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Author(s): Stilyana Batalova
Title: The Tradition of St. Eustathius Placidas in Latin
The Tradition of St. Eustathius Placidas in Latin
Issue: 2/2004
Citation Stilyana Batalova. "The Tradition of St. Eustathius Placidas in Latin". Scripta & e-Scripta
style: 2:325-354.

https://www.ceeol.com/search/article-detail?id=191683
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SCRIPTA
& ' - SCRIPTA The Tradition of St. Eustathius
2/2004 Placidas in Latin

Stilyana Batalova

І.1. Latin hagiographical texts about St. Eustathius Placidas1 : an at-

tempt at classification
Any research of the tradition of hagiographical readings dedicated to a certain
saint requires a description of the texts that form the tradition and their dependence
on one another.
Thanks to the scholarly work of the Jesuit Bollandists, science today has a
Latin hagiographical repertory – Bibliotheca Hagiographica Latinа (BHL). In my
attempt to classify hagiographical works I shall use this repertory, indicating some
of its shortcomings, and shall update the information it contains wherever and to the
extent of my abilities.
The exceptional abundance of Latin hagiographical works about St. Eustathius
Placidas and my difficult access to part of them require me to specify that this clas-
sification is not devoid of conditionality. The complete texts at my disposal for the
objectives of this research include:
a) De SS. Eustathio, Uxore ejus et Filiis (AASS 1867: 123–137). – [BHL 2760];
b) Passio martiris Eustachii2 . – [BHL 2761b];
c) Placidas fuit dictus magister militum (MGH 1923: 593–599) – [BHL 2771];
d) Passio sancti Eustasii (Engels 1955: 16–27) – [BHL 2761g];
e) De sancto Eustachio (Jacobi a Voragine 1965: 712–718)3 – [BHL 2762];
f) De errantium mirabili revocacione et afflictorum pia consolatione (Oesterley
1872: 444 – 451).4 – [BHL2763];
1
The author prefers this form of the name.
2
The manuscript I shall use for the ends of this study originates from Bobbio monas-
tery. Today it is kept at the Vatican Library (Città del Vaticano, Bibliotheca Apostolica –
BAV) – Vat. lat. 5771, f. 228va–231vb. I received a photocopy of the hagiographical work
with the assitance of Slavia Bărlieva, to whom I express my gratitude.
3
Although it is not critical, this edition of the Legenda aurea (The Golden Legend) is
generally accepted as a universal text after which quotations are made.
4
This edition is not critical, but quotations are made after it since the abundant manu-
script tradition of the work has made it impossible to prepare a critical edition until now.

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g) Vita metrica Eustachii (Varnhangen 1881: 4–25). – [BHL 2767];

h) Vita metrica Eustachii (Klein 1994: 61–111). – [BHL 2768];
i) Vita metrica Eustachii (Varnhangen 1880: 242–54). – [BHL 2770].
As regards the remaining works, I have had access to fragments, quoted both in
the description of the Bollandists and in secondary literature. That is why I shall
offer a somewhat conditional classification. Because of the considerable stability of
content of the elements of the narrative and their order, however, thanks to the
hagiographical coordinates and the ample volume of entirely accessible texts, the
conclusions at which I arrive are representative in character.
І.1.1. Prose hagiographical works about St. Eustathius Placidas
The prose works are classified in three groups. Even in case of a more careful
analysis of the data given by the Bollandists it is a bit difficult to understand the
criteria according to which the texts are united in these three groups and given the
respective numbers. Thus compiled, the descriptions of the texts only informs us of
their quantity, without information about their dependence on one another, their
place of origin or the time when the codices representing the tradition were created.
In brief, the tradition of the Latin texts has not been considered in its unity. That is
why it is necessary to develop a new classification of the prose versions of the Vita
of St. Eustathius Placidas by following both the hagiographical coordinates and the
texts or the accessible fragments.
The classification offered is an attempt to solve the problem of the relation or
kindred ties between the hagiographical works about St. Eustathius Placidas. This
task is made difficult first because not all the texts are published and, secondly,
because contemporary text-critical edition techniques have not been applied on a
large portion of the works published in barely accessible West European periodicals
from the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century. Collecting the texts in
one corpus and their critical publication could be the object of another self-con-
tained research project.
In Western Europe the hagiographical cycle of St. Eustathius Placidas first spread
through a Latin translation of the early Byzantine Vita (BHG 641) (Halkin 1985:
201). This was probably done during the pontificate of Gregory II (715–731), when
the cult of the saint was introduced in Rome.5 The Diaconia Sancti Eustachii was
erected near the Pantheon at the same time.6

