ON ST. MARTINIANUS, ARCHBISHOP OF MILAN.
Circa A.D. 431.
CommentaryMartinianus, Archbishop of Milan (St.)
From various authors.
[1] The name of St. Martinianus in the sacred calendars. Concerning St. Martinianus, or Maternianus, the seventeenth Bishop of Milan, the Roman Martyrology records on this day: "At Milan, St. Martinianus the Bishop." Galesinius: "At Milan, St. Martinianus the Bishop. He, the seventeenth Bishop of that city, distinguished for holiness and many miracles, died in the Lord during the pontificate of Innocent I." This chronology is refuted shortly below by Josephus Ripamontius, who asserts that he died in A.D. 431, that is, during the reign of Celestine VIII. When he lived and for how long. This must necessarily be maintained if he attended the Council of Ephesus through legates, which was held in A.D. 431. Hence Baronius too would be refuted, who in his Notes on the Martyrology writes that Martinianus flourished in the time of Pope Zosimus, since Zosimus died on December 26, A.D. 418, while Martinianus did not begin his pontificate until A.D. 422, in the fourth year of Pope Boniface — unless we follow Demochar, who writes that he was elected in A.D. 417 and held office for thirteen years. Claudius Robert mentions him in his catalogue of the Bishops of Milan and reports that he held office for three years.
[2] Galesinius cites a manuscript Life of Martinianus from the ancient records of the Church of Milan. But Baronius cites only the tables of the Church of Milan as illustrated by Galesinius himself.
[3] Josephus Ripamontius writes the following about him in book 6 of his Histories of the Church of Milan: "The pontificate of Bishop Marolus had scarcely anything worthy of note. A similar silence and oblivion enveloped the successive Bishops Martinianus and Glycerius, He wrote against Nestorius. except that both were vindicated by the Acts of the Council of Ephesus, and Martinianus also by his own writings, by which he overthrew the Nestorian heresy."
[4] He then explains the origin of the Nestorian heresy but errs greatly in making Nestorius a German. For, as Socrates writes in book 7, chapter 29, Nestorius was from Germanicia (Christopherson translated "from Germanica"; in Greek it is Germanikeus), or, as Theodoret says, from the city of the Germanici. Theodoret, in book 2 of his Ecclesiastical History, chapter 25, writes that this city is situated where the borders of the Cilicians, Syrians, and Cappadocians meet, subject to the province of Euphratesia. See Ortelius in his Thesaurus, who from the Historia Miscella says Germanicia was transferred to Palestine, and from Glycas, that Nestorius was from Germanicia of Syria.
[5] He sends his book to Theodosius and the Council of Ephesus. Finally, concerning Martinianus, Ripamontius adds: "Martinianus therefore refuted the Nestorian doctrine with a sharp and vehement writing; and he sent this book, addressed to the Emperor Theodosius, to the very Fathers of the Council of Ephesus, who, it is said, were greatly delighted by the learning and talent of the Archbishop of Milan. But a serious error has crept into the Ambrosian records and letters. For although it is well established that Honorius died nearly seven years before that work was published, those letters state that Martinianus wrote to the Emperors Honorius and Theodosius concerning the lies, vanity, and depraved doctrine of Nestorius."
[6] "There is also the common and erroneous account that the same Ambrosian records report concerning letters that Martinianus sent to the Fathers of the Council of Ephesus and thereby earned the title of being called 'Most Holy and Most Dear to God.' Certain rebellious bishops pretend he supports them. But in fact those words belong to certain rebellious bishops who, despising the decrees of the Council of Ephesus and assembling in their own rival council to undermine them, both committed many fraudulent and deceitful acts and spread and nourished the rumor that Italian bishops supported their side and rejected the others. Wishing this to be widely believed, they published letters in which they addressed each of the most eminent Italian pontiffs as their supporter and associate. Some they honored with one style of words, others with another through this device and scheme. To Martin of Milan (for they took this name instead of Martinianus) they applied those very words which we have reported."
[7] "A third error concerning this pontiff's chronology must be removed from the narrative of the daily office. For it designates only three years of his pontificate, when it ought to have extended to the ninth, if indeed he was a participant of the Council of Ephesus. He held office for nine years. He died on the fourth day before the Nones of January. His bones lie in the basilica of St. Stephen."
[8] "He is followed by the reputation of having been of extraordinary beauty of face and a certain virginal modesty. He is said to have been handsome. I ought not to have omitted this, transmitted by others, even though no portrait of him survives, and hardly anyone would believe that the features and faces of mortals can be preserved and handed down through the ages as they were, only by speech and tradition." So writes Ripamontius. There exists a poem about Martinianus by St. Ennodius, Bishop of Pavia.