ON ST. RAYNERIUS,
ARCHBISHOP OF SPLIT AND MARTYR,
IN DALMATIA.
In the Year 1180.
PRELIMINARY COMMENTARY.
The Saint's cult and Acts.
Reynerius, Archbishop of Split and Martyr (St.)
BY THE AUTHOR P. B.
Although no one of the Martyrologists, so far as we know, commemorates this holy Raynerius, The veneration of St. Raynerius is shown except Ferrarius in his general Catalogue; yet there seems no reason at all to doubt of his public and legitimate cult: for the praised author, when he had announced the festival on the day before the Nones of August, At Split in Dalmatia, of St. Rainerius, bishop and martyr, confirmed what he had said in the notes in that place with these words: From the records of the church of Split (where his body is), which we lately received thence. This he wrote in the work which he dedicated to Pope Urban VIII in the same year of Christ 1625, in which the latter, at the beginning of April, published that celebrated Bull by which he checked the abuses of those who, without Roman authority, or a custom of immemorial time, venerated anyone as a Saint. And since after that Bull the veneration of this Martyr remained untouched among the people of Split, it must be either very ancient, or established by some decree of the Apostolic See; although we have neither sufficiently ascertained from elsewhere. But that it remained untouched we gather from Girolamo Fabri in the Sacred monuments of ancient Ravenna, printed in Italian from the Venetian press in the year 1664; where he asserts, part 1, page 275, that our Raynerius was a celebrated Saint, and underwent martyrdom; and that therefore his memory, as of a holy Martyr, is celebrated on the IV day of the month of August by the church of Split. The same thing four years later a witness beyond all exception affirmed, being a most noble and learned Dalmatian, John Lucius, in his notes on the Memoir of the archbishops of the church of Salona, page 474; where he calls him Blessed Rainerius, who is venerated with great veneration in the church of St. Benedict (among the people of Split): and indeed as a Martyr famous for miracles; as the same indicates at page 133.
[2] In the chests, too, in which we keep the monuments of the Saints collected from every quarter, as public among the people of Split, concerning St.
Raynerius I found one, nay a single item, deposited there long ago by our Papebroch, in whose hand these words alone are read written upon it: A gift of Mr. John Lucius at Rome. Then, written in another hand, and perhaps Lucius's own, it contains the following: On the day IV of August. The Office of St. Raynerius, archbishop of Split. Lesson IV. Raynerius, at first bishop of Cagli, that he might be freed from the annoyances of the lawsuits which he had with his clergy in defending the rights of his church, was translated to the metropolitan see of Split by Pope Alexander III, an occasion being offered at that time, when envoys of Split, Gerard their archbishop having died, were urgently seeking an archbishop from the Apostolic See. Which change was made not without a feeling of grief on the part of those same men who a little before had been persecuting him. When he first landed at Split, he was received with immense joy by all the clergy and the peoples. But do you, O Lord, have mercy on us. Lesson V. To Pope Alexander, hastening by sea to Venice to settle matters with the emperor Frederick, he came out to meet him at the island of Vis with various refreshments for the journey, in most richly appointed skiffs, decked with colors , with a great company of the clergy and nobles of Split; and he accompanied him as far as Zadar. He set out for Constantinople to the emperor Manuel, who then ruled over all Dalmatia and Croatia, for the benefit of his citizens; and enriched with his favor and gifts, his business excellently concluded, he returned to his own. But do you.
[3] Lesson VI. Raynerius was a man most constant and intrepid in defending the rights and possessions of his church. and as legitimate. And when, in recovering the estates of the church occupied by the Slavs, he had withdrawn to the mountain Massaron, and was laboring with unconquered breast against those barbarians for the fields of St. Domnius, he was stoned to death by them near the mountain Crassus; and thence carried off by the citizens, he was honorably buried in the church of St. Benedict outside the walls, and, still laid there beneath his own altar, is venerated with great devotion, and not without wonderful effects of cures from time to time. But do you. Thus far the text; without any indication either of the place in which that Office is publicly recited, or of the time at which it was introduced into use or received, or of the codex from which Lucius himself either transcribed it for us or had it copied out: perhaps because he explained this either in person or by letter (if he sent that Office hither by letter), which has perished. Certainly, unless that Office were then in use and of public and legitimate authority either in the metropolitan church of Split or at least in the church of St. Benedict, Lucius was assuredly not the man to thrust it upon our people; nor were our Predecessors so foolish as to enclose it so carefully to be preserved in our treasury. There is therefore no reason why we should doubt of the public cult of this St. Raynerius both before and after the decrees of Pope Urban VIII.