5
Cf. (Mershman 2002).
6
On the matter see (Krautheimer 1980: 81) quoted after (Klein 1994: 55)

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The Tradition of St. Eustathius Placidas in Latin

In the hagiographic repertory of the Bollandists the Latin translation is desig-

nated as BHL 2760. As Thomas Klein has noted, this Latin Vita does not have a
critical edition (Klein 1994: 55). Its version (BHL 2760) has been published on
several occasions (AASS 1867: 123–137; Ott 1912: 51–63; Murray 1929: 1–45). In
fact, these were reprints of the first academic publication of the text, which was
prepared by Jean Cle and came out in Acta Sanctorum in 1757. There the text is
presented mainly after four manuscripts, three of which are lost today. The only one
that has survived was designated by Jean Cle as Q 5 legendary from Grimbergen
Abbey, Belgium (12th c.).7 This is probably exactly the one mentioned in the intro-
duction of the first academic publication of the Vita codex “egregius et pervetustus”8 .
The publishers were also assisted in their work by the use of working copies, which
Cle called “instrumenta”.9 The text, however, was “supplemented” in places with a
contemporary to the publisher translation from Greek into Latin, enclosed in square
brackets.10 Thus published, this edition places under doubt any conclusions that
could possibly be arrived upon as a result of textological analysis.
BHL 2760а and BHL 2760b are added to the first group of texts as versions of
BHL 2760. The description compiled by the Bollandists shows similarities with
BHL 2760 in the exposition of the text. The affiliation of these readings with this
particular category should be studied additionally, because they differ in the date of
the feast to which they pertain. If BHL 2760 is for November 111 , BHL 2760а12 is
for May 20, and the respective data for BHL 2760b13 are lacking.
Another peculiarity, which places such grouping under doubt, is the difference
in the conclusive part of the hagiographic narrative.

7
Today the manuscript is kept at the Bollandist Library in Brussels – Bruxelles, Bibl.
des Bollandistes, cod. 558 , f. 89r–91v.
8
See AASS 1867: 107.
9
Cf. AASS. 1867: 106–107.
10
Cf. AASS. 1867: 129, t. There we read: “Haec supplevi, quod in Latinis desidera-
bantur. Idem esto judicium de iis, quae virgulis inclusa reperies, ubi non indicavero aliunde
desumpta esse”.
11
[celebrantes memoriam reliquiarium Sanctorum Kal. Novemb.] AASS 1867: 135.
12
The vita is included in two codices of Italic origin, compiled between 1076 and 1125.
These are cod. Vallicell. I, f. 181–184 and cod. Vallicell. XXV, f. 243v–245 from the
Vallicelliana Library in Rome.
13
Manuscript from St. Gallen monastery, Stiftsbibliothek cod. Sangellensis 561, f.
152–162. X–XI s. I did not find other written evidence of this version.

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BHL 2760 BHL 2760a BHL 2760b

Occulte vero Christiani tollen- Sublati sunt; ubi pauco habere Christi
tes corpora Sanctorum, depo- tempore, quiescente consor-cium et in
suerunt in celeberrimo loco, et persecutione basilica uno sunt omnes
postquam sedata est perse- fabricata est. Quibus sepulti tumulo ubi
cutio, ibidem oratorium con- sacra devotione mense semper florent
struxerunt, et deposuerunt eos, maio die XX celebratur, virtutibus.
celebrantes memoriam reliqui-
ut … gaudeamus …
arum Sanctorum Kal.
Amen
Novembr.
In the following table the similarities between BHL 2760 and BHL 2760а are
given in italics, while the differences are underlined. As the Bollandists themselves
pointed out, the end of BHL 2760b is different from that in the other two versions,
which gave grounds for the conclusion that, as it seems, BHL 2761b14 is a version
older than this, i.e. it leads to another prose version – the so-called “Cassino” one.15
This note made me curious to compare the final words of BHL 2760а with those in
2761b.

BHL 2760a BHL 2760b BHL 2761b

Sublati sunt, ubi pauco Habere Christi sublati sunt et in uno loco se-
tempore, quiescente per- consorcium et in uno pulti sunt. Ubi pacis tempore
secutione basilica fabri- sunt omnes sepulti quiescente persecutione basi-
cata est. Quibus sacra tumulo ubi semper lica fabricata est. quibus sac-
devotione mense maio florent virtutibus. ra devotione mense maio die
die XX celebratur, ut … XX celebramus, ut … gaudea-
gaudeamus… Amen mus …Amen

It becomes clear form the table that there is nearly complete correspondence
between BHL 2760a and BHL 2761b. If I accept the data of the Bollandist repertory
and their conclusion about BHL 2760b, since I do not have access to cod. Sangallen.
561, then the texts designated as BHL 2760а and BHL 2760b should be separated in
another group. This is imperative for two reasons: first, they contain hagiographic

14
Cf. (Fros 1986: 315) – Recensio antiquior Passionis videtur esse 2b.
15
This version is named “Cassino” because it is considered to have been created in the
Benedictine monastery of Monte Cassino in the region of Puglia, Italy.

