sanctum
albanum uerolamiensem, aaron et iulium legionum urbis ciues ceterosque
utriusque sexus diuersis in locis summa magnanimitate in acie christi
perstantes dico.[ii]
The Venerable Bede (d. 735) writing in his Martyrology for
22 June (ad X Kal. Jul) noted the death of Alban by beheading.[iii] In his Historia
ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum or Ecclesiastical
History of the English People, Book 1, Chapter 7, he recorded a fuller
account of the martyrdom of Alban, who gave his life for a Christian priest
whom he had sheltered and offered hospitality.[iv]
Page from Bede, The
Ecclesiastical History. British Library Harley 4978, f.98. Made in central France (Flavigny? and Reims) 3rd quarter of the 9th century.
http://www.bl.uk/IllImages/BLCD/mid/c137/c13740-93.jpg
Though scholars may question the timing and veracity of the
stories of martyrs, there is evidence for sufficient numbers of Christians
living in Roman-Britain that bishops were needed to lead them. Three bishops
attended the Concilio Arelatensi or Council of Arles in AD 314 convened by
Emperor Constantine. Adelfius, episcopus de civitate colonia Londinensium,
was apparently the most senior because he traveled with Sacredos, presbyter,
and Arminunius, deacon. The other two were Eborius, episcopus de civitate Eboracensi, provincia Britanniæ [Ivor, bishop
of York] and Restitutus, episcopus de
civitate Londinens [bishop of London]. Colonia
Londinensium has been translated as Lincoln or Colchester or
Caerleon-on-Usk .[v]
Christianity did not disappear from the British Isles when
the Roman legions left. In the Chronicle
of Prosper of Aquitaine entry for AD 431 reads “Palladius, having been
ordained by Pope Celestine, was the first bishop sent to the Scots [Scoti or
Irish] believing in Christ.” The religious community at Iona was founded by
Columba in 564 more than 30 years before the mission lead by Augustine sent by
Pope Gregory I to convert the king of Kent married to a Christian princess,
daughter of the Merovingian king, Charibert I. That there were Christian Britons can be
inferred when Augustine wrote to Pope Gregory I asking about his authority over
the bishops of the Britons in the Libellus
Responsionum. The Pope granted
Augustine authority over these bishops.[vi] These
Christians had lost contact with Rome. Almost
certainly these Britons knew about the cult of relics since it was part of the
Church from the second century. Apparently, these Christian Britons did not
know the legends of the True Cross.[vii]
It is hard to argue from the absence of information where
the survival of written material is so dependent on the vagaries and
misadventures of history. There is no
surviving evidence that the Cross had any special significance to these
Christian Britons. What surviving archaeological evidence suggests is that the
Constantinian chi-rho symbol flanked with alpha and omega or the simpler
chi-cross were used.[viii]
As has been noted earlier, Eusebius (d.340) in his Church
History does not mention the finding of the True Cross, though Rufinus of
Aquileia (d. 410/11), Scorates Scholasticus (d.c. 440), Sozomen (d.c. 450), and
Theodoret (d.c. 466) all described the finding of the Cross. Since all these writers were writing in
Greek, which was not the common language of the west of Europe, the spread of
the story was dependent, at least in part, by the spread of the Latin versions
of the texts.
Two candidates for the journey of the written texts are the
church history, Ecclesiastica
Historia with the added Books X and XI, of Rufinus of Aquileia (d.
410/11), and Historia Ecclesiastica
Tripartita or Historia Tripartita
composed a century after Rufinus’ works at the monastic community of Vivarium
near Squillace, in Calabria, Italy. The translation
of Greek texts and perhaps the composition of the Latin Historia Tripartita was
done by the monk Epiphanius Scholasticus under the direction of the monastery’s
founder, Cassiodorus (Flavius Magnus Aurelius Cassiodorus Senator, b.c.485,
d.c.580). Cassiodorus may have authored
the text for which he is often credited.
Rufinus became embroiled in a battle with Jerome over the
text of Ecclesiastica Historia.[ix] The
so-called Three Chapters controversy arose because Rufinus based his history in
part on Theodoret who had been anathematized. This resulted in Jerome writing
vitriolic letters against Rufinus, who declined to engage Jerome in a battle of
letter writing over what Jerome considered heretical.
