medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Symphorianus is a martyr of Autun with a legendary Passio (BHL 7967-7969) presumed by some to have come into being shortly after the erection of his martyrial basilica there in about 450 but thought by others to date from the early sixth century (BHL 7967-7969). Presenting him as a youth of high social rank, this has him suffer under emperor Aurelian, who as emperor issued no persecutorial edicts but who in 257 had a command in Gaul when the Valerianic persecution was under way. An alternative hypothesis is that -- despite the opening words _Sub Aureliano principe_ -- the emperor in question is meant to be Marcus Aurelius, who did persecute. In Usuard's martyrology, whose elogium of Symphorianus follows the Passio, the emperor _is_ Aurelius. The related and likewise legendary Passio of St. Benignus of Dijon has Symphorianus baptised by that worthy. Perhaps the most memorable aspect of Symphorianus' Passio is the scene in which his mother, standing atop the city wall, encourages him, as he is led out to be executed, to be faithful to the end.
Symphorianus' cult spread in late antiquity to other places in Gaul, e.g. Tours (where his cult was already established in St. Gregory of Tours' day), Bourges (where in the sixth century there was a basilica dedicated to him), and in Burgundy (the very early eighth-century _Missale Gothicum_ [Vat. reg. lat. 317], of Burgundian origin, has a Mass for him). The monastery serving his church at Autun lasted until the French Revolution; its church survived until 1806. Some relics said to be his are kept in the originally thirteenth-century église Saint-Symphorien at Nuits-Saint-Georges (Côte-d'Or) in Bourgogne:
http://tinyurl.com/6yen46
Others are kept in an originally twelfth-century châsse in the église Saint-Symphorien at Saint-Symphorien (now part of the city of Mons) in Belgium:
http://tinyurl.com/976tcmk
http://www.artthemis.be/saint-symphorien/images/conf7.JPG
http://balat.kikirpa.be/photo.php?path=X018185&objnr=10054588&nr=6
Some period-pertinent images of St. Symporianus of Autun:
a) as depicted in an historiated initial "E" in an earlier twelfth-century legendary from the abbey of Cîteaux (Dijon, Bibliothèque municipale, ms. 641, fol. 10v):
http://tinyurl.com/54rxcu
b) as depicted (at lower left; martyrdom) in a late thirteenth-century copy of French origin of the _Legenda aurea_ (San Marino, CA, Huntington Library, ms. HM 3027, fol. 108r):
http://digitalassets.lib.berkeley.edu/ds/huntington/images//000892A.jpg
c) as depicted in an historiated initial "S" in a fourteenth-century copy, from the diocese of Girona, of a Catalan-language version of the _Legenda aurea_ (Paris, BnF, ms. Espagnol 44, fol. 179v [continue clicking on the image for increasingly higher resolution]):
http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b52506309k/f364.item.zoom
d) as depicted (his baptism by St. Benignus of Dijon; at right, his mother) in an earlier fourteenth-century copy of Vincent of Beauvais' _Speculum historiale_ in its French-language translation by Jean de Vignay (ca. 1335; Paris, BnF, ms. Arsenal 5080, fol. 203v):
http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b55000813g/f412.item.zoom
e) as depicted (his baptism by St. Benignus of Dijon; at right, his mother) in a later-fourteenth-century copy of Vincent of Beauvais' _Speculum historiale_ in its French-language version by Jean de Vignay (ca. 1370-1380; Paris, BnF, ms. Nouvelle acquisition française 15941, fol. 72v):
http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b8449688c/f152.item.zoom
f) as depicted in semi-grisaille (martyrdom) in a late fourteenth-century copy of part of Vincent of Beauvais' _Speculum historiale_ in its French-language version by Jean de Vignay (1396; Paris, BnF, ms. Français 313, fol. 198v):
http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b84557843/f402.item.zoom
g) as depicted in a late fourteenth- or early fifteenth-century copy of the _Legenda aurea_ in its French-language version by Jean de Vignay (Rennes, Bibliothèque de Rennes Métropole, ms. 266, fol. 227v):
http://tinyurl.com/ze9zhhe
h) as depicted (right-hand column; martyrdom) in an earlier fifteenth-century copy of the _Legenda aurea_ in its French-language version by Jean de Vignay followed by the _Festes nouvelles_ attributed to Jean Golein (ca. 1402-1425; Paris, BnF, ms. Français 242, fol. 185v):
http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b8426005j/f386.item.zoom
Best,
John Dillon
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