ON ST. AMON, BISHOP AND CONFESSOR, AT TOUL IN GAUL,
AFTER THE MIDDLE OF THE FOURTH CENTURY.
CRITICAL AND HISTORICAL SYLLOGE.
Amon, bishop at Toul in Gaul. (S.)
BY J. V. H.
§ Sole. The cult of the Saint; his deeds, little known; the time of the episcopate; various translations of the body.
Among the many Additions which our Du Sollier appended to his Usuard, none occurs, The cult of St. Amon is certain; however, that makes mention of the holy bishop of Toul, Amon. His name is recorded by Claude Chastelain as the second bishop of Toul, and by Cardinal de Noailles in the Paris Martyrology in these words: At Toul, of St. Amon, bishop. And deservedly indeed the name of the holy bishop is inscribed in the sacred calendars, since there is no doubt about his cult, frequented from the most ancient times, which is also shown by the repeated translations, celebrated long ago, of which we shall treat below. Ferrarius too, in the Catalogue of Saints who are not in the Martyrology, records the name of St. Amon at the 25th of September, and again at this day, the 23rd of October, to which he was deferred by our predecessors, as they themselves say at the 25th of September. In the Breviary of Toul, published in the year 1749 by order of Bishop Scipion Jérôme Bégon, the festival of St. Amon is ordained on the 23rd of October with the rite of a Double of the second Class.
[2] Though little is known of him; But although the cult of the holy Confessor has been constant, about his deeds the older writings have preserved for us scarcely anything other than what is exhibited in the Acts of the bishops of Toul, published by Edmond Martène in the Thesaurus Anecdotorum Volume III, column 992.. The writer of these Acts is an anonymous of the beginning of the twelfth century, and he does not sufficiently indicate on what monuments the history of the first bishops rests: his various assertions will therefore have to be recalled to the balance. Yet the writer is praised by the Authors of the Literary History of France for having cut away the fables with which older documents were sprinkled Histoire littéraire de la France, volume XI, page 129.: but at the same time they doubt whether such an emendation should be attributed to a sounder criticism; since they see him sometimes sinning in chronological matters. And indeed that before the Anonymous others had not only touched on but also clearly explained the deeds of the first bishops of Toul, we have as a witness Adso, abbot of Montier-en-Der, who wrote the Life of St. Mansuetus, first bishop of Toul, about the end of the tenth century, under the episcopate of St. Gerard. But Adso himself too, as our men have at the 3rd of September Acta Sanctorum, volume I of September, page 639., learned from a written document what he wished to commit to letters concerning St. Mansuetus. There existed, therefore, in Adso's age older documents, which have perished. Whence, what is to be accurately received from the narrative of later writers cannot be discerned today. We give, then, from the Acts of the bishops of Toul, published by Edmond Martène in the Thesaurus Anecdotorum, what is reported in them of St. Ammon Thesaurus Anecdotorum, volume III, column 992..
[3] He succeeded St. Mansuetus After the departure, then, of the aforesaid most holy bishop and excellent teacher (Mansuetus), let us recall who succeeded him in the episcopal see. After him the lord Amon obtained the dignity of the pontifical chair: who rests with this same predecessor of his, Blessed Mansuetus, in the aforesaid church of Peter, most holy prince of the Apostles. By whose merits, that is, of St. Mansuetus and of the aforesaid Blessed Amon, very many persons held by the sickness of blindness, leprosy and fever and other diseases are restored to health. To whose patronage many kings and princes were accustomed to come, and they enriched their place from their own property. For there was there a flowing crowd of arrivals and an innumerable multitude of the poor, for whom means of living had been established by the faithful: whence to this day it is called, at the matricula of the lord Mansuetus and the lord Amon. The Anonymous has copied this out more or less from Adso Migne, Patrologia, volume CXXXVII, column 631., chapter 14 of the Life of St. Mansuetus, yet in a summary manner: for Adso adds some things not to be omitted. Namely that St. Ammon was ordained bishop by the common wish and consent of all, carried out to a nicety the character and institutions of his predecessor, and was approved by works of goodness and holiness. He, Adso goes on, surpassing the pontifical dignity in every honesty of conduct, not only suitably cultivated the people subject to him all around by words and examples, but also made it illustrious by wonderful and magnificent miracles. Who so also, giving beauty in celebrations, and adorning the seasons, as it is written Ecclesiasticus XLVII, 12., until the completion of his life, departing from this world, was worthily given burial with his most holy predecessor in the oratory, which we said above had been zealously built by the holy man in honour of Blessed Peter, prince of the Apostles.