As noted previously a number of manuscripts of Ecclesiastica Historia were known in
medieval England. The Historia Tripartita
spread widely in northern Europe and the British Isles in the Middle Ages
as well. But it is not clear how it was
transmitted since there are no manuscripts extant for 200 years after the history
was written.[x]
Two examples of intercourse between the British Islands and
the Mediterranean word can be proposed with some certainty from two very
different examples, a bible and a history book.
Jerome began his translation of the Gospels under a
commission from Pope Damasus I (d.384).
The following year, Jerome fled Rome for Antioch, Jerusalem, Bethlehem,
Galilee, Egypt, before settling in Bethlehem.
Financially supported by the wealthy widow Paula, Jerome went on to
translate the Old Testament from Hebrew sources apart from the Greek Septuagint.
Jerome also completed several translations of the Psalms. One of the oldest
preserved versions of the Vulgate Bible is the Codex Amiatinus. This
edition copied an earlier, presumably
Late Antiquity manuscript since the two illuminations are not in the usual
Hiberno-Saxon illuminations but are Byzantine in style. This Vulgate includes
the prefatory letter of Jerome to Pope Damasus I as well as Jerome’s prefaces
to the Gospels. The Bible was copied out in Northumbria in the early 690s and
early 700s after the monasteries of Wearmouth-Jarrow were granted land to
grow the large number of cattle needed for the vellum. It is not certain if the
Bible ever made it to Pope Gregory II for whom it was intended as a gift. Abbott Coelfrith who accompanied the massive
volume died in 716 on route to Rome in Langres, now in the Haut-Marne
department of France. The codex is now in the Laurentian Library of Florence.
Christ
in majesty flanked by angels with four Evangelists and their symbols at the
beginning of the Gospels. Codex Amiatinus (fol. 796v), Firenze, Biblioteca
Medicea Laurenziana. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e9/Amiatinus_Maiestas_Domini.jpg/230px-Amiatinus_Maiestas_Domini.jpg
The second example is yet another history book, this one
written by Orosius entitled the Adversus
pagandos historiarum libri septem (Seven Books of History against the
Pagans). Written about 417, it was one
of the texts the Alfred, King of Wessex (d. 899) ordered translated. A freely
translated version of the history is found in the British Library as manuscript
Additional 47967, made in south England, perhaps Winchester between 892 and
925. Notes in the margin suggest that it
was written out during the reign of King Alfred.[xi]
Orosius, Historum adversum paganos. Ch1, page 1. British
Library Additional 47967, Part 1, f.5v
Zoomorphic initial. Made in southern England, perhaps Winchester, between c. 892 and
c. 925
http://www.bl.uk/IllImages/NOF/mid/011ADD000047967U00005V00.jpg
I have struggled with the lack of written evidence for the
westward spread of the legends of the True Cross in church history sources. The evidence from these sources came to the
west long after monuments and literature would suggest that the story(ies) were
known. The runes on the Ruthwell cross (perhaps about 700) are older than the Homily for the Invention of the Cross (May 3rd) written by Aelfric when he was Abbott of the Abbey at Cerne, Dorset
before he was Abbott of Eynsham.
A
text page from Aelfric’s Homilies. This
manuscript was made at the Abbey of Cerne, Dorset, The corrections may well be in Aelfric’s own hand. Royal
7 C XII, Part 1, f.64. Made in southern England,,probably at Cerne during the period c. 990- c. 995 http://www.bl.uk/IllImages/BLCD/mid/c135/c13598-45.jpg
Aelfric
wrote his homilies in Old English in the early 990s or so when he had access to monastic libraries that were considered large for the time period. These homilies were dedicated to the
Archbishop of Canterbury, Sigeric.
Sigeric made a pilgrimage to Rome using the Via Francigena in 990 to
receive his pallium from the Pope. This bit of information is probably the answer to my questions as to how the legends reached the British Isles. It
seems most likely that oral versions of the finding of the True Cross travelled
along with monks, clergy, missionaries, pilgrims and ordinary travelers long
before codices made it to monastic libraries.
When Augustine of Canterbury was sent as a missionary to King
Æthelbert of Kent in 595 (arriving in 597) by Pope Gregory I, he was
accompanied by monks and members of the Frankish clergy, and presumably relics.
