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medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture Actually, this isn't a case of Phyllis' source but of Phyllis herself being confused. I don't know what I was thinking (except probably that a lot more saints were martyred under Diocletian, so I filled him in automatically). But I agree completely about the problems that seem to be inherent in books of saints---the nine I consult with some regularity frequently disagree with each other, and I very frequently make silent corrections to entries that are simply wrong in some particular. Phyllis Notice that Nemesius is said to have been put to death under Diocletian but that the date of his martyrdom is given as 250. That is actually the date of the Decian persecution; Diocletian's was later. Our only source for this martyrdom, Eusebius' _Ecclesiastical History_ (quoting from a lost work of Dionysius of Alexandria), places it under Decius. So the date is correct. Phyllis' source seems either to have confused the persecutions of the two somewhat similarly named emperors or to have been influenced by some other work exhibiting such a confusion. The date of his commemoration (19 December) is that of the _Roman Martyrology_, a frequently updated work of scholarship that first appeared in 1584. Dr. Phyllis G. Jestice [log in to unmask] ********************************************************************** To join the list, send the message: join medieval-religion YOUR NAME to: [log in to unmask] To send a message to the list, address it to: [log in to unmask] To leave the list, send the message: leave medieval-religion to: [log in to unmask] In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to: [log in to unmask] For further information, visit our web site: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/medieval-religion.html