Pelagius of Constance and Pelagius of Cittanova

ON SS. PELAGIUS OF CONSTANCE AND PELAGIUS OF CITTANOVA, MARTYRS

THE ONE AT CONSTANCE IN SWABIA; THE OTHER IN CITTANOVA OF ISTRIA,

Under the emperor Numerian, as it is reported.

PRELIMINARY COMMENTARY.

ON SS. PELAGIUS OF CONSTANCE AND PELAGIUS OF CITTANOVA, MARTYRS

BHL Number: 6616

BY J. P.

§ I. The memory of the Martyr of Constance in the sacred Fasti; a dissertation on the place of the martyrdom; the body translated to Constance.

We have indicated the situation of the city of Constance in this volume at the day XXVII of August, on occasion of St. Gebhard or Gebehard, bishop of that same city: in which city we also announce today's martyr St. Pelagius, St. Pelagius of Constance is announced who obtained there singular honors of public veneration, together with the sacred Fasti which attribute him to that same place on this day. Wandelbert records him in these two little verses:

The city of the Allemanni [], Constance, this day also honors* Saint Pelagius, renowned for the blood he shed.

Molanus: At Constance, a city of Gaul, the birthday of St. Pelagius, martyr. Galesinius: At Constance, of St. Pelagius, martyr. The Roman Martyrology: At Constance in Gaul, of St. Pelagius, martyr, who under the emperor Numerian, and the judge Euilasius, received the crown of martyrdom.

[2] in the sacred Fasti, but in a different Other Martyrologies announce Pelagius without any note of place. For the Plantin Bede has it thus: Likewise the birthday of St. Pelagius, martyr. The Reichenau Martyrology, which stands among the abridged Hieronymian Martyrologies in our volume after volume VII of the month of June, nearly agrees with it: And elsewhere, of St. Pelagius, martyr. A far different manner of announcing is read in Notker: On the same day (the XXVIII of August) at Emmona, which is a city of the province of Carnia, the passion of St. Pelagius, martyr. And this compendium of the martyrdom is subjoined: Who in the time of the emperor Numerian, the judge Velasius [] acting, was for the faith of Christ first weighed down with a burden of iron upon his neck and hands and thrust into prison; being led out, he is beaten with rods, then struck with cudgels; afterwards, hung upon the little horse, he is torn with hooks, has his belly drenched with boiling oil, is dragged over fragments of potsherds with hands and feet bound, and at the last is beheaded. Greven, the first place being omitted, sets him in the province of Acarnania. The German Martyrology, usually cited under the name of Canisius, also marks the place of his contest in Acarnania; but his cult at Constance in Gaul, or France [].

[3] But both these and the other announcements above place Constance in Gaul by a vague and improper manner of speaking, as our Sollier long ago rightly observed in the Auctaria to Usuard on this day, where after the announcement of Molanus he thus admonishes: manner. Above Pelagius was attributed to Constance of Gaul, which is far removed from the Rhine; unless Gaul, or rather the empire of the Franks, be taken in the widest signification, which it is agreed to have had of old. This wide and improper signification may have led Saussay into error, who on the day IX of September writes these things: At Constance in the second Lyonnese province, of St. Pelagius, martyr, there put to death under the emperor Numerian, Euilasius the governor raging, in the confession of piety. Ineptly did Saussay here look to the synonymous Constantia in Normandy in Gaul, commonly Coutance or Coutances (of which Baudrand treats). He therefore erroneously asserts that he suffered there. But that the aforesaid Martyrologist marks the day IX of September for the XXVIII of August, I suspect happened because he confused the V of the Kalends of September with the V of the Ides of the same month. These things being thus set forth and observed, an opportune place offers itself for inquiring in what part of the world our holy Athlete obtained the crown of martyrdom.

[4] That this happened in the city Emmona, which is in the province of Carnia, He is said to have suffered at Emona in the province of Carnia: the Passion which we shall give indicates, another copy of the same agreeing with it. Peter de Natalibus, bishop of Equilio, in his Catalogue of the Saints, book 7, chapter 120, writes the names otherwise: Pelagius, he says, the martyr, suffered in the city of Emonia in the province of Acarnania. The Martyrology of Notker and of Canisius we have cited above for those places. Of the province of Carnia and the city of Emmona there is also treatment in the Breviaries of Constance, of which the one is noted as printed in the year 1561, the other in the year 1575, as may there be seen in the proper lessons of St. Pelagius, Martyr. It is therefore an agreeing and widespread opinion that his martyrdom was consummated in the said places: for the determining of whose situation there is need of further investigation. We must therefore seek the city Emona in the province of Carnia.

[5] Cellarius, in the Notitia of the Ancient World, book 2, chapter 8, these two places page 353, places this city in Upper Pannonia, and discusses it at some length; from which I shall draw those things which seem to conduce more to our purpose. Passing over therefore what he has concerning the different formation of the name, let us hear him concerning the situation: Herodian, he says, refers it to Italy, setting it down as πρώτην Ἰταλίας πόλιν, the first and frontier city beyond the Alps. But the translator did not understand Herodian, for whom it is ὑδρυμένη πρὸ τῆς ὑπωρείας τῶν Ἄλπεων, situated before the foothills of the Alps, that is, the Pannonian ones: for on the following day ἐπὶ τὰς Ἄλπεις ἐπείγοντο, they hastened to the Alps. But Herodian has wrongly, against the consensus of all, removed the boundaries of Italy beyond the Alps. (Cellarius had cited this author in the same place, book 8, chapter 1.) With Pliny, therefore (book 3, chapter 25), let us ascribe it to Pannonia.

[6] In the place cited Pliny writes these things concerning it: Toward the North Pannonia inclines… In it are the colonies Æmona, Siscia. To Pliny Cellarius adds Ptolemy, who joined that place to Upper Pannonia in such a way that it is μεταξὺ Ἰταλίας ὑπὸ τὸν Νωρικὸν Παννονίας, between various between Italy under the Noricum of Pannonia, that is, on the border of these regions, just as Zosimus also (book 5, chapter 29, cited in the same place) placed it, μεταξὺ Παιονίας τῆς ἀνωτάτω καὶ Νωρικοῦ, between the first Pannonia and Noricum. And indeed a most skilled man, as Cellarius goes on, Johann Ludwig Schönleben, contends by many arguments that Æmona is Labacum of Carniola, commonly called Laubach, which the Itinerary of Antoninus from Æmona to Sirmium also confirms. Æmona is situated on the river Nauportus, which is now the Laibach, at a German mile from the confluence. But higher up on the same river is the town Nauportum, wrongly called by Strabo Ναύποντον, Naupontum. For it has its name from the river: whose etymology Pliny revealed in book 3, chapter 18, disputing against Nepos and others, who believed that a channel from the Danube flowed out into the Adriatic sea… The river rises from the Alps near Longatica, a halting-place, which in the Table (a little before, the Peutinger Table had been indicated by Cellarius at Emona) is VI miles from the town Nauportum; this XII from Emona. From which it is conjectured, and is proved by the aforesaid man J. L. Schönleben, that the town Nauportum was in the place of Super-Labacum, commonly Ober Laubach … Concerning the whole situation inspect our map of Noricum (at page 326), by which these things are set forth more fully than by the map of Pannonia (at page 346).

[7] by various observations For the rest, if anyone desires more concerning the place which we here endeavor to elucidate, most copious notices will be supplied to him by the very reverend and excellent lord Johann Ludwig Schönleben, doctor of sacred theology, apostolic protonotary, and archdeacon of Lower Carniola, already mentioned, in the book which was printed at Salzburg in the year 1674 under this title: Æmona vindicated, or the ancient name of Æmona rightfully claimed for Laibach, the metropolis of Carniola. The same author composed the Annals of Carniola, of which the volume is prefaced as the first, and was published at Laibach in the year 1681, and in which the places of Carniola and other matters pertaining to it are treated diffusely. But now it must be considered whether, and in what way, the things hitherto related concerning Æmona — which we have seen written elsewhere somewhat otherwise — can be reconciled with the province of Carnia, in which it was placed.

[8] to elucidate The Acarnannia in Peter de Natalibus, or, as it is more rightly written in the Martyrology of Canisius, Acarnania, does not pertain here, but to Greece, as may be seen in Cellarius, book 2, chapter 13, page 705. But I suspect that Acarnannia was faultily intruded in Peter de Natalibus for Carnia. To combine this province with the city Æmona is indeed difficult, but not unworthy of the attempt. I consider therefore, first, that it could have happened that in some ancient codex, by an abbreviation of letters, Carnia was written for Carniolia. If it were established that this had been done here, as often happens elsewhere, nothing further would need to be inquired. But it is a conjecture. Secondly, since Pannonia and Carnia, or, as it is now called, Carniola, were contiguous regions among the ancients, it does not seem improbable either that the writer of the Acts of St. Pelagius confused the two, at least in some part; or that the ancient division of Pannonia or of Carnia extended more widely, and so that both or one of the two was so extended that the one embraced some part of the other. For the greater elucidation of my thought, I send the reader to the geographical maps. And first indeed, in that which is in Cellarius, book 2, chapter 9, at page 406, there are marked Emona, the Carnic Alps, Julium Carnicum, likewise the Carni, so placed that what I have just said does not seem improbable to have happened. Secondly, the map before Schönleben's Annals may be consulted, which exhibits ancient Carniola, or part of Noricum, and of Carnia, etc.