[4] Some of his Acts in compendium Thomas, archdeacon of Split, commended to the memory of posterity in the History of Salona, chapter 22. But Lucius shows, His Acts by Thomas, archdeacon of Split: who published this and other unpublished monuments of his countrymen together with his six books On the Kingdom of Dalmatia and Croatia; Lucius shows, I say, at page 469, that Thomas was born in the year 1200, and died in the year 1268; and accordingly that he is a witness sufficiently fit for those things which he wrote about our Saint. And would that he had both traced them back somewhat further and pursued them somewhat more fully. For having begun his narrative from St. Raynerius's advancement from the chair of Cagli to the metropolitan see of Split, he left in obscurity all that had gone before; and then he recorded far too briefly and sparingly what followed thereafter. But neither does Ughelli, in the Sacred Italy, according to the recent edition, volume 2, column 812, where he is set forth in the series of the bishops of Cagli, report anything else concerning his deeds either before or after receiving the administration of that church, than that Raynerius pronounced the divine law to the people of Cagli in the year 1154, and was joined in friendship with St. Ubaldus, bishop of Gubbio, to whom St. Ubaldus appeared after his death, and had asked him beforehand not to disdain to be present at his own funeral. This Raynerius in the year 1175 was declared archbishop of Split by Pope Alexander III, etc.; which things are taken from the archdeacon of Split.
[5] and what is found elsewhere about him. What Ughelli says, that St. Ubaldus, already dead, appeared to our St. Raynerius, is not read in the Life of the former, which we illustrated at the day XVI of May from page 630: nay, he is not even expressly named among those who attended his funeral in the year 1160; although Oliverius, as was noted there at page 637, letter d, asserts that the bishops of Perugia, of Cagli (who then was Raynerius, not Rogerius, as is there wrongly printed), and of Città di Castello were present at his burial. Meanwhile Girolamo Fabri, already assigned above, narrates the same things too along with Ughelli, at page 275, but from Ughelli himself, as he hints a little below, who names no witness for this matter. Moreover we think that Raynerius was taken up to the bishopric of Cagli, commonly di Cagli, from the monastery of Fonte Avellana in the diocese of Gubbio, where he had professed the monastic institute: since, on the testimony of Jacobilli in the Saints of Umbria, volume 3, page 355, in the Martyrology of that same monastery on the day XXV (he omitted the month) mention is made of a certain Raynerius, who was called from that sacred wrestling-school and advanced to the mitre of Cagli: but in the whole series of the prelates of Cagli in Ughelli only one Raynerius occurs, and he is ours. More is not available, besides the Acts which we subjoin.
Annotations* perhaps "he might be freed"
* or "in swift cutters"?
ACTS
By the author Thomas, archdeacon of Split, in the History of Salona, chapter 22.
Reynerius, Archbishop of Split and Martyr (St.)
BHL Number: 0000
FROM THE MANUSCRIPTS.
The Saint is promoted from the see of Cagli to that of Split; When at length Gerard the archbishop of good memory had died a, the resolution of the whole church of Split settled on this, that they should elect no one, but should request a fit shepherd from the Apostolic See. Then they sent as their legates to the curia a certain priest Jonius the sacristan, and a certain other man. Who, coming to the feet of the Lord Pope Alexander, humbly presented the petition of the church of Split. But there was at that time a great controversy between the clergy of Cagli, a city of Tuscany b, on the one part, and Raynerius their bishop on the other, over certain rights of their church, and both parties had stood a long time at the curia litigating implacably. And when the tumult of this discord could not be mitigated between them, the Lord Pope wished to find this way of usefully extinguishing the fuel of so great rancor. And so he absolved Raynerius from the bond of administration by which he had been bound to the church of Cagli: and because he knew him a man very able for pastoral rule, he called the envoys of the church of Split and gave him to them, to be led away as father and shepherd of their church. Then the clergy of Cagli, although they had pursued him with hatreds and vexations, yet, made very sad at the loss of their Shepherd, returned to their own homes.
[2] But Raynerius, rejoicing and glad at receiving the pallium of the dignity, where, the clergy and people applauding, he is received: set out on the journey with the envoys. They went down therefore to Ravenna. Now archbishop Raynerius had no small silver vessels, money, and precious pontifical vestments. But since they feared the robberies of pirates on the sea, they were unwilling to carry the aforesaid wealth with them in the ship: but the Archbishop, enclosing them in a certain cask, entrusted them to be kept at the monastery of holy Mary of the Ravenna Gate c, directing that that deposit should be handed over to no man save into the hands of a certain servant of his, whom he showed them present. Then, boarding the ship, they set out. And when he had come to the city, he was received with great rejoicing of clergy and people. And he began to govern the church with much prudence, to correct the clergy, to instruct the people with salutary teachings, to enlarge the ecclesiastical possessions with vigilant zeal. But now we must return to Martin, bishop of the Islands d. He, being an old man, being seized with a certain illness, had been made as it were out of his mind. But the Islanders, not bearing his madness, expelled him; and, coming to the church of Split, they elected Luccarus, son of Duymus Cicla, archdeacon of that same church; who, being presented to archbishop Raynerius, was consecrated by him.
[3] At about the same time the lord Pope Alexander in the time of the Schism e sailed from Apulia, [he sails out to meet the supreme Pontiff, and most kindly invites him to his own city:] and came to the Island of Lissa f. But as soon as archbishop Raynerius perceived it, having prepared many ships, he came to him with a great company of the clergy and nobles of the city, bringing him provisions and many gifts. He tried to ask him that he would deign to turn aside to the city of Split, which was near; but the Pope did not consent: for he was hastening to go to Venice to make terms with the emperor Frederick g. He sailed therefore from there, and came to Zadar h: and archbishop Raynerius went with him. Then Martin, bishop of the Islands, having recovered his health and being now of sound mind, laid a complaint before the Lord Pope about his expulsion and about Luccarus's intrusion: but the supreme Pontiff, the merits of the case having been heard and known, deposed Luccarus, and sent Martin back to his see.