[4] In the see of Toul, These are about all the things we know of the deeds of St. Amon. The Breviary of Toul adds, however, that the Saint cultivated the hermit life, as far as his apostolic labours permitted. He is reported, it says, to have been a great lover of solitude, and to have withdrawn at times, and as far as his pastoral cares allowed him, to the seclusion of a hermitage, far from tumult, in a wooded place of the province of Sanctesis, which from his dwelling is called to this day the Forest of Amon, so that he might more easily avoid the vanities of the world, might be more freely at leisure for the meditation of divine things, and might there more quietly entreat the Lord for the flock entrusted to him Compare Gallia Christiana, volume XIII, column 959.. But it remains to inquire about what time he lived. If the age of St. Mansuetus, his predecessor and first bishop of Toul, were certain, the time of the episcopate of St. Amon could be defined closely enough. But there is controversy among the learned. Adso, a writer, as we have said, of the tenth century, teaches that St. Mansuetus was sent to Toul by St. Peter, and thus in the first century of the Christian era, to preach the Gospel to the people of Toul. And since St. Amon was the second bishop of Toul from him, his pontificate would seem to be referred to the same century or the beginning of the following. Our predecessors, illustrating the Acts of St. Mansuetus at the 3rd of September, bring back the beginning of the Church of Toul, and thus the age of the first bishop, to the times of Constantine the Great or of his sons Acta Sanctorum, volume I of September, page 620.. In confirmation of their view they bring forward what is commonly known of St. Gregory of Tours, who ties the mission of the first bishops to the middle of the third century under Decius, and of St. Sulpicius Severus, who says that the religion of God was received beyond the Alps rather late. But that these testimonies are of slight weight for conciliating authority to the opinion was shown at the 17th of October in the historical Commentary on St. Florentinus, bishop of Trier Acta Sanctorum, volume VIII of October, page 21 and following., so that they do not call for being taken up again here.
[5] In the century, as from the Catalogue of the bishops But an argument nearer the truth, in my opinion, is that deduced from the Catalogue of the bishops of Toul, which sets out the order of the bishops succeeding one another. Namely first St. Mansuetus, second St. Amon, third Alcha, fourth Celsinus, fifth St. Auspicius, sixth Ursus, seventh St. Aper, eighth Albinus, etc. And all these so followed one another, that a long interregnum never existed. These things being so, it can in no way be explained how St. Mansuetus could have belonged to the first century, when the fifth from him, St. Auspicius, flourished as the fifth century was growing old. And this latter is altogether established from the letter of Sidonius Apollinaris to Arbogastes, count, as it seems, of Trier, who had consulted him about the interpretation of the sacred scriptures. Sidonius rather wittily declines the invitation, writing Migne, Patrologia, volume LVIII, column 522.: Concerning the spiritual pages, to be sure, as to your wish that I should babble something, an unscrupulous interpreter, these things will more justly be requested of priests near in place, full of years, renowned in faith, widely known in deed, better, finally, in every endowment of sublime merits. For, to leave aside the bishop of your city, a most consummate man, blessed alike in the conscience and the fame of all virtues, far more opportunely may the renowned fathers and chief mystics of the Gauls be questioned by you on any questions whatever, Lupus, not placed sufficiently far off, and Auspicius, not little in the neighbourhood; for the winnowing of whose abundant doctrine not even your consultation suffices.
[6] It is clear, probably The bishop of the city of Arbogastes, or of Trier, cited by Sidonius, is Jamlychus, by another name perhaps Evemerus Hontheim, Historia Trevirensis, volume I, page 20., of whom St. Auspicius himself treats in a metrical letter to the same Arbogastes Migne, Patrologia, volume LXI, column 1008. in these words:
The holy one, and first of all, And our pope Jamlychus, Honour, love with your heart, That you may afterward be loved.
Lupus, then, not placed sufficiently far off, is the celebrated bishop of Troyes, who died in the year 478, whose Acts our men have illustrated at the 29th of July Acta Sanctorum, volume VII of July, page 53.. It is not difficult to guess that Auspicius, placed not little in the neighbourhood, is the bishop of Toul, who in the cited metrical letter returns thanks to God for having seen the great Arbogastes in the city of Toul Migne, Patrologia, volume LXI, column 1006.. Since therefore all these belong to the fifth century as it grew old, in particular Sidonius Apollinaris, who died in the year 483 after a ten-year pontificate, as all the learned hold, St. Auspicius, the fifth bishop of Toul from St. Mansuetus, must have belonged to the same age. But if from the death of Constantine, or from the year 337, to the time of the episcopate of Sidonius, or to about the year 472, we compute, we have altogether 135 years, which, divided among five bishops, assign 27 years to the rule of each. Let the catalogues further be run through, which are commonly called episcopologies, and it will scarcely be possible to find a series of five bishops filling so long a span of time. And from this the opinion of our predecessors becomes probable, who determine that the beginning of the episcopate of St. Mansuetus is to be brought back to Constantinian times. Whence it follows that the episcopate of St. Amon is to be tied to the fourth century, already advanced beyond its middle. We surely venerate the traditions of more ancient Churches; provided however that they are not in conflict among themselves, and can be reconciled with certain historical monuments: then to some extent they have truth for a foundation; from which one ought not to depart without the gravest moments of reasons.