[9] But since the things I have disputed above seem to me to come nearer to the truth, we endeavor, and the opinions of others and more probable for designating, with the Acts which we shall give, and with Notker, the arena of the martyrdom of today's St. Pelagius at Emona in the province of Carnia, it follows that no other place of martyrdom seems to be sought, until we be taught a better one. Accordingly we reject those things which are found in Appendix 4 to the Chronicle of Constance in Pistorius, page 719: St. Pelagius, born at Emona [], suffered martyrdom in the city which afterwards began to be surnamed Constance on the Rhine, whither he had withdrawn on account of the persecution in the time of the emperor Numerian: whose father was Pelosius, and mother Claria, noble and most wealthy Christians. For the same cause those things displease which Schönleben alleges in the Annals of Carniola, part 3, at the year of Christ 284, page 202, from Bucelinus' Constantia, which he cites at the same year: He was a Hungarian by nation, born at Emmona of noble and opulent parents, the Christians Pelusius and Hilaria …, fleeing the persecution in his native land, here offering himself of his own accord, a youth of XXV years. Schönleben, deservedly castigating these things in a few words, says: He has put "Hungarian" for "Pannonian": for the name of the Hungarians had not yet then been heard, nor did Æmona ever obey the Hungarians.*

[10] Bucelinus therefore wrongly distinguishes the Saint's native land from the place of his passion, we do not admit. and, as is narrated in the said Annals, sets down as governor of Rhætia Evilasius, who, residing in our city (that is, of Constance) and in its lower castle (afterwards called Niderburg) … after the Saint's constancy had been tried in vain, and torments inflicted, ordered him to be beheaded with the sword outside the castle. These things I have reported from Schönleben's Annals, because I have not found Bucelinus' Constantia among us. I pass over what Murer has in Holy Helvetia, page 153. To these it is pleasing to subjoin the notices which pertain to the translation of the body, in the narration of which there are found some things which are reported by writers in different ways.

[11] The Chronicle of Constance, alleged above, and published in Pistorius in the volume in which six writers are given, The body of St. Pelagius translated to Constance at page 634, among the bishops of Constance reports these things: Salomon, the second of this name, twenty-first, was elected in the year of the Lord DCCCLXXXV, and he caused the sarcophagus of St. Pelagius the martyr to be made, adorning it with precious gems… This Salomon died in the year DCCCXCI. See how these things do not at all cohere with the Appendix which I cited before to that Chronicle, where it is written that his body was translated entire by Salomon the third of this name to the greater church of Constance. The same Salomon (II) occurs elsewhere: for in Crusius, Swabian Annals, dodecad 1, book 10, of part 1, page 284, these things stand: Salomon DCCCXC, the noble Ramschwag. He brought the body of St. Pelagius from Rome … to Constance. Hartmann in the Annals of the Hermitage of the Mother of God, a monastery in Helvetia, at the year 918, narrates the matter thus: At the beginning of the nine hundred and eighteenth year, because a perpetual grief was torturing Salomon on account of the aforesaid punishment of the princes, as though he bore the cause of their destruction, he went to Rome as though to expiate it, and with much lowliness of mind entreated of Pope John pardon for the fault, if he had any in that slaying. The Pontiff not only received him kindly, but honored him besides with the sacred relics of St. Pelagius the martyr, because on that day he had gone out from the custody of the fortress of Dietbold, and had carried off so great a victory over his enemies; which relics he brought to Constance with the highest veneration, and willed that St. Pelagius be enrolled among the tutelary Saints of the bishopric. Among the writers of Alemannic affairs in Goldast, reprinted in the year 1661, in the book On the fortunes of the monastery of St. Gall in Alemannia, which is prefaced with the name of Ekkehard the Younger, a monk of the same monastery, chapter 1, which is concerning Salomon III, and abbot of St. Gall, page 19, to the aforesaid translation the following concerning St. Pelagius is joined: Who, since he was distinguished by the powers of many miracles, his fame daily made not only the neighboring but also the outlying regions flow together in troops to Constance for the sake of prayer. More things concerning the body of the holy Martyr obtained, and afterwards magnificently adorned, can also be read in the same place. The things set forth above do not agree in designating Salomon; accordingly let us consider which of the three made this translation.

[12] by bishop Salomon, the third of this name: In the Chronicle of Constance, page 634, Salomon I is said to have died in the year 873; the second in the year 891; the third, concerning whom in the same place at page 635, in the year 919. The first I do not read to have received the said relics. To the second the Chronicle of Constance attributes it, as we have seen; but the Appendix to it, to the third. The second Crusius indicated by the name Ramschwag. The third Hartmann indicated, adding that this sacred pledge was obtained from Pope John, with whom the times of Salomon III agree: for John X is set down as having taken the see in the year 912, and as having died in the year 928. The opinion therefore which attributes this transaction to Salomon III is more pleasing to me. Let these things be said concerning the conveyance of the sacred body to the people of Constance, or its ancient condition; but concerning its present state I have learned nothing certain. Let it be permitted, however, to suspect that most of the more notable parts of that body have for a long time now not been there; to which I am moved by a letter of the most exalted lord James, bishop of Constance, written to the men of Rottweil in the year 1609, in which he does not seem likely to have spoken thus, nor to have given such great thanks to the men of Rottweil for a sacred bone received from them, if the body of St. Pelagius had at that time existed among the people of Constance in such a manner. The said letter will be given below. Add that our Father Janning, in his manuscript Belgian-Viennese Journey, accustomed to note if he found anything worthy of note concerning the Saints in the places through which he passed, observes nothing else at folio 16 verso concerning this Saint than this: St. Pelagius, Martyr, is honored at Constance on the XXVIII of August with an octave, as patron of the city.

[13] it is not proved whose Pelagius the body was; You will ask, whence it is proved that the sacred pledge of St. Pelagius, Martyr, given by the Roman Pontiff to Salomon III, and by him brought to Constance, is of that Pelagius the martyr who is written to have suffered at Emona

in the province of Carnia? That it is this same one, Notker did not say above, nor Wandelbert, nor the Acts in Peter de Natalibus, nor our own, to be printed hereafter from a transcript of the library of St. Gall, nor finally the authors just cited, who write concerning the translation of that sacred pledge under the name only of St. Pelagius the martyr (in Crusius without the title of martyr), no other characteristic note being added by force of which it could be discerned whether he be the man of Emona or another of the same name. Have then the Acts of the man of Emona, of the same name, been applied by the Martyrologists cited at number 2 to St. Pelagius, Martyr, who is honored at Constance? To the difficulty raised I answer that I leave it to be weighed by the learned men of Constance or by others, since I candidly profess that these tangles cannot be sufficiently aptly unraveled by me out of the ancient documents, nor do I know whose Pelagius' body is here to be understood.

[14] nor of what sort the cult there was before. Nor shall I pass over another point, which creates another difficulty, situated in this: that in Wandelbert, mentioned above at number 1, there is assigned to St. Pelagius the city of the Allemanni … Constance. There, therefore, since he adds honors, he indicates not obscurely that some holy Pelagius, renowned for the blood he shed, that is, a martyr, was in veneration there; and accordingly before the aforesaid Salomon III. For that Wandelbert, a monk of Prüm in the diocese of Trier, wrote his Martyrology in the year 842 has been indicated in the Preface to Usuard published and illustrated by Sollier, article 3, page XVI. But Salomon received the body of some holy Pelagius at Rome only in the year 918, from what has been said. Of some, I say: for whose martyr it determinately was, is not said above. But if the Appendix to the Chronicle of Constance just now cited reports the truth, saying that that body was translated entire (but the others cited above say simply the body, which may be taken for a notable part of the body) by this Salomon to the greater church of Constance, then that body would have to be distinguished from the body which is read to have been laid up under the name of St. Pelagius, Martyr, in Cittanova among the Istrians (concerning which there will be treatment in the paragraph next following). This one, however, seems to be distinguished from that for another reason, which will presently be given.

perhaps Alamanorum*

Euilasio*

in the German text, Franckreich*.

perhaps Emone*

§ II. St. Pelagius, who is honored at Cittanova, seems distinct from the foregoing.

