medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
At 08:19 PM 5/28/2004 -0700, Phyllis wrote:
>Today (29. May) is the feast day of:
>.
>Sisinnius, Martyrius, and Alexander (d. 397) According to legend, S,
>M, and A were missionaries from Cappodocia who made there way to the
>Tyrol---where they were lynched by a mob for interrupting a
>non-Christian festival in the Val di Non.
It would be difficult to ascertain from this summary that the martyrdom in
question is attested to in two closely contemporary writings by the
martyrs' own bishop, Vigilius of Trent, that the details furnished by
Vigilius constitute the foundation of the legend, and that the latter is
largely a series of amplifications and adaptations which nonetheless
preserve the core of the Vigilian account. According to the latter,
Sisinnius, a Cappadocian or a Greek, and the brothers Martyrius and
Alexander (nationality unknown) went up into the Val di Non to evangelize
the inhabitants, built a church a there, made converts, and were in the
area for at least several years prior to their martyrdom. The latter was
sparked by their refusal to permit a member of their congregation to take
part in a spring lustration for the fertility of the fields; this enraged
the (apparently still largely non-Christian) local community, some of whom
that evening attacked and severely beat Sisinnius and who returned with
others on the following day and hauled all three off to their deaths in
front of an image of the ancient Italian god of agriculture,
Saturn. Vigilius also notes that the initial assailants had been induced
by a reward to commence their attack; apparently, the missionaries had made
serious enemies already.
The two writings in question are Vigilius' letter to Simplicianus, the
bishop of Milan, giving a bare-bones account of the events as these had
been reported to him, and his much fuller letter (actually, a _libellus_ or
brief monograph) to John Chrysostom on the same subject. The latter has
been suspected of being a forgery, but it is certainly in Vigilius' ornate,
convoluted style and the consensus at the moment seems to be that it is
V.'s own elaboration of his earlier letter to Simplicianus. The
bibliography on the entire subject is enormous. See now especially Luigi
F. Pizzolato, _Studi su Vigilio di Trento_, Studia patristica
mediolanensia, vol. 23 (Milano: Vita e Pensiero, 2002), which offers on pp.
141-214 a fresh, annotated edition of the two writings, and Reginald
Gregoire, "Vigilio di Trento, agiografo dei Martiri d'Anaunia," in Roberto
Codroico and Domenico Gobbi, eds., _Vigilio vescovo di Trento tra storia
romana e tradizione europeo. Atti del Convegno, Trento 12-13 ottobre
2000_, Bibliotheca Civis, vol. 16 (Trento: Civis, 2000), pp. 155-82, which
outlines the subsequent tradition of these martyrs' hagiography.
Successive cathedrals of Trent have housed relics of these martyrs since at
least the eleventh century. Views of the present structure (dedicated to
St. Vigilius) are here:
http://floc99.itc.it/turism/trento/duomo.htm
http://www.mediasoft.it/piazze/pages/trento.htm
http://www.arcidiocesi.trento.it/giubileo/giub_cattedrale.htm
http://www.arcidiocesi.trento.it/arte/trento_fr_piazza_duomo.htm#inizio_pagina
(click on red words and on green for pop-ups)
http://www.girovagandointrentino.it/puntate/2003/estate/trento/trento.htm
(scroll about a quarter of the way down the page)
and here:
http://www.ccrebora.it/Mostra_Chiesa/Pittura_scultura_architettura.htm
Simplicianus of Milan (Ambrose's successor in that see) was likewise early
considered a saint. Some the three martyrs' relics have been in his church
here for a very long time (Vigilius is said to have sent them to the
diocese of Milan). Views of this church are here:
http://www.milano24ore.de/stadtinfo/touristinformation/Kirchen/index.html
http://www.gusme.it/milano/churches/ext_6/20030830%20Milano%20-%20S.Simplici
ano/
http://web.infinito.it/utenti/e/enigmagalgano/Galleria/galleria2/sansimplici
ano.html
In Milanese legend S., M., and A. are said to have flown in the form of
doves from the church of San Simpliciano to Legnano just before the battle
there between troops of the Lombard League and those of Friedrich
Barbarossa on 29. May 1176 and to have perched on a cart ("carroccio") at
the battlefield throughout the entire affray, guaranteeing victory to the
Milanese and to their league-fellows. There have been annual
commemorations at San Simpliciano since at least 1393. Legnano's
medievalizing, reenactment-rich "Sagra del Carroccio" is much more recent.
Best,
John Dillon
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