Venerable Bede recorded a letter from Pope Gregory I to Abbott Mellitus with
specific instructions about relics. Relics were to be placed in altars erected
on the sites of former pagan temples and relics were the focus for the worship
of God, instead of the sacrifice of animals.[xii] In addition, Venerable Bede wrote that Augustine
requested that Pope Gregory I send him relics from martyred Pope Sixtus II to
replace some apparently dubious relics of a saint named Sixtus already
venerated in south-east Britain.[xiii]
Perhaps one of the best known of the Anglo-Saxon travelers,
even pilgrim, was Benedict Biscop (c. 627-689) the abbott of Wearmouth
monastery (Wearmouth-Jarrow). He
travelled to Rome five times according
to Bede and returned “enriched, bringing countless items useful for the service
of the church.” [xiv] He and his companions returned with books,
icons, cloth, relics of apostles and martyrs, music, liturgical chanting, and
undoubtedly lots of stories.[xv]
Not all the Anglo-Saxon pilgrims to Rome, the source of most
relics in western Europe until sack of Constantinople in 1204 during the Fourth
Crusade, were clerics and monks. Abbess Bugga or Edburga of Minster-in-Thanet,
Kent, wrote to Boniface about a planned pilgrimage in about 725 but was advised
against it because of Saracen threat to Rome.[xvi] Since there were no direct Arab attacks
against Rome for another century. perhaps the disquiet in Rome was caused by
the Arab raids on Sicily. Even so. Abbess
Edburga went to Rome.
Examination of the graffiti in the tombs and catacombs of
Rome has revealed that names of a
In the catacombs of Commodilla,
twelve Anglo-Saxon inscriptions have been found grouped together on the fresco
of St Luke, suggesting a band of English pilgrims travelling en masse. In the tombs of SS Marcellinus
and Peter, the female name Fagihild was found written in runic letters among
ten Anglo-Saxon names.
Though the spread of the legends of the True Cross seem to
have been transferred through invisible air by speech, the dispersion of
fragments of the True Cross was not.
That is where I will pick up with Part 2.
[i]Tertullianus - Adversus Iudæos or Answer to the Jews,
Ch. VII. http://www.documenta-catholica.eu/a_3-Index.html.
http://www.tertullian.org/anf/anf03/anf03-19.htm#P2141_725966.
[ii] The Text of Gildas: de Excidio et Conquestu
Britanniae. (Parts 1 and 2, chapters 1-37). http://www.vortigernstudies.org.uk/arthist/vortigernquotesgil.htm.
Needless to say, the dates of the martyrdom of Alban have been questioned by
historians, as well as the historicity of the person and martyrdom of Alban. Bishop Germanus of Auxerre visited the tomb of
St. Alban while in Britain about 429/439. Thus, there was well establish belief
in St.Alban before the Gregorian mission in 597. The fact that Pelagius,
branded a heretic for his denial of original sin, was a native of Britain is not
doubted. Jerome wrote of him “habet
progeniem Scoticae gentis de Britannorum vicinia,” Pref. lib. 3 in Hieron.
The Life of St. Germanus, written by Constantius of Lyon, is supported by other
independent sources.
[iii] Head, Thomas. Medieval Hagiography: An Anthology.
Routledge, 2001, Ch. 8- Bede, Martyrology, pp.169-198. There is scholarly
discussion as to the reliability of the modern published texts with the
original, now lost, text.
[iv]Judith McClure and Roger Collins. The Ecclesiastical History of the English People; The
Greater Chronicle. Oxford University Press, 2009.
[v] Miller, SN. The British Bishops at the Council of
Aries (314), Engl Hist Rev (1927) XLII (CLXV): 79-80.
<https://doi.org/10.1093/ehr/XLII.CLXV.79>. See also Eusebius, Church
History Book X, Ch.5, Sec.23.
[vi] J. Johnson. A collection of all the ecclesiastical
laws, canons, answers, or rescripts, with other memorials concerning the
government, discipline and worship of the Church of England, that have been
publish'd in Latin, with explanatory notes.
https://books.google.com/books/content/images/frontcover/pdQGAAAAQAAJ?fife=w300-rw.