St. Pelagius of the same name This St. Pelagius I subjoin to the Martyr of the same name who is honored among the people of Constance, and of whom I have already treated. But as the latter is, as we have seen, involved in not a few tangles, so also is the one of whom we shall now treat. In Ferrari's General Catalogue of the Saints who are not in the Roman Martyrology, at the day XXVII, you would almost say that the Martyr of Constance is announced: for he writes thus: At Æmonia in Istria, of St. Pelagius the deacon, martyr under Numerian, patron of that diocese. In the notes indeed he cites Maurolico and Felicius, and also Peter de Natalibus on this day in the Catalogue, book 7, chapter 120. But, as he subjoins, in the Tables of the church of Aquileia on the XXIX of this month. The body is kept at Cittanova in the cathedral church together with the body of St. Maximus the bishop. Both are patrons of the city. On the day XXIX, moreover, he marks him thus: At Emonia in Istria, of St. Pelagius, Deacon and martyr, patron of the same city; and he adds in the notes: From the Tables of the church of Aquileia on this day. His memory is famous throughout the whole diocese of Æminia [], as Nicolaus Manzoli, jurisconsult of Capodistria, testifies in his Description of Istria. Among others he is noted on the XXVII of this month. He seems different from him who suffered at Constance on this day (nay, who is honored there on the XXVIII of August) under Numerian, as in the Roman Martyrology: for the body of the latter is kept there, but that of this one at Cittanova.* Thus he. Various things, moreover, are here to be inquired into.

[16] Ughelli, in volume 5 of Sacred Italy, column 219, records these things concerning the cult of both: is honored at Cittanova: The cathedral basilica in the Æmonian city itself (as he calls it) is situated under the title of the Virgin Mother of God, and of SS. Maximus and Pelagius, of notable structure, whose dedication is celebrated on the day XXVIII of August. Here are kept the bodies of the same SS. Maximus and Pelagius. And at column 220, writing of their bodies laid up in the same place, he brings forward this inscription, as he adds, carved upon the tomb: In the year of the Lord's Incarnation MCXLVI, on the VI of the Ides of October, these bodies of the Saints Pelagius and Maximus were laid up again, in the time of the lord bishop Adam. From these things the public cult of St. Pelagius is established. It were altogether to be wished that, as we are abundantly instructed concerning his cult, so also we might be able aptly to reason concerning his Acts. But in this matter the case stands otherwise, as will appear from these things which I propose for the reader's consideration, renewing our old complaints concerning these same Acts.

[17] but his Acts Papebroch, in volume VII of May, on the day XXIX, page 14, in the article on St. Maximus, having reported the above inscription, says: No other title is added to the names, nor probably was more known of them at that time. Nevertheless little by little they began to be believed martyrs, and indeed in such wise that Maximus was called a bishop, Pelagius a deacon. Of this opinion, if not the author, certainly the chief promoter was Nicolaus Manzoli in his Description of Istria, published at Venice with the Lives of the Saints of that province: concerning which a most learned man, and famous even after death for many written books, Johann Ludwig Schönleben, doctor of sacred theology and archdeacon of Lower Carniola, residing at Laibach, wrote to me formerly, "that those Lives were patched together from common opinions out of every quarter, and were greatly suspect to him, lest either most of them be wholly invented, or at least have very much fiction mixed in." Papebroch, going on, reports that this was shown by a brilliant example among us in the article on St. Nicephorus, patron of the city of Pedena in the same Istria, etc. On this matter the things said at the day XXVIII of May, page 807, may be consulted.

[18] are involved in tangles, Ferrari, in the Catalogue of the Saints of Italy at the day XXIX of August, writing of St. Pelagius the martyr, and patron of Æmonia, brings forward a compendium of the Passion, which contains in substance that which, on occasion of St. Pelagius, Martyr, brought from Rome to Constance and patron there, we shall subjoin to this Commentary. That compendium in Ferrari begins thus: Pelagius, born at Æmonia in Istria of noble and wealthy parents, etc. I suspect that Istria was here intruded for Carnia, on account of what was said above in the preliminary Commentary, §1, where the place of the martyrdom was discussed at some length. But behold, here the tangles return: whether, and by what reason, that compendium suits the Pelagius of Cittanova, and whose Pelagius it is at last — whether of one or other of these, or of some third of the same name: so great and so confused is the uncertainty here. Ferrari in his Annotation on the compendium alleged observes these things: The Acts of this one are confounded with the Acts of the Pelagius who suffered at Constance in Germany: from which one might suspect that this one is the same as that one, whose body was brought from Constance to Æmonia; and thus Pelagius was made tutelary patron of Æmonia — unless the people of Constance had the body of their own Martyr. These things which Ferrari asserts — that he suffered at Constance in Germany, and that the body was brought from Constance to Æmonia; likewise, unless the people of Constance had his body — do not agree with me in the preliminary Commentary which I just now cited.

[19] and not sufficiently known: The same hagiologist, in the appendix to the said Catalogue, or to the Lives which he writes were transmitted to him too late, page 821, has other things concerning his own St. Pelagius, from the monuments of the same church of Æmonia, and the History of Istria recently published by Nicolaus Manzoli, jurisconsult of Capodistria, in these words: Pelagius, deacon of Æmonia, being seized while the heathen were raging in the persecution against the Christians, and persisting in the confession of the faith, obtained the glorious palm of martyrdom. His body, buried by the Christians at Æmonia, was always in great veneration among the people of Æmonia, who honored and honor him as their chief patron. For he is held patron and is most greatly honored not only of Cittanova, whither his body was translated when Æmonia was overthrown, but also of the whole diocese. His memory also is celebrated throughout the whole diocese of Aquileia. To say these things is nearly as much as to say nothing about the history of the martyrdom: for concerning the emperor or judge under whom it happened; concerning the place likewise, the time, the circumstances of the torments — what would you learn thence? Next, he is called of Æmonia, that is, of Cittanova according to Ferrari, and a deacon, and moreover is said to have obtained the palm of martyrdom; but none of these things is proved, nay rather they seem to totter on account of what was premised at number 17. For my part indeed I see nothing sufficiently firm which I may assert concerning this Martyr, besides those things which have been reported concerning his cult.

[20] It is nevertheless worth the labor to inquire whether the aforesaid martyrs Pelagius are distinct, there is discussion whether he is the same as the one of Constance, or whether one has been confused into two. The distinction pleases Ferrari, as we have already seen, drawn from this, that the place where their body is kept is different. But this argument does not satisfy me. For why can one and the same Saint not be honored in different places, even remotely distant from one another, on account of the same body kept in both — taking a notable part of the body for the whole body? That difficulties occurring in this matter have been met among us in this manner, those know well enough who peruse our Work. The place, therefore, so far as it regards the pledges of the Saints kept there, being different, does not seem sufficiently to resolve the present difficulty.

[21] Nor does the title of deacon persuade me of the distinction so often already mentioned, or whether from the same which, at the lead of Manzoli — whom Ferrari indicated that he had used — was given above by the same Ferrari to the holy Martyr of Cittanova, and is not given by authors to the one of Constance: because that title is not proved by sufficient authority, as was indicated before. But since the body of St. Pelagius of Constance was kept at Rome, having certainly been obtained there by Salomon III, prelate of Constance, from Pope John X, and thence carried by the same Salomon to Constance, St. Pelagius being on the same occasion enrolled by him among the tutelary patrons of that city, from what has been said above — since, I say, this sacred pledge of the holy Martyr is owed to Rome, and it is not known that the body of the one of Cittanova, of the same name, ever existed at Rome; therefore I incline to that opinion as the more probable, that the one is different from the other.

[22] And this opinion is conformable also to whatever tradition the people of Cittanova have, he is different. or of Æmonia, as Ferrari would have it above: His body, buried by the Christians at Æmonia, was always in great veneration among the people of Æmonia, etc. But that any part of that body migrated from this region to the people of Constance, we do not know. To join both these Martyrs together seemed to me

on this day, even though the one of Cittanova is marked by Ferrari on the XXIX of this month, to this end, that, while both Saints were here exhibited under one view as it were, the difficulties which I have endeavored to resolve might shine forth more, and might be more conveniently weighed. But to the one of Constance are referred the things which I shall now despatch concerning his cult, from his proper Office, his sacred remains, and the buildings dedicated to God under his name.

read Æmoniensi*

§ III. The proper Office of St. Pelagius of Constance; the relics at Prague; those at Rottweil proved by juridical instruments.

Notice is given of the proper Office, Besides those things which we have brought forward from the sacred Fasti concerning the public veneration of St. Pelagius of Constance, other things remain to be said for the greater confirmation of the same and for commending the honorable memory of the Martyr which has been propagated to posterity. Among the people of Constance he deservedly obtained a notable cult, as is plain from the breviaries of that church, published in print in the years 1565 and 1575, in which he has on this day a proper Office. I do not give the antiphons, nor the proper lessons, which are taken from the Acts. The hymn begins thus: Happy mother Constance, devoutly shout for joy to Christ, the feast of St. Pelagius, thy best patron. The proper collect: O God, who by the abundance of thy grace didst make thy blessed martyr Pelagius free amid chains, secure amid torments: we beseech thy clemency, that thou wouldst quench in us the flames of bodily passions with the shower of thy mercy, and mercifully pour in the fire of blessed charity. Through our Lord.

