medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Today (11. June) is also the feast day of:
Maximus of Naples (d. 361, perhaps). The anti-Arian tract known as the
_Libellus precum Faustini et Marcellini_ (383 or 384; part of the
so-called _Collectio avellana_) informs us that today's less well-known
saint from the Regno was an orthodox bishop of Naples sent into exile
after the Council of Milan in 355 and replaced by an Arian bishop,
Zosimus; it further asserts that M., delicate in appetite and in
physique, succumbed to bodily illness in exile and died a martyr. After
purveying briefly another account of a persecuted bishop with a
Neapolitan connection, the _Libellus precum_ then adds an increasingly
unbelievable story about M.'s having condemned Zosimus from exile, about
Z.'s having had an encounter with Lucifer of Calaris (Cagliari) upon the
latter's return from exile, and about Z.'s divine punishment for his
obstinate adherence to Arian belief: his tongue lengthened so much that
it hung outside his mouth, preventing him from speaking. Supposedly, Z.
was still suffering from this affliction in the early 380s!
Neapolitan accounts, all considerably later, differ considerably from
this. According to the early ninth-century portion of the _Chronicon
episcoporum s. neapolitanae ecclesiae_, M., the city's tenth bishop,
soldiered strenuously and entirely moderately on behalf of the holy
church; his episcopate is undated and his exile is not so much as
mentioned. He is followed in this catalogue by an even less informative
entry for Zosimus, here the (apparently orthodox) eleventh bishop, said
to have lived in the time of Constantine and pope Sylvester; though this
entry notes that it was at this time that the Arian heresy arose, it
does not associate Zosimus therewith other than temporally. The _Vita
s. Ianuarii_ by the Greek monk Emmanuel does note in passing M.'s exile
but asserts that Zosimus was ejected (if true, presumably in 362, when
Julian the Apostate decreed the return of the exiled bishops) and that
M. was re-established in his see. The _Chronicon episcoporum_ says both
that M. was buried in the basilica honoring his predecessor Fortunatus
and that the latter was constructed by the twelfth bishop, Severus; this
allows but does not require the inference that an interregnum of some
sort had occurred.
Like most of Naples' sainted early bishops, M. moved around a lot after
his sepulture in Fortunatus' basilica. His late antique sarcophagus,
bearing on its marble lid the inscription _MAXIMUS EPISCOPUS QUI ET
CONFESSOR [Chi/Rho]_ (no indication of martyrdom here!), was discovered
under today's cathedral in 1872; reburied, it was dug up again in 1957,
examined, and then incorporated into the present altar of of the
cathedral's Capece Galeota chapel (formerly the chapel of St.
Athanasius). In 1872 the sarcophagus was reported to have contained
human remains, but perhaps it had merely been re-used, as in 1589 the
Capuchins of Naples claimed to have found M.'s remains, along with those
of his fellow bishops, saints Ephebus/Euphebius and Fortunatus, under
their church of Sant'Efremo (today's Sant'Efremo Vecchio). All three
were then formally translated to that church's high altar. When, in
1872, M.s cult was papally confirmed, celebrations took place both in
the cathedral and in Sant'Efremo Vecchio.
The early ninth-century Marble Calendar of Naples records under 11. June
M.'s laying to rest (he is not identified here either as a bishop or as
a martyr). That date is said to be given for him in other medieval
calendars, e.g. the Montecassino calendar of 1332. In modern times he
was long celebrated on 10. June; the latest version of the RM reflects
the recent return of his feast to today.
Best,
John Dillon
(last year's post, lightly revised)
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