Venerable Bede wrote in his Ecclesiastical
History of the English People about the unfortunate and unsuccessful meeting
with the seven bishops because Augustine did not rise to greet the men as
fellow bishops but remained seated so the bishops would have to do homage to
him. Book II, Chapter 2.
[vii] The cult of relics can be dated to AD 150-160 with
the Martyrdom of Polycarp, Sec, 18.2-3, “we afterwards took up his bones which
are more valuable than precious stones and finer than refined gold, and laid
them in a suitable place; where the Lord will permit us to gather ourselves
together, as we are able, in gladness and joy, and to celebrate the birth-day
of his martyrdom for the commemoration of those that have already fought in the
contest, and for the training and preparation of those that shall do so
hereafter…” http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/martyrdompolycarp.html.
[viii]David Petts,
“Christianity in Roman Britain,” in Millett, Martin, Louise Revell, and Alison
J. Moore. The Oxford Handbook of Roman Britain. 2016, pp.660-80.
[ix] Jerome (347-420) was a prolific writer of letters,
hagiography, theology as well as the translator of the New and Old Testaments
into “vulgar” or everyday Latin, hence the Vulgate.
[x] For an interesting discussion of the dispersal of the
Historia Tripartita see: Désirée Scholten. The History of a Historia-Manuscript
transmission of the Historia Ecclesiastica Tripartita by Epiphanius-Cassiodorus.
https://dspace.library.uu.nl/handle/1874/179575.
[xi]https://www.bl.uk/catalogues/illuminatedmanuscripts/record.asp?MSID=8372&CollID=27&NStart=47967.
Another version also in the British Library is Cotton MS Tiberius B I, ff
3r–111v from the early 11th century. Digitized version online.
http://www.bl.uk/manuscripts/Viewer.aspx?ref=cotton_ms_tiberius_b_i_f003r. A
manuscript commonly referred to as the Bobbio Orosius is an illuminated copy of
Orosius (Book I and the beginning of Book II), usually thought to have been
produced in the 7th century at the Irish foundation of Bobbio, Italy. Milan,
Biblioteca Ambrosiana, MS D 23 sup.
http://www.vanhamel.nl/codecs/Milan,_Biblioteca_Ambrosiana,_MS_D_23_sup.
[xii]Bede's Ecclesiastical History of England, Chapter
XXX. https://www.ccel.org/ccel/bede/history.v.i.xxix.html.
[xiii]Bertram Colgrave and R.A.B. Mynors, eds., Bede’s
Ecclesiastical History of the English People (Oxford:
Clarendon Press, 1969), I.29–30, pp. 104 –7. and for the reference to the
relics of
St. Sixtus which Gregory
also sent. Richard Sharpe,
“Martyr and Local Saints in Late Antique Britain,” in Alan Thacker (Editor),
Richard Sharpe (Editor). Local Saints and Local Churches in the Early Medieval
West. Oxford University Press, 2003, pp. 75-154, at 123-7.
[xiv] “Historia Abbatum,”
in Christopher Grocock & Ian N. Wood. The Abbotts of Wearmouth and Jarrow
(Oxford Medieval Texts). 2013, Oxford University Press, pp.29-49.
[xv] Two icons are described including one with Isaac
carrying the wood for his sacrifice and Jesus carrying the cross. The second icon juxtaposed the crucifixion of
Jesus with Moses elevation of the bronze serpent. This typological design remained popular in
manuscripts, printed books, and stained glass for many centuries.
[xvi] The Medieval Sourcebook. The Correspondence of St.
Boniface, #15. https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/basis/boniface-letters.asp.
[xvii]Symbolic Scratchings or Belligerent Literacy: Graffiti
and its Interpretations. http://blog.history.ac.uk/2016/03/symbolic-scratchings-or-belligerent-literacy-graffiti-and-its-interpretations/.
See also: More Anglo-Saxon Runic Graffiti in Roman Catacombs in Old English
Newsletter
http://www.oenewsletter.org/OEN/print.php/essays/schwab37_1/Array. Also, Luisa Izzi. “Anglo-Saxons Underground:
Early Medieval graffiti in the Catacombs of Rome” in England and Rome in the
Early Middle Ages: Pilgrimage, Art, and Politics. Brepols Publishers, 2014,
pp.144-77.