[24] and of the relics which were carried to Prague and to Constance. The public veneration of this Saint also took increase from his sacred remains carried to various places. Thomas John Pessina of Czechorod, in his Metropolitan Church of Prague, page 516, at the day XXVIII of August records these things: A shoulder-blade of St. Pelagius, Martyr, and other fragments of bones, brought from Constance by Charles (IV, the emperor) MCCCLIII. The Reverend Father Maurice Chardon of the Society of Jesus, formerly confessor to the most exalted and most reverend prince of the Holy Roman Empire John Francis, bishop of Constance and Augsburg, sent hither in the year 1740 the following documents concerning the finding of relics at Rotwil or Rotweil, which, as Baudrand has under the name Rotevilla, is a small city of Germany in Swabia, imperial and free, on the river Neckar under the mountains of the Abnoba… It is distant, he says, 10 German miles from Brisach [] toward the east, and 6 from Schaffhausen toward the north. There the Chamber, or juridical seat of all Swabia, was instituted in the year MCXLVII by Conrad III, duke of Swabia.* In what manner therefore notable relics of St. Pelagius were found there, and a bone thence carried to Constance, the authentic documents already mentioned set forth; which, even though they are very prolix, I have nevertheless judged should not be withdrawn from the reader's eyes. Nearly all of those things which occur inserted into the historical narrative of the finding in the vernacular, that is, the German tongue, I shall place between brackets [] among those which, rendered into Latin, have come from elsewhere into our hands. We suspect that these relics are of St. Pelagius of Constance, both from the place in which they were found, and because they were perhaps brought thither from Constance, when the altar at Rottweil, or rather the church, was consecrated. Behold now for you the instrument itself, from our transcript:

[25] The genuineness of the sacred pledge of Rottweil is proved To the honorable lord vicar of the court of Constance, your humble servants master John Vallinger and John Bichter, his inseparable colleague at Rotwil, reverence in all things as much due as befitting. Venerable lord, by virtue of your commission enjoined upon us, by reason of certain ancient relics found, as is presumed, in a certain altar in the parish church in the old town of Rotwil, according to the tenor and form of your commission, with such diligence as we could, we have examined separately the witnesses called and cited concerning this matter, and present together at it, and have received their oaths concerning telling the truth and avoiding calumny, on the next Tuesday after the feast of St. Mark the Evangelist, at the eighth hour of the same day; whose witnesses' depositions, sealed with our seals, we have faithfully written and remit to you by the prudent and circumspect man John Bok, citizen and schultheiss of the town of Rotwil. Venerable lord vicar, we the aforenamed examiners and commissaries in the present matter, in the parish church of St. Pelagius in the old town of Rotwil, in the choir and sacristy of the same church, have examined under oath, with all the diligence we could, the sworn witnesses written below, by reason of certain ancient relics found there, as is presumed, as follows.

[26] The first. Benzo of Tieringen, of fifty years, a citizen of Rottweil, from the sworn a man of good repute, a sworn mason, etc., and first examined concerning the disposition of the old altar now destroyed, in the church and choir aforesaid, says that the old altar was not hollow within, but filled with stones, mortar [], and gypsum, on whose summit a slab-stone was extended lengthwise from the southern or right side toward the north or left, having five palms of length and two of breadth; behind which, toward the East, are three other stones joined and made contiguous with mortar and gypsum; and on the two sides of the altar, on the right and on the left, a wall cemented together with gypsum for the breadth and completion of the same altar, which part of the gypsum by reason of age had been disjoined from the stone and threatened the fall of the altar. And so he says that he himself, Bercholdus, Conrad Zepf, and Ulrich Sporer, his fellows in the same craft and work, and other servants there present, first raised from the old altar the three rear stones, and afterwards the slab and principal stone; which having been removed, he Benzo the deponent alone struck with an iron hammer, commonly a mason's hammer, the part of the altar which remained of the small stones and gypsum, polished above, destroying the remainder of the altar; and while he thus by blows separated part from part, he struck upon a certain piece of wood, and then from the sound and the rebound, and the movement of one piece of wood, he considered and saw that something was enclosed; and looking more closely he saw a wooden case [], and something lying within: which having been seen, he immediately ceased from further breaking.

[27] The same says that Henry Giering, procurator of the lights of the same church, witness was standing in presence before the face of the altar; who, seeing the same, said: Listen, I will run to the lord — meaning the parish priest of the same church. The deponent believes that Henry Gieri went in person for the parish priest; which parish priest, coming immediately, received out of the wooden case that which had been enclosed, veiled and wrapped in a certain silken cloth; upon whose middle there lay a piece of lead of the size of one hand. And he says that the parish priest carried it into the sacristy, and placed it upon the altar there, and that the parish priest read in the vernacular: This is of St. Pelagius the martyr. But the deponent himself did not read, because he knows not letters, but he saw the lead. The same says that he saw the left foot from the knee downwards with some toes. The same says that behind there stood a small wooden box [], and closed, which he saw, and crying out he said: Lord, there is yet more here — which the parish priest received and opened in the sacristy; and he heard from the parish priest that in that same little box there was a silken purse, in which some parts of relics were enclosed, and some slips of writing []; but these he says he did not see, since he was intent upon searching further in the wall of the altar.

[28] of the first Besides, being asked concerning the case, he says that in the mortar and gypsum there were four contiguous pieces of wood of the same length and of nearly equal breadth, and two short end-pieces, commonly a wooden chest after the manner of the coffin of some child, without wooden or iron nails; and, the upper one having been removed, the foot was found, and lay wrapped in a cloth, as though it were a dead child, as it appeared to him at the first sight. He saw no seal, but the aforenoted lead. Likewise he says that, according to the disposition of the stones, the slabs, and the principal stone of the destroyed altar, the wooden case lay hidden beneath in the wall, so that one part of the enclosed foot was toward the south, and the other toward the north, namely a toe, and the knee. Likewise, being asked whether he the deponent followed the priest into the sacristy immediately without interval with that which he carried in, he says that he did; and not only he himself, but all the other witnesses written below saw this by ocular experience, namely, that a left foot was there.

[29] deposition: Likewise, being asked concerning the time, day, and hour of this finding, he says with certainty that it was in Lent, on a Thursday, at the ninth or tenth hour of the day, and he believes that it was the Thursday after mid-Lent. Likewise, that the examination of the fact might stand more certainly, we uncovered in the sacristy before him that which was found, which is presumed to be the left foot of Pelagius the martyr, and set beside it the lead and the small box and some pieces of wood of the case; and, being asked upon oath whether this was that which had been found, he answered: "By my oath, I see, know, and believe nothing else." At last, being asked whether he believed and presumed that they were true relics, he answered: "Unless they were relics, they would not have been enclosed in the altar," saying: What else should we lay up in a sacred altar but relics? And he says that among all who hear of it there is fame and belief that true relics of St. Pelagius were found there, etc. Lest the word pedica, which occurs above, cause the reader delay, it signifies a toe of the foot, as the examples in Du Cange in the Glossary of the new and enlarged edition prove.

[30] of the second witness The deposition of the second witness. Conrad Zepf, of sixty years, a mason, a man of good repute, says that he knows that on a Thursday — and he believes that it was the Thursday before Passion Sunday — after the slab-stone had been removed in the parish church spoken of above, at the high altar …, he the deponent was working with Ulrich Sporer the stonecutter in the lower part of the choir upon a new stone, when Benzo of Tieringen, aforenamed and the first deponent, struck upon the wood which was moved by the blow, and called out to them, saying in the vernacular: Sirs, come hither; who, immediately running up and seeing the wooden case and something within wrapped in cloths, the deponent said: It is one of Herod's little boys — moved by the shape and disposition of the pieces of wood, since he says: [It was a chest of the bones of the dead after the manner of the coffin of some child]; and, stupefied and astonished, he said: "Let us not look, nor touch, but let us send nach Paff-fraven, because we are unworthy to touch and to see, seeing that they are relics."

[31] Which parish priest, being called, coming immediately, removed the topmost piece of wood; likewise a sworn deposition: and then he and the bystanders, seeing better, he saw something wrapped in a cloth, upon whose middle there lay the lead; and the parish priest, taking it out of the case, carried it,

which was in the case, together with the lead, into the sacristy; and the deponent, running up with the others and following the parish priest, saw, after the cloth had been removed, that there was a left foot with four toes from the knee downwards. Likewise, being asked concerning the writing, and concerning the small box, and all the other things expressed above, he agrees entirely with the first deponent, adding that he also saw a small purse enclosed in the box, which was fresh, at which also he greatly marveled. At last he answered, and, being led to that which was found, said upon oath that it was that which had been found, and that he firmly believed it to be the foot of St. Pelagius the martyr.