[4] At that time Manuel of renowned memory was ruling at Constantinople. he goes to the emperor Manuel Comnenus, most kindly toward him: Now all Dalmatia and almost all Croatia was subject to his principate. And he was most kindly toward all his subjects; not an exactor of tributes, but a most liberal distributor of his own riches. He honored all who came to him, he furnished expenses for all from the royal treasury; and having received also a reckoning of the heads of the city of Split, he used to send stipends to all; he even had single gold pieces given to infants lying in the cradle. And he used to send his commanders with a great apparatus of arms, carrying abundant money for expenses; who came and held the maritime cities and a great part of Croatia i. And so the people of Split asked archbishop Raynerius to go to Constantinople to visit the imperial court. And he, consenting with a grateful mind, having joined to himself some * of the nobles of the city, set out for Constantinople. And entering in to the emperor Manuel, and greeting him very reverently on behalf of his fellow-citizens, he was received very honorably by the emperor, and as long as he stayed there he was quite venerably provided for, expenses being furnished abundantly from the court. And when he had asked leave of the prince to return, he gave him gifts precious enough, and not few; and thus he returned to his church rejoicing and enriched k.
[5] he strives to recover the goods snatched from his church; Now Raynerius was a man very constant and intrepid, nor did he allow anything of the rights and possessions of the church to be lost: whence it came about that at a certain time he went to the mountain Massarum, to seek out certain estates of the church which were held occupied by the Slavs; and while he was making
a circuit with those who had knowledge of those lands, going round them and marking their limits at their extremities, behold, a certain Nicholas with his brothers and his kindred, who were of the family of the Caciti l, began greatly to grieve at the Archbishop's deed, and having called together a crowd of the common people, surrounding Raynerius in a great onrush of fury, they cried out: What are you attempting to do against us, most wicked and iniquitous prelate? Do you think you can eject us from the possessions of the territory of our fathers and predecessors? Unless you withdraw at once, this will be the last day of your life.
[6] [and constantly carrying it out, he is stoned by the iniquitous possessors, and buried by his own people.] But Raynerius (as he was most constant), in no way terrified by their threats, answered with a free and quite intense voice, saying: The territory is not yours, as you assert; but a possession of the church of blessed Domnius m, usurped by you until now. At this utterance the whole multitude of Slavs, seizing stones, hurled them at him with one accord, raging with furious right hands so long until they left his lifeless body beneath a great heap of stones, and departed. But those men who had accompanied the Prelate, seeing that the rage of the Slavs was kindled to his death, ran to the city, announcing so great an evil to the citizens. But the citizens, astonished by the sudden report, suddenly run together to arms, and some by sea, others by land, hasten swiftly to come to the mountain Crassus, where the crime had been perpetrated. And when they reached the place, behold, the pitiable Pontiff lay as though entombed beneath that heap of stones; all the enemies had withdrawn. Then, drawing him out and laying his lifeless limbs in a ship, they brought him with great grief and mourning to the city. And the clergy, solemn obsequies having been prepared according to custom, together with the people bore forth the Pontiff's body, and buried him in the church of St. Benedict n.
[7] The punishment of a wicked priest who rejoiced at this deed, Now there was at that time a certain priest named Micha: he, since he was often reproved for his excesses by the aforesaid Prelate, had blazed up in great hatred against him: for he was not a man who profited toward the better by correction, but one who fell away toward the worse. He therefore, seeing that the assailant of his vices was dead, was made glad; and as though insulting his death, said to certain accomplices of his: Give me a drink of water, that I may be able to say that I have survived that malignant prelate who would not let me rest. And when he had drunk the water given him according to his wish, straightway he cast himself upon his bed, from which he never rose; but a little afterward departed this life.
[8] But the people of Split, an inquiry having been made concerning the Archbishop's murderers, as also of all who had stoned him. The year of his martyrdom; the time he sat. found some, whom they at once hanged upon gibbets. But almighty God did not long permit so nefarious a crime to remain without manifest vengeance: for as many as stretched forth impious hands in the shedding of innocent blood were, after a short time, consumed with their posterity, some by famine, some by the sword, some by pestilence. And the venerable Raynerius died on the 2nd of the Nones of August in the year of the Lord 1180. And he presided over the church five years o. After whose death the people of Split asked his servant to go to Ravenna, and to bring the Archbishop's deposit to the church of Split. And he, since he was faithful and good, consented to the citizens; and a ship being prepared he went on to Ravenna. And they sent with him a certain cleric named Badda Marulle. Then they showed the depositaries certain tokens of the Archbishop; and because he was the very man into whose hands the Archbishop had ordered that deposit to be handed over, they returned that whole cask in which those riches had been shut up. And having received all, they returned. And so of those goods some were given to churches; concerning the rest the community did its will.
ANNOTATIONS.
* read "some"