The Lives of the Saints, Volume 01 (of 16): JanuaryBaring-Gould, S. (Sabine)
Religion
The Lives of the Saints, Volume 01 (of 16): January
Baring-Gould, S. (Sabine)
Christian saints
The Martyrology of Bede was written about 720; Drepanius Florus, a
priest of Lyons, who died 860, added to it considerably, and most of the
copies of Bede's Martyrology that we have are those enlarged by Florus.
The next martyrologist was Usuardus, monk of Saint-Germain-des-Prés, who
died in 876. He wrote his Martyrology at the request of Charles the
Bald, who was dissatisfied with the Martyrologies of Jerome and of Bede
because they were too short in their narratives, and also because
several days in the calendar were left blank. This account, which
Usuardus gives in his preface, does not tally with the words of the
epistle attributed to S. Jerome that precedes his Martyrology; and leads
to the suspicion that this portion of the epistle, at least, is not
genuine. Usuardus certainly used the Hieronyman Martyrology as the basis
of his work, and this has caused his work to be designated the larger
Hieronyman Martyrology. This work of Usuardus was so full, that it
displaced the earlier Martyrologies in a great many churches. The best
edition of the Martyrology of Usuardus is that of Solerius, Antwerp,
1714-1717.
Usuardus was followed by Wandelbert, monk of Prum, who died in 870.
Wandelbert followed the Martyrologies of SS. Jerome and Bede, as
amplified by Florus, and wrote the notices of the martyrs in hexameter
Latin verses. This monument of patience is composed of about 360
metrical pieces, of which each contains the life of the Saint
commemorated on the day. To these, which form the bulk of the work, are
prefixed others of less importance, prefaces, dedicatory epistles to
Lothair, preliminary discourses on the importance of the Martyrology, on
the knowledge of times and seasons, months and days, etc. Although
Wandelbert wrote for the most part in hexameters, he abandoned them
occasionally for lyric metres, which he managed with less facility.
D'Achéry published this Martyrology in his "Spicilegium," but the
edition is a bad one.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account