[32] The deposition of the third witness. Ulrich of Kayssen, otherwise Sporer, such also is the third witness, stonecutter, of forty years, sworn, says that the lord Nicholas Fry, parish priest there, being called and seeing what was enclosed there, took a stole and lifted the relics from the place and carried them to the sacristy; to whom the deponent himself said: Lord, seek again, there is yet more there — pointing to the small closed box; who, receiving the same, opened the box, in which was enclosed a small purse, which the deponent says he saw, and that he did not much concern himself with the relics enclosed within, but had his eyes upon that which was first found, on account of the greatness and size of the foot that had been found. Being asked concerning the time, he says that it was certainly the Thursday next after mid-Lent. Concerning the disposition of the old altar, the case, the pieces of wood, and the manner of the finding he in no wise differs, but agrees entirely with the witnesses examined above; and, being asked upon oath, now seeing what had at that time been found, he says that it is the same in number, and that he believes them to be relics of St. Pelagius the martyr.

[33] The deposition of the fourth witness. Henry Giering, procurator of the lights of the church there, and the witness of sixty years, sworn, likewise says that he and the other procurators of the same church, moved by the zeal of charity to the honor of God and the reverence of St. Pelagius the martyr, who is patron of the same church, agreed to build a new altar in place of the old altar, which by reason of age and the falling of its parts threatened destruction, and completed it at the cost and expense of the fabric of the church. He further says that on the Thursday after mid-Lent of the present year, after the removal of all the upper stones of the old altar, Benzo of Tieringen, wishing to remove the mortar, gypsum, and small stones, striking with the hammer upon the wood, and coming upon the wooden case, and hearing the sound and seeing the wood by its motion, said to the mason: Listen, strike no more, I will run to my lord; and running swiftly for joy he cried out with a loud voice: Lord, come quickly, we shall find something in the altar.

[34] Who, coming down, and both of them running within the church, the fourth, the parish priest removed the upper plank, and looking within said: Relics are here; and while the parish priest was taking that which was in the wooden case together with the lead, and wishing to carry it into the sacristy, he called after the parish priest: Lord, search still, here is yet a little fragment. Who, coming and receiving it, entered the sacristy; and the deponent with him says that the parish priest removed the cloth in which that which had been found was wrapped, and, the thing found being uncovered, he saw a left foot from the knee downwards, with four toes, the smallest toe having been removed and not being there. And being asked concerning the case, the seal, the lead, and other matters, he agrees in all things with the aforesaid. And at last he answered upon oath, and, being brought to that which was found, and to the parish priest, to the box, and to the planks, he says that he knows and does not doubt that it is that which was found; and that he and others greatly marvel that we delay so much in the matter: he also added that it is good, what the superiors do, wishing to be informed of the truth of the fact.

[35] and also of three The answer of the fifth witness. Conrad of Lippdingen, a hired man and laborer, who was engaged for the work on the altar on that day as a servant of the masters, of forty years, sworn, likewise says that, after the altar had been stripped of cloths, palls, and other ornaments, and the first breaking and striking had been done — the parish priest [] on the Thursday morning after mid-Lent — he together with the procurator took down three stones from the rear part of the old altar. And afterwards Benzo of Tieringen, and he himself, and others helping, removed the principal stone, which was in the front part of the altar; and when all those stones had been removed, he says that Benzo of Tieringen alone with an iron hammer, commonly a mason's hammer, struck upon the gypsum in the middle of the altar, and, striking upon the wood which was moved by the blow, the procurator Henry Giering said: Do you hear? I will run to the lord. The deponent meanwhile removed the little particles of gypsum, lest they should fall within into the wooden case; and when the parish priest had come and had moved the topmost piece of wood, the deponent, looking within, said: Certainly it is one of Herod's little boys — because he saw the shape of the pieces of wood, after the manner of the coffin of some dead person, and something enclosed within and wrapped in a cloth. And concerning the parish priest's carrying it into the sacristy, and concerning the lead, and the pieces of wood, and the box, he agrees in common with the aforesaid.*

[36] other witnesses: The answer of the sixth witness. Conrad Karrer, keeper of the field, commonly bauwaert, of the town of Rotwil, of XXX years, sworn, likewise says that on the Thursday after mid-Lent he was sent by order of the citizens of Rotwil as a servant of the workmen for the removing and carrying away of stones, according to the manner and form of the parish priest's summons; and looking within at the moving of the upper planks, he trembled for joy, and believed that a boy slain by Herod was buried there, on account of the shape and disposition of the pieces of wood in which lay that which was wrapped up. And being asked concerning other matters, he narrates in all things as the preceding, and answered upon oath that what he has just seen, he says is that which was found, and firmly believes them to be relics of St. Pelagius the martyr. The answer of the seventh witness. John Benzinger, also keeper of the fields, of twenty-six years, sworn, says that he was sent by the citizens of Rottweil on the Thursday after mid-Lent, etc., and saw and narrated all things as did Conrad Karrer, his fellow in the keeping of the field and in the labor of the aforenoted altar. And this one and all the aforesaid say concerning the silken cloth with which that thing found was surrounded, that it was a cloth somewhat white, and mingled with some yellow threads through the weaving, as is even today discerned; and he says upon oath that what he has today seen is that which was found, and firmly believes them to be relics of St. Pelagius the martyr.

[37] the parish priest's sworn testimony The deposition of the parish priest. The lord Nicholas Fry, perpetual vicar of the parish church of St. Pelagius in the old town of Rotwil, sworn, deposes that on the Thursday next after mid-Lent, he being in his dwelling-house near the parish church and chanting the canonical Hours, Henry Giering, procurator of the fabric of the same church, called him, saying: Lord, come down quickly: we have found a great treasure in the altar; who, coming down and running up, saw a piece of wood laid upon other pieces of wood, and partly moved, so that he could look within. Terrified and stupefied, judging that relics were enclosed there, he took a stole, that he might be able to handle and to look more honorably; and removing the wood, seeing in the other pieces of wood, after the manner of a coffin in the altar, something enclosed in a silken cloth, large enough and long, he drew it out of the coffin and case with the lead laid upon it and folded in part; and looking he saw written, or rather engraved, in the lead, of Pelagius the martyr. He himself, astonished for joy, and not knowing what he did, took his way toward the sacristy with that which had been found, some crying out after him: Lord, there is yet more here.

[38] The first thing found having been carried into the sacristy and placed upon the altar, concerning the finding of that same sacred relic. he immediately went out, and there in the altar found a small closed box, which he also carried in; and, many following him, in the sacristy he read again in the lead of Pelagius the martyr; and opening the cloth, he found a left foot from the knee down to and including the toes, of which there are four in number; and in the wooden box he found six particles of relics with their slips of writing, which could be notably read, and two others corrupted by age; which also, for the greater certainty of the matter, he humbly begged might be remitted in the box to Your Paternity, together with the lead found upon the foot. In one of the slips is contained, of the dust of Stephen, Pope and martyr; in another, of Donatus, bishop and martyr; in the third, of Cyriacus, martyr; and in the fourth, of Adelbert, bishop. The others cannot be read. Upon oath at the holy Gospels of God he says that nothing has been changed, nor taken away, nor added, but that the key was in the custody of the consuls and the procurators. In all other things he agrees with the witnesses spoken of above. Given on the Tuesday after St. Mark the Evangelist, in the year of the Lord MCDXII, in the fifth Indiction.

[39] I, Bernard Rassler of Meersburg, of the diocese To which public notaries subscribe. of Constance, public notary and matriculated in the Roman court, confess that the attestations set down above concerning the relics of St. Pelagius, transcribed from a certain very ancient long paper copy folded in the manner of a Roll (which is kept as authentic at the church of Rottweil), agree with that same copy in all things and through all things word for word. In faith whereof I have set my name and the sign of my notariate, together with the impression of my seal. Done at Meersburg on the twenty-seventh day of February, in the year of the Lord one thousand six hundred and ten. The same notary as above. — That the present copy agrees word for word with the other authentic and vidimated [] copy, from which it was faithfully taken, I testify with my own hand and with the impression of my seal. At Meersburg, XXVI February MDCCXL. Sworn archivist of the most exalted and most reverend prince of the Holy Roman Empire and bishop of Constance and of Augsburg, etc., etc., John Casimir Blaicher.*

read Brisaco*

cæmento*

that is, capsam*

pyxidem*

schedulæ*

read plebanus*

that is, collated with or authenticated against the original, from the French vidimer*

§ IV. The sacred relic obtained by the men of Rottweil, and carried to Constance; the thanksgiving of the bishop of that city for this sacred pledge: the relics, as it is reported, of Lorbanum.

The sacred bone of St. Pelagius, the suffragan To the finding of the relics of St. Pelagius, Martyr, just now narrated, I here add that a part of them was obtained from the men of Rottweil and carried to the people of Constance, namely the sacred bone which below, in the document presently to be brought forward, is called the fibula. Gorræus in his Medical Definitions, page 370: Περόνη, he says, the calf; by some, the fibula. It is the second bone

of the shin, the outer and slenderer one. For the other, which is the thickest and situated on the inner side, is called κνήμη by the Greeks, by the same name as the whole part, and in Latin tibia. Now ἡ περόνη is above a little shorter, as one that does not touch the knee itself; but below it is much longer than the tibia… Galen writes, moreover, ἐν ταῖς γλώσσαις in Hippocrates, that τὴν περόνην signifies different things: sometimes indeed the whole bone of the limb, sometimes its epiphysis []; but at times its protuberance, which is nothing else than the ankle-bone. What is reported in the said document, The people of Rottweil held, from the most ancient tradition of their forefathers, … that the foot of the glorious Martyr was brought to them by the ministry of angels*, is not so much proved as piously believed. Behold for you the testimony itself of this sacred bone obtained, transmitted hither in the year 1740 by the above-praised Reverend Father Chardon, to whom we also owe the letter of the bishop of Constance to be given after this.

