Constantius of Lyon, in his Life of *Germanus (bishop of Auxerre, ob. c. 448, S00455), describes how Germanus' body was taken back to his see of Auxerre following his death at Ravenna. Written in Latin at Lyon (south-east Gaul) between c. 460 and c. 480.
E08587
Literary - Hagiographical - Lives
Constantius of Lyon, Life of Germanus of Auxerre 46
For a full account of Constantius' Life of Germanus, see E05841.
This passage follows the account of the healing of a woman at Piacenza in northern Italy (E05849).
Excipiunt Galliae patronum proprium maiore famulatu, quippe ubi reuerentiae iungebatur affectus. Omne hominum genus diuerso occurrit officio; alii uias, praeruptis depositis, moliunt et pontium innouatione continuant, alii expensas ingerunt, alii psalmis intonant, alii colla subponunt. Refulgebat, repercusso solis radio, splendorem sibi per diem uindicans luminum multitudo, tantoque ministerio caritatis propriae redditur ciuitati ubi sepultus corpore cotidianis miraculis uiuit et gloria.
'Even greater was the devotion manifested in Gaul to its own protector, for there was personal affection as well as reverence. Every kind of person hastened to perform every kind of service. Some smoothed the roads by clearing away stones, others linked them by restoring bridges. Some contributed to the expenses, others chanted the psalms, others again took the bier onto their shoulders. The profusion of torches ousted the sun's rays and provided light for the day. Such were the services of love with which he was brought back to his own city, where his body is buried but he himself lives on in his daily miracles and his glory.'
Text: Borius 1965.
Translation: Hoare 1954, lightly modified.
Burial site of a saint - tomb/grave
MiraclesMiracle after death
Unspecified miracle
RelicsBodily relic - entire body
Transfer, translation and deposition of relics
Transfer/presence of relics from distant countries
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesEcclesiastics - bishops
Source
Germanus of Auxerre (PCBE 4, 'Germanus 1', pp. 878-883) was the most important and revered episcopal saint of 5th-century Gaul. He died between about 445 and 450. The Life of Germanus was written some years later by Constantius, a literary figure, possibly a cleric, attested in Lyon in the 460s and 470s (PCBE 4, 'Constantius 3', pp. 521-522). The precise date when he composed the Life is not documented, but it must have been sometime between the 460s and the early 480s. For full discussion of the authorship and date of the Life of Germanus, see its overview entry: E05841.Discussion
Because Germanus died in Ravenna, several hundred miles from his see of Auxerre in central Gaul, repatriating his body must have been a significant task in purely practical terms. According to Constantius the arrangements were made and the personnel provided by the emperor (§ 44 – see E05847), and the journey was accompanied by a high degree of ceremonial, first in Italy (§ 44), and then in Gaul, as depicted in this passage. Beginning a few days after Germanus' death on 31 July, the transportation of his body took about seven weeks, arriving in Auxerre on 22 September, a date later commemorated in the calendar of its church (see E04964), as well as his burial on 1 October (E04973).Constantius ends the Life of Germanus with the arrival of Germanus' body in Auxerre, and while stating in his closing sentence that Germanus lives on in 'daily miracles' (cotidianis miraculis), he does not describe these, or say anything about Germanus' posthumous cult. Accounts of posthumous miracles were common in Merovingian hagiography, but Constantius wrote at a time when such conventions had not yet become firmly established, so it is not clear that such coverage would have been expected by his contemporaries.
Bibliography
Editions:Borius, R., Constance de Lyon, Vie de saint Germain d'Auxerre (Sources chrétiennes 112; Paris: Cerf, 1965), with French translation.
Levison, W., Vita Germani episcopi Autissiodorensis auctore Constantio, in: Passiones vitaeque sanctorum aevi Merovingici V (Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Scriptores rerum Merovingicarum 7; Hannover and Leipzig, 1919), 246-283.
English translation:
Hoare, F.R., The Western Fathers (London, 1954), 283-320. Reprinted in T.F.X. Noble and T. Head (eds.), Soldiers of Christ: Saints and Saints' Lives from Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages (University Park PA: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1995), 75-106.
David Lambert
16/07/2025
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00455 | Germanus, bishop of Auxerre, ob. 445/450 | Certain |
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