[7] In the middle of the fourth; For anyone to extricate himself from this difficulty, he ought to show one or the other: either that in the Catalogue of Toul several intermediate bishops have been omitted, or that those recorded in it succeeded one another at long intervals: for no one will agree that these five filled a space of three hundred years continuously. But neither can be sustained. Not the former, because what we have concerning the Church of Toul
documents with one voice enumerate the same bishops, and in the same order, and do not signify by even the slightest indication that others were placed on the episcopal chair. As regards the other, the Acts of the Church of Toul, published by Martène, speak in such a way that one followed the other after a brief interval. After him (Mansuetus), they have Thesaurus Anecdotorum, volume III, column 992., the lord Amon obtained the dignity of the pontifical chair… After whom an excellent man, Alcha by name, obtained the honour of the pontificate… He being taken from earthly calamity, Celsinus was made bishop… When his departure from this life with God had taken place, Auspicius was ordained in the aforesaid see… Next following is Ursus… These things being so accomplished, … the most holy man and Confessor of wonderful life, the lord Aper is known to have been carried off… And there succeeded him the lord Albinus, an excellent man conspicuous for all goodness. These things sufficiently indicate that among the people of Toul there was no suspicion that the succession of their bishops had gaps, or was interrupted by a space of several years. Therefore the conjecture seems to me most firm, that St. Mansuetus founded the see of Toul first in the fourth century, and thus that St. Amon was placed over it after the middle of the same century, as we have marked at the head of this Sylloge.
[8] Although the people of Toul too saw the evangelical light in the first century. Calmet, abbot of Senones, labours to confirm the view of the more recent foundation of the Church of Toul from the fact that in the eleventh century it was said that St. Mansuetus brought to his Church from Rome Relics of St. Peter the Apostle Histoire de Lorraine, volume I, Dissertation, page XXXIV.; and therefore that he was not sent to Toul by him. The argument would be binding, if it were established that St. Mansuetus went to Rome only once: but, sent by St. Peter, he could have set out for Rome after his passion and then indeed have brought back his remains to Toul. Especially since there was frequent traffic to both cities in consequence of the station of the Roman legions among the Leuci, to which Tacitus testifies in book I of the Histories, chapter 64: The news, he says, of the slaughter of Galba and the rule of Otho Fabius Valens received in the city of the Leuci. Nor was the spirit of the soldiers, moved neither to joy nor to fear, thinking of war. I do not delay over what comes under the name of city here; whether the city of Toul, or the whole nation of the Leuci: since some judge that the city of Grand was anciently the capital of the Leuci Ibid., page XXXVII.. But from the station of the legions I believe it probable that the Christian faith shone on the Leuci even in the first century, as we have shown elsewhere Acta Sanctorum, volume VIII of October, page 31.: namely through apostolic men making excursions from the neighbouring city of Trier, who in some manner laid the foundations of the Church of Toul. There have been some who thought that the city of Grand had the episcopal see, afterward translated to Toul Calmet, Histoire de Lorraine, volume I, Dissertation, page XXXVII.; but this view is liable to manifold difficulty, first of all because the city of Toul is constantly held in the most ancient Notitiae of the empire to be the capital of the Leuci, and Grand is nowhere indicated.
[9] St. Amon was first buried in a suburban church. In the Notice exhibited at no. 3, it is said that St. Amon was laid with his predecessor Blessed Mansuetus in the church of the most holy prince of the Apostles. This was a suburban church, built in the northern quarter of the city of Toul, which afterward took its title of St. Mansuetus from the remains of the first bishop of Toul Compare Acta Sanctorum, volume I of September, page 627.. And the celebrated monastery persisted until the year 1552, when the governor of the city, Montarlot by name, fearing that the emperor Charles V would surround Toul in a siege, destroyed the sacred buildings by fire: which were afterward partially restored at the beginning of the seventeenth century, the common refectory taking the place of the church Gallia Christiana, volume XIII, column 1087.: but these too were destroyed about the end of the calamitous eighteenth century. In the same number it was further said that, on account of the flowing multitude of the poor, means of living were established for them, which alms was called at the matricula of the lord Mansuetus and the lord Amon. Although the word of medieval Latinity Matricula signifies various things, here however it indicates stipends established for those poor who visited the tomb of the Saints: whence the number was uncertain, and the names of the matricularii to whom food was to be furnished were uncertain. Otherwise among other writers the same word signifies a catalogue or index of those to whom some alms was to be distributed, and whose number and names were therefore defined Compare Du Cange's Glossary at this word.. And the hermitage which St. Amon inhabited while he lived retains even today the name of the Forest of St. Amon, in the canton of Colombey (Colombey) in the northern part of the territory of Toul, verging toward the East, as may be seen in Cassini's Atlas, no. 84, in the midst of which is the hamlet of St. Amon.