[41] of Constance I, John James Mirgel, bishop of Sebaste, suffragan, canon and custos of the cathedral church of Constance, etc., bear witness, to the greater glory of God and the honor of his Saints triumphing with him in heaven, by this public testimony of letters, fortified by the subscription of my hand and by the impression of my own seal at the foot, that in the year of our salvation one thousand six hundred and eight, and on the eleventh day of the month of September, when for the sake of recovering my health I had by chance betaken myself to the imperial city of Rottweil, and, my strength being somewhat recovered, had out of zeal for religion gone to the parish church of the ancient town, commonly called Altstatt, dedicated and consecrated to the most illustrious martyr Pelagius, I there found the left foot of the same holy Martyr entire, from the knee itself inclusive down to the sole (the smallest toe alone being wanting), with the flesh grown upon it and even now tenaciously adhering; and with my own hands, with such submission of mind and reverence as was fitting, I handled and lifted it, and, the sacred fibula being set apart, I replaced the rest of the foot, wrapped anew in a clean and seemly linen, in the old chest from which I had taken it, and closed it up.

[42] asks it of the men of Rottweil, Meanwhile, while my mind burns more and more with the desire of obtaining this sacred fibula, I leave no stone unmoved, that I might carry away with me to Constance this most longed-for and most sacred pledge. And first indeed I approached those who by decree of the most ample senate were joined to me, earnestly begging that they would make me a sharer of this sacred bone, and would liberally send it as a gift by me either to our most reverend and most illustrious prince James, bishop of Constance, or at any rate to the chief church of that same city. Those joined to me were the Reverend Lords Nicholas Spreter, parish priest at Our Lady's in Rottweil, and Christian Spreter, curate of the ancient town; and of the senatorial order, M. John Schwarz, called Bürstbogt, George Köllin, tribune of the people, and Thomas Linch; who indeed all and each denied that it was in their power to assent to this my request in so great a matter.

[43] But I, made in no way more sluggish by this repulse, did not cease to solicit and to try the same men by all reasons and ways. and at last obtains it And indeed by this untiring solicitude and insistence of mine it was at last effected that, the matter being carried to the whole senate, they themselves at last, having heard and diligently examined the reasons which I had suggested to them back and forth, by consenting votes and by the suffrages of the living voice, on the thirteenth day of December itself decreed the sacred relics to me, and delivered them to be offered in their own name to the most reverend and most illustrious prince. For the rest, the people of Rottweil held, from the most ancient tradition of their forefathers, that the said foot of the glorious Martyr was brought to them by the ministry of angels. And indeed a trace and argument by no means obscure of a translation of this kind seems to be the series of the whole history, skilfully carved on a copper chest overlaid with gold, in which the foot of the same glorious Martyr, together with a wooden box, has hitherto been diligently and honorably preserved.

[44] Almost two centuries ago, that is, about the year of the Lord four hundred and twelve for the bishop of Constance, after one thousand, the same foot was again found in the altar of the same church. Of its finding both a most ancient roll and the accurate examination instituted upon this very matter by the vicar of Constance of that time make indubitable faith. That all these things stand thus, as has now been narrated, I testify in good faith; and for the greater and firmer credit and strength of the acts, I have wished to despatch this public testimony, fortified in the manner said above, and to offer it to his most illustrious Highness, to the glory of Almighty God and of his most sacred Virgin, and chiefly to the honor of this Saint. Done at Constance in my house, in the year of our Savior Jesus Christ one thousand six hundred and eight, and on the twenty-fourth day of the month of September. John James, bishop of Sebaste. L. S. — That the present copy agrees word for word with its original, from which it was faithfully taken, I testify with my own hand and with the impression of my seal. At Meersburg, XXVI January MDCCXL. Sworn archivist of the most exalted and most reverend prince of the Holy Roman Empire and bishop of Constance and of Augsburg, etc. L. S. John Casimir Blaicher.

[45] Another manuscript document, which has been rendered from the German tongue into Latin, who gives thanks to the men of Rottweil bearing this title, Copy of the letter of the most exalted lord James, bishop of Constance, of pious memory, written to the city of Rottweil from Meersburg on the XX day of January MDCIX, contains a most courteous thanksgiving for the praised sacred pledge which he had received. Before the letter there is placed as a title P. P., that is, as I at least interpret it, Patres patriæ, Fathers of the fatherland. And it runs thus: The reverend in Christ John James, bishop of Sebaste, our suffragan, has formerly given and sent to us in your name the relics of St. Pelagius, patron of our chief church; which sacred treasure we have received with due reverence and with the greatest joy. And this so excellent sacred gift bids us render you due thanks, and pleases us in a wonderful manner. Which gift, for the greater thanksgiving, we shall place in such a spot that the treasure given by you may remain in perpetual memory in our cathedral church.

[46] for this sacred gift. And when occasion shall offer itself that we may be able to gratify you and the whole city in like and other spiritual matters, we shall show by the deed itself how welcome this sacred gift has been to us. We have also received the ancient written testimonies concerning the aforesaid relics, to be accurately preserved; and we remain most devoted with our whole heart to you and to your whole city. Given at Meersburg, etc.

That the present copy agrees word for word with its original I testify with my own hand and with the impression of my seal, at Meersburg, XXVI February MDCCXL. Sworn archivist of the most exalted and most reverend prince of the Holy Roman Empire and bishop of Constance and of Augsburg, etc. L. S. John Casimir Blaicher.

[47] Concerning the relics, as it is reported, of the monastery of Lorvão. To these things hitherto recorded concerning the relics of St. Pelagius let it be permitted to add the following. George Cardoso in the Lusitanian Hagiology, writing at the day XIX of May (after Brito in his Lusitanian Work, which is entitled part 1 of the Cistercian Chronicle, book 6, chapter 29, folio 447) concerning the dedication of the ancient church of the monastery of Lorvão in the bishopric of Coimbra, under the patronage of the holy martyrs Mamas and Pelagius, will have it that their relics were brought thither by the first monks of that same house before the death of St. Benedict; and in his Commentary at the same day, page 449, he applies these things to St. Pelagius of Constance, who is honored on this day. But with what appearance of truth? For the document, such as it is, which he brings forward from the cited Brito, narrates these things: Our house of Lorvão was built while our Father Benedict was living, and was dedicated to the holy martyrs Mamas and Pelagius; for those who came were bringing relics of these, on account of which they took them as patrons, and that church was dedicated to them on the IV of the Kalends of June. With what appearance of truth, I say, did Cardoso hammer out from this St. Pelagius of Constance? Besides this, so great an antiquity of that monastery is very suspect to me. Let the reader consult what I said in the preliminary Commentary on St. Mamas or Mammes, martyr, at the day XVII of August, page 434. Gil González d'Avila, in the Ecclesiastical Theater of the city and church of Astorga, book 2, chapter 4, page 236, writes that the body of St. Pelagius the martyr (I know not which) was translated to the church of St. Mary of Oviedo, and indicates that it was placed in the altar of St. John the Baptist, the thing being done in the tenth century, as I gather from what precedes and follows. These things on the credit of that author.

* that is, the union of a bone with another bone

read repererim*

§ V. An arm at Reichenau; churches sacred to him in various places; the Acts.

The honor exhibited to that arm: Augia Dives, commonly Reichenau, a most famous monastery of the Order of St. Benedict, and an island situated near Constance, possesses an arm of St. Pelagius, Martyr, as manuscript documents make faith, given there on the IX day of November in the year 1739, and afterwards sent hither by the Reverend Father Maurice Chardon; in which the following are read: For the rest, among very many other relics of the Saints, our church of Reichenau also keeps, and exposes to public veneration, a holy bone from the arm … of St. Pelagius, Martyr, still visibly clothed with skin, and brought to us not long after the translation of his body; and in honor of this Saint an ancient church built at Reichenau is seen to this day, in which, by force of a benefice whose revenues have been exceedingly straitened by the injury of the times, one Mass is customarily read each week. But since mention has here fallen of the church of St. Pelagius, let us not neglect in this place the memory of others also. The Reichenau documents just now indicated go on in these words, and record that they are extracted from the Acts of the same monastery:

[49] That we may go on to relate the other sacred buildings constructed on the sacred island: the church it is to be known that the church of St. Pelagius the martyr, situated near the royal house, that is, the abbot's palace, is very ancient, which also the Annals of Reichenau report to have been the first parish church at Reichenau. But at what time it was first built, and by whom, we can attain by this conjecture. Hatto, seventeenth abbot of Reichenau and archbishop of Mainz, having great familiarity and friendship with Salomon — sprung of famous and illustrious birth, a monk of St. Gall — on account of his singular and excellent sharpness of intellect, raised him by his own authority and promotion to the abbacy of St. Gall in the year DCCCXCI, and not long after also to the bishopric of Constance, with the consent of king Arnulf, with whom he had very great influence.

