytising work of Polycarp and Irenaeus) emerged in the 6th century, probably in its early years. There are reasonably secure termini ante quem for three of the six Martyrdoms: Gregory of Tours in his Glory of the Martyrs 50 (written in the 580s or early 590s), describes a miraculous stone at Dijon, which plays an important role in the Martyrdom of Benignus (compare E00574 and E06532), and in Glory of the Martyrs 70 (E00606) refers to a Martyrdom of Ferreolus and Ferrucio that could well be our 'Burgundian' text; while in around 615 a version of the Martyrdom of the Langres triplets is known to have been sent to a bishop of Paris (E05943).
Though more tentatively, we can probably assign this clutch of Martyrdoms to a more precise chronological envelope: the early 6th century. They are almost certainly later than the end of the 5th century, because several of them include in their stories Symphorianus, a prominent martyr of Autun (S00322), while the Martyrdom of Symphorianus (E06496), which was probably written in the late 5th century, is entirely silent about any of our saints. An early 6th-century date for one of our Martyrdoms is then suggested by the detailed account by Gregory of Tours of how his great-grandfather, Gregory, bishop of Langres between 507/8 and 539/40, built up (indeed discovered) Benignus of Dijon (E00573). The story includes an account of how Gregory of Langres 'acquired from men travelling to Italy a history of Benignus' suffering' (ab euntibus in Italiam passionis eius historiam adlatam ... accepit). This could very well be our Martyrdom of Benignus, here given a respectable (if implausible) Italian source of origin.
These Burgundian Martyrdoms established martyrs and an origin story for many of the churches of eastern Gaul/Burgundy entirely different from the origin story of many sees in southern and western Gaul, which traced their beginnings to a mission from Rome in the time of the emperor Decius (for this, see, for instance, E01530). Instead, in Burgundy, two men from the East – Irenaeus of Lyon and his master Polycarp – play the central role; with, furthermore, a link back to apostolic times through Polycarp (who was a disciple of the Apostle John during the latter's time at Ephesus). All of this would fit well a context when the kingdom of Burgundy was a powerful and independent force, before it was swallowed up by the Franks in 533/534.
Discussion
The passage in § 7, in which Irenaeus receives papal sanction for his episcopal role in Lyon, is the only reference to Rome in the entire group of Burgundian Martyrdoms.Bibliography
Edition:van der Straeten, J., "Les actes des martyrs d’Aurélien en Bourgogne: Le texte de Farfa," Analecta Bollandiana 79 (1961), 447-468, at pp. 455-468.
Further reading:
Beaujard, B., Le Culte des saints en Gaule. Les premiers temps. D’Hilaire de Poitiers à la fin du VIe siècle (Histoire religieuse de la France 15; Paris: Les Éditions du Cerf, 2000), 217-223.
Duchesne, L., Fastes épiscopaux de l'ancienne Gaule, 2nd ed. (Paris, 1907), vol. 1, 48-59.
Mayer, W., Die Legende des h. Albanus der Protomartyr Angliae in Texten vor Beda (Berlin, 1904).
Philippart, G., "4. Passio Speusippi, Eleusippi, Meleusippi, BHL 7829", in Goullet, M. (ed.), Le légendier de Turin: ms. D.V.3 de la Bibliothèque nationale universitaire (Florence: SISMEL edizioni del Galluzzo, 2014), 257-278.
Van der Straeten, J., "Les actes des martyrs d'Aurélien en Bourgogne. Étude littéraire," Analecta Bollandiana 79 (1961), 115-144.
Bryan Ward-Perkins
01/04/2024
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00004 | Polykarpos/Polycarp, bishop and martyr of Smyrna, and his companion martyrs | Polycarpus | Certain | S00042 | John, the Apostle and Evangelist | Iohannes | Certain | S00316 | Martyrs of Lyon | Photinus | Certain | S02832 | Irenaeus, bishop and martyr of Lyon | Herenaeus | Certain |
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Bryan Ward-Perkins, Cult of Saints, E08522 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E08522