 |
 |
medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture All the bishops of Vienne down to to the middle of the eighth century are saints. Many of them are absent from the pseudo-Hieronymian martyrology and are unattested in any way prior to the ninth-century chronicle of St. Ado of Vienne, who seems to have followed their order of appearance in an already existing list. Crediting his archiepiscopal see with an apostolic origin, Ado dated the earlier bishops accordingly and thus gave them greater antiquity than is warranted by the existing evidence for the relatively few individuals among them who _are_ independently attested. One of the otherwise unattested early bishops is today's St. Paschasius (in French, Paschase and Pascase), who in Ado's reckoning flourished under the emperors Diocletian (284-305) and Galerius (305-311). Paschasius has an only slightly later date in the forged privileges of Vienne created in about 1060, where he appears as a contemporary of pope St. Silvester I (314-355). In the revised chronology by Louis Duchesne (_Fastes épiscopaux de l'ancienne Gaule_, tome 1), the time of Paschasius' episcopate falls between those of a predecessor dated to ca. 400 and a successor who participated in synods of 441 and 442. Nothing is known about Paschasius' particular nature and accomplishments. Ado characterizes him in his chronicle as very learned (_vir dissertissimus_) and in his martyrology, where he is entered under today, as a bishop and confessor of exemplary holiness (_admiranda sanctitas_). The attributes are banal and, as Duchesne has shown, fit a recurring pattern in Ado's presentations of the early bishops of his diocese, most of whom will have been ciphers to Ado just as they are to us. Following his usual practice with Ado's episcopal predecessors, Usuard of Saint-Germain elected not to record Paschasius in either edition of his own martyrology. Late medieval and early modern expanded versions of Usuard included Paschasius in their additions from Ado; from these he entered the Roman Martyrology in the later sixteenth century. He continues to be commemorated therein under today's date. In the archdiocese of Grenoble-Vienne (following the concordat of 1801 the city of Vienne, which is situated in Isère, was attached to that _département_'s diocese of Grenoble) Paschasius is celebrated on 1. July in a feast of St. Martin (Vienne's first verifiable bishop) and all the bishop saints of Vienne. Best, John Dillon ********************************************************************** To join the list, send the message: subscribe 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: unsubscribe 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/medieval-religion