[50] Now it happened meanwhile that the one gratified the other in the intimacy of their familiarity, now in this, now under the name of St. Pelagius, Martyr in that; and Hatto, entrusting certain secret and precious things to him for a time, as to one approved and faithful, set out for Rome

to transact certain grave affairs with the Roman Pontiff; and on returning found the things entrusted turned by his beloved and familiar friend to pious uses: which he bore somewhat ill, especially since it had been done without his consent. But when Salomon reported that he had done this because he had fallen sick on the journey and had thought his last day at hand, Hatto, having received from him the arm of St. Pelagius, was appeased; and carrying it to his own Reichenau, he piously and religiously placed in the aforesaid church, built in honor of the same holy Martyr, the arm also of the holy Martyr enclosed in silver, together with some other sacred relics. The same church, being a little too narrow, Wittigowo, the XXIV abbot of Reichenau, afterwards, nearly a hundred years later, built far broader and more magnificent, constituting out of it a provostry of six canons.

[51] Concerning it Burchard, provost of Reichenau, and not long after abbot at St. Emmeram at Regensburg, built. in his poem on Wittigowo, speaks thus:

There is a church dedicated under the honor of Christ's martyr, Who, as the writing sings, was called Pelagius. The building enclosed and hedged about with a narrow bound, Which formerly an unsuitable structure supported within, Which no wise man had seen with a favorable light, Saying that it was too little [] upheld by skilled pains —* This so shapeless building the same father had restored, Leveling the heaped weight of dusty sand, He made an honorable temple with a spacious border.

Concerning the parish church of Rottweil, dedicated to the honor of God under the name of St. Pelagius, I have treated in §3. Now let us come to the history of the martyrdom.

[52] We have two manuscript copies of the Acts of St. Pelagius, of which one is prefaced as taken from the library of St. Gall (here I understand the most famous abbey of the Order of St. Benedict in Helvetia); The Acts of St. Pelagius, the other from an ancient parchment Lectionary of SS. Germanus and Maurice at Speyer, a notable manuscript, as Father Gamans of the Society of Jesus appends, often praised by us elsewhere, from whom we received it. Each copy contains the same subject-matter of the Passion. We have collated the one with the other, and have placed some variant readings in the margin of our transcript from the library of St. Gall, which we are about to give; into the same we have also inserted some words enclosed in little brackets: both are done from the Speyer manuscript. Further, this passage, which occurs in our copy at number 2, There arose a most fierce persecution of the Christians under the rule of the emperor Numerian, raises some difficulty, long ago observed by Baronius at the year of Christ 284, number 5: Since, he says, Carus (the emperor) seems from those things which were there narrated to have deserved well of the Christians, and his son Numerian was slain a little after his father: whence, I ask, is it that some martyrs are read in all the Martyrologies to have suffered under Numerian? It is no easy matter to demonstrate.

[53] which we give from our manuscripts, For, as Tillemont observes in volume 4 of the Ecclesiastical Monuments, page 565, in the article on St. Caius, Pope, Numerian had little authority under his father, since he was quite young, and only Cæsar. And from the time he was Augustus, he scarcely had leisure to think of any other matter than of withdrawing the army from Persia and leading it back toward Chalcedon, where he affirms that he was slain before the XVII of September in the year 284, and accordingly that he almost did not reign in the East, but in the West by no means reigned at all: that this affords great room for fearing lest there be attributed to that prince what was done under other emperors by some administrator, to whom also the name of Numerian, or a name approaching it, had been given. But I judge that this difficulty which I spoke of can be met in another way, namely, if it be said that it is one thing for Saints to consummate martyrdom under some emperor, or in the time of some emperor; another thing, by the order of some emperor, that is, by force of a public edict, or of a persecution stirred up or continued by him against the Christians. But in the case of our Saint, who according to the Acts is written to have been crowned with martyrdom in the West, why should that brief remark of the cited Baronius not have place? That it happened at times that, the emperor himself being unwilling, very many Christians were put to death, the things said above in the case of Severus demonstrate. If unwilling, what hinders that, while the emperor Numerian was living elsewhere, namely in the East, and was not raging, St. Pelagius was killed in the West by the judge Evilasius — as the same Acts have it, Notker marking the same emperor and judge, which the Roman Martyrology also does? And indeed that some persecution under Numerian is indeed posited, but without foundation, is said in Tillemont in the chronological index to the said volume 4, page 788.

[54] are not of great authority. With these things, however, the Acts in the place cited do not agree, when they write that the judge Euelasius was directed by the emperor Numerian to the above-mentioned city Emmona. Which things do not seem likely, on account of the state of that emperor set forth before. Another difficulty also occurs in the Acts, from which I find no way out. For at number 1 the father and mother of St. Pelagius are said to have been in the times of the emperor Numerian. Then at number 2: But when St. Pelagius had been made twelve years old, his father Pelusius passed to the Lord. And these things follow: When the child had grown up to eighteen years …, his mother departed from this world… But when he was twenty-five years old, there arose a most fierce persecution of the Christians under the rule of the emperor Numerian. How therefore did his father and mother live in the times of the emperor Numerian, who reigned for a very short time, or, so to speak, scarcely reigned at all? From what has been said it is easily concluded that the Passion of St. Pelagius, composed by an author of uncertain name and age, is not genuine, nor of great authority. As to what concerns the time of the martyrdom, I have set it down, or rather left it, as it had been set down by others, since I have nothing at hand by which to correct them upon a foundation, and to substitute a better note of time. Besides this, I know indeed that it is altogether uncertain who that martyr Pelagius is who is honored among the people of Constance — whether the man of Emona, or some other I know not whom; and accordingly whether the Passion of the man of Æmonia has not been applied to the one of Constance, as I indicated before in §1, number 13. Nevertheless, because the history of the Passion, and the proper lessons of the Breviary of Constance cited above at number 4, report similar things in substance, we too shall give that history, such as it is, not because it ought to be given, but because it is given there as proper to the Athlete of Constance, and perhaps only applied to him.

[55] Our Marcus Hansiz, in volume 1 of Sacred Germany, A recent author chapter 5, page 30 and following, treats of St. Maximilian, bishop of Lorch and martyr, and on the same occasion in the same place at page 36, number 13, reports various things concerning St. Pelagius, Martyr: But since, he says, the discourse is of the glory of the church of Lorch, which arose from the life and precious death of the most holy martyr Maximilian, I think it wrong to omit his fellow disciple and partner in martyrdom. Let this be done by the kind leave of the church of Constance, which retains to this day a pledge acquired from Noricum. Pelagius is a martyr … He suffered under Numerian, and likewise by the judge Evilasius. His body the holy priest Uranius, who had imbued him with sacred letters, buried; besides this, his native land was Noricum, for he was of Emona. To one who puts all these things together it easily appears that the place of his martyrdom is to be sought nowhere but in Noricum. Here is Evilasius the judge; here Oranius the priest; here Æmona near to Celeia; nor can these things be distracted into different times: for the rule of Numerian was very short, in which it could not happen that Evilasius should hold trials now at Constance, now at Celeia, at one time and another. What shall I determine, but that Pelagius was Maximilian's partner in martyrdom? The church of Lorch, though it has not the bones (for they were carried away to Rome, and thence obtained by Salomon, bishop of Constance, in the year CMXVIII), yet has the glory and specimen of that admirable fortitude by which he is written to have overcome rods, cudgels, the little horse, hooks, boiling oil, and at last, his head being cut off, to have borne away the crown. Thus far Hansiz, citing in the margin the Martyrology of Greven, and Manlius' (elsewhere Manilius') Chronicle of Constance; but no Acts, no documents which have any proportion for making faith of the deeds of St. Pelagius, Martyr, of Emona, who suffered, as it is reported, in the third century.

[56] That he was a fellow disciple of St. Maximilian, as the aforesaid author would have it, is met by us, I do not remember reading anywhere. To the other things in the history already brought forward which do not please me, I do not answer one by one; but I send the reader to various places of this Commentary. Concerning Noricum, in which Hansiz placed the Saint's birth and the arena of his martyrdom, consult what was premised at number 4 and following: concerning the body of St. Pelagius, brought from Noricum to Rome, and thence to Constance, as the same historian would have it, see what was said at number 13: concerning Numerian, Evilasius, Uranius, and also concerning the Acts of the same Martyr, at number 54, where I said that they are not of great authority, and accordingly Greven, who is cited by the same author. What of this, that the Acts of St. Maximilian of Lorch, in the things which they narrate concerning him before his episcopate, report so many things similar to the life which St. Pelagius led before his martyrdom, that I suspect that either a confusion has here been made, or a bad application.

[57] and the Acts of St. Pelagius are compared with St. Maximilian. For the Passion of St. Maximilian, which we have from a manuscript of Rouge-Cloître, indicates that his parents had one son only … But when he had been made seven years old, he was commended by his parents to a certain priest, by name Oranius… When therefore he had attained the thirteenth year of his age, his father … passed with a happy end to the Lord… Then after six years his mother, following her husband, happily closed her last day. But after the death of both, blessed Maximilian liberally manumitted his whole household, distributing from his estates to each according to his condition. But the remainder … he hid in the bosom of the poor and of those serving God. Let the reader compare these things with the Acts of St. Pelagius at numbers 1 and 2, and I am much deceived if he does not suspect with me that it does not seem likely that so many circumstances of things, and so similar, should suit two different persons. But these things are enough for my purpose. For more things concerning St. Maximilian and his Acts will have to be said at the XII of October, on which he is found in the Roman Martyrology.

read minus*

PASSION

by an anonymous author

From our transcript from the library of St. Gall, collated with another.

ON SS. PELAGIUS OF CONSTANCE AND PELAGIUS OF CITTANOVA, MARTYRS

BHL Number: 6615

By an Anonymous writer.

The holy Martyr's parents and education, In the times therefore of the emperor Numerian, there was a certain man dwelling in the city Emmona, which is in the province of Carnia ^a, by name Pelusius [*], with his wife, by name Hilaria, very rich and fearing the Lord Jesus Christ,

having an only son, by name Pelagius ^b; and both were obedient to the precepts of the Lord Jesus Christ, persevering according to the Gospel in kindness and gentleness, and giving alms to widows and to the needy; and if they saw any men and women, citizens or strangers, who were Christians, they expended everything according to the precept of the Lord Savior, who says: Give alms, and behold all things are clean unto you. And daily they besought God [] almighty, that by his great clemency he would free the only son whom they had from the divers [] perils of this life [] and from the supplantings of the ancient enemy. Whence also they had taught him all the subtlety of the Christian faith. When therefore the child was about seven years old, counsel having been salutarily taken, they commended him to a certain priest, by name Uranius [], who was in hiding for fear of the persecution of the pagans; who also taught him the books pertaining to the Catholic faith.

[2] alms, But when St. Pelagius had been made twelve years old, his father Pelusius passed to the Lord, leaving much money with the above-mentioned priest Uranius for the ministering to the poor. And when the child had grown up to eighteen years, likewise his mother Hilaria also departed from this world. But the most blessed Pelagius, having received power over his goods, dismissed his whole household free, for the love of God, distributing to them money together with all the remaining possessions which his parents had left him. And he began to dwell with the aforesaid priest, giving many alms to the poor. But when he was twenty-five years old, there arose a most fierce persecution of the Christians under the rule of the emperor Numerian. And there came ^c a certain most iniquitous judge, Evelasius by name, directed ^d by the emperor Numerian to the above-mentioned city Emmona.

[3] This judge was very impious and savage against the Christians, The fury of the judge Evilasius against the Christians: who, going round through many cities, sent many servants of Christ, through a good confession, to the Lord with victory and the palm. He, having entered the city in silence at the third hour of the night, when the day dawned gathered the people, and began to cry out through heralds, saying: According to the imperial precept, sacrifice to the immortal gods. But if I find any not obeying the precepts of our lord the most unconquered prince, and they be despisers and do not offer to the gods, I will punish their bodies with divers penalties and leave them to the dogs. Which having been heard, all the men and women forsook God and sacrificed to the gods. For there was an immense persecution ^e against the Christians.

[4] Hearing this, the most blessed servant of God Pelagius, bending his knees in prayer, St. Pelagius, having prayed to God, offers himself to the judge poured out tears before the Lord, saying: See, Lord Jesus Christ, for they that persecute us have drawn near, who seek to swallow us up like water. But do thou, Lord, be present with thy servants, that the enemy may not say: I have prevailed against them. And at that same hour, while he was making prayer to the Lord, there came a voice to him from heaven, saying: Arise, Pelagius; thy prayer is heard. For I am with thee, and I will not forsake thee: go down and confound the audacity of that tyrant. But on the following day, while Uranius the priest was going down to a certain place to visit a sick man, a most Christian man, the most blessed Pelagius, going down to the city, offered himself before the face of the judge, and said to him: Most impious man, and estranged from God, what hast thou to do with the servants of Christ, over whom thou canst not prevail? For thy heart is estranged from God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

[5] Hearing this, the judge Evelasius commanded that weights of iron be put [] upon his neck and hands, he is bound with chains, he prays, the prison is illumined. and that he be thus dragged into prison, saying: For tomorrow I will carry out an examination of thee: I will make thee a mockery of all the Christians who have learned evil sayings from thee. But when he was being dragged into the prison, and he had entered the inner ward, the questioners left him in a most dark place. He too, on bended knees, poured out prayer to the Lord, saying: Lord God almighty, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, give perseverance to thy servant, and confound the threats of that most impious judge; for in thy name I am ready to run the course of my contest.* And immediately a light shone in the prison brighter than the sun, and departed not until morning.

[6] On the third day therefore at daybreak, the judge Evelasius commanded him to be brought into his sight. And when he had been brought in, He spurns the judge's threats, and St. Pelagius, seeing so many torments, and the little horse set up, making the sign of the cross, said to the judge: Most iniquitous judge of perdition, behold I see all thy torments prepared, and the torturers are at hand: why dost thou make delays? The servant of Christ is ready for all torments, that the crown of my head may be multiplied. The judge Evelasius said: Stretch him out strongly, and beat him with rods, saying to him: Do not answer contumaciously, to the injury of the judge. St. Pelagius said: Most iniquitous man, thou wilt not be able by this trifle to overcome my constancy; for the more thou ragest, so much the more does my Lord Jesus Christ strengthen me, that I may conquer thy evil cunning. The judge Evelasius said: Unhappy man, dost thou not know that my emperor has commanded me to have power of putting to death and of giving life? But what is this audacity of thine, that thou speakest such words against me with insults? The most blessed Pelagius said: For I know and recognize that thy emperor has made thee a minister of Satan, whom you both worship. For as I said to thee before, and again I say, that thou wilt not be able to do anything to the Christians.

[7] and various The judge Evelasius said: Bring knotted and twisted cudgels; and, when he is stretched out, beat him until he faints. And when this had been done, by the will of God the cudgels so softened that it was as though he were beaten with papyrus. But all the people of the bystanders, seeing such a [] marvelous sight, were filled with wonder, saying one to another: Great is the God of this young man, who has granted him such things. For behold, beaten so many hours, he stands unhurt, and we see no mark upon his body. Then they cried out in the sight of the judge, saying to him: Great is the God of the Christians, and we are ready to suffer for him, as also is this Man of God. Hearing this, Evelasius commanded the Saint of God to be hung upon the little horse and scraped with hooks. And when this had been done, he felt no pain, but rather faith increased in the people standing round. And St. Pelagius said to all: You see how great are the benefits granted by my Lord Jesus Christ: while the judge rages and my Lord strengthens me, I feel nothing.*

[8] by whose order Then the judge Evelasius, moved with great anger, commanded his belly to be drenched with very hot oil. And when this had been done, the hands of the questioners were burned, but to the holy Martyr it was cold, as though he had been drenched with cold water in the times of winter. And all the people, seeing these things, cried out, saying to the judge: So many evils of thy savagery now suffice. Behold, he has endured so much; thou hast failed in raging, and he remains unhurt. But St. Pelagius, hearing this, said to all the people: Let him be, if he can yet exercise anything upon me, the servant of the Lord; and if the Lord strengthen me, let him confess himself conquered in all things.

[9] having endured torments, Hearing this, the judge of iniquity commanded the ministers to drag him, with hands and feet bound, over fragments of potsherds strewn upon the pavement, that so he might be able to breathe out his spirit. And when it had been done, the holy Pelagius of God cried out to the Lord, saying: I bless thee, Father of my Lord Jesus Christ, who hast made me worthy to run the course of my contest. Lord Jesus Christ, I give thee thanks, who according to thy word [] hast not forsaken me. And he said to the judge: Now blush with thy father the devil, who dwells in your images which you worship, who possesses both your heart and that of your prince.*

[10] When he had said these things, immediately Evelasius, being moved, ordered a capital sentence to be pronounced upon him. Leading him therefore outside the walls not far off, the ministers he is beheaded, and is buried by the Christians. cut off his head, and leaving his body they departed. But Uranius the priest, coming at the time of midnight, and gathering up his body together with the faithful, they buried him [in] most worthy linen cloths, together with the peoples who through his passion had believed, renouncing all the things of this world. And blessed Pelagius suffered under the emperor Numerian and the judge Evelasius, on the V day of the Kalends of September, our Lord Jesus Christ reigning, to whom is honor and glory, might and power, unto the ages of ages. Amen.

ANNOTATIONS.

elsewhere Pelagius*

Dominum*

elsewhere ab adversis*

seculi*

elsewhere Iranio*

elsewhere immitti*

elsewhere tam*

elsewhere qui me servum*