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coordinates that differ from those of BHL 2760; second, according to the excerpts of
the texts accessible to me, they do not belong entirely to neither of the two prose
versions, although they resemble BHL 2761b.
The second large group of prose texts in BHL consists of five versions of the
Vita of St. Eustathius for May 20, i. e. it is mostly the hagiographic coordinate that
caused their separation in a category of their own by the Bollandists. Four of the
versions show similarities in the conclusive passage with BHL 2760а. The author of
only one of them is known and there the hagiographic text is preceded by an intro-
duction. This is the vita of the saint written by John of Gaeta, the future Pope Gelasius
II (1118–1119) – BHL 2761g (Engels 1955: 16–27).The five variants of the version
for May 20 are divided distinctly in three subgroups according to the starting phrases:

I II III
BHL 2761 BHL2761b BHL 2761g
In diebus Traiani imp. Ido- In diebus Traiani imp., Romani imperii
lorum cultura (al. Saevitia), idolorum saevitia, ipso Traiano regente
ipso auctore (al.Exhibente), exhibente, erat magister monarchiam, ma-xima
pollebat. Erat autem ea militum nomine Placidas a Dacis et Scitis
tempestate magister
militum…

BHL 2761c
In diebus T. imp. idolorum
cultura ipso favente satis
florebat. Quo in tempore
erat quidam magister…

BHL 2761d
In diebus T. imp. idolorum
crescebat idolorum saevitia
ipso exhibente. Erat…

The Bollandists designated BHL 2761b as the earliest of these versions, which
is obvious because BHL 2761c and BHL 2761d reveal dependence on it, while BHL
2761 bears the features of BHL 2761b and BHL 2761c.

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The BHL 2761g version has textual features inconsistent with that of the group.
The date of the feast of St. Eustatius and his family is also different – “tercio decimo
kal. maii”.16
According to the repertory of the Bollandists three works are placed in the third
group of hagiographical works:
а) reading about Eustathius Placidas from the Legenda aurea of Jacob of Vo-
ragine– BHL 2762;
b) hagiographical text and alegorical interpretation thereof from the late me-
dieval didactic miscellany Gesta Romanorum – BHL 2763;
c) vita written by Giovanni Garzone (15th c.), with prologue, according to the
signatory of the repertory this should be a version of the text from Gesta Roma-
norum – BHL 2763d.17
The first two works are definitely for a date of the feast on November 1 or
September 20. Should I assume that BHL 2763d is a version of BHL 2763, as it has
been presented by the Bollandists, then this is a reading for the same date of the
feast. These hagiographic coordinates could lead us back to BHL 2760.
Formally speaking, according to the initial and final excerpts, the texts from
this group differ both between themselves and from the above-mentioned versions.
They begin with:
BHL 2762: Eustachius antea Placidus vocabatur. Hic erat magister militum
Trajani imperatoris.
BHL 2763: Trajanus imperator regnavit, in cujus imperio erat quidam miles,
nomine Placidus, qui erat magister milicie ex parte imperatoris
BHL 2763d: Placitum eum, qui Eustachius appelatus est, plerique Romanum
arbitrati sunt
And end with:
BHL 2762: et in loco celeberrimo recondentes ibidem oratorium construxerunt.
Passi sunt autem sub Hadriano, qui coepit circa annum domini CXX
calendis Novembr. Vel secundum quosdam duodecim calendis Octobr.
BHL 2763: et in loco celeberrimo recondentes ibidem oratorium construxerunt.
Passi sunt autem sub Hadriano, qui coepit circa annum domini CXX
calendis Novembr. Vel secundum quosdam duodecim calendis Octobr.
BHL 2763d: Templum extructum est atque Eustachio dedicatum.
16
There is no other text in which the date of the saint’s feast is April 19 in the described
hagiographic works about St. Eustathius Placidas, be they prose or poetic ones.
17
Bibliotheca Universitatis Bononensis, Cod. 738, fol. 33–48. The text was not publi-
shed until 1986 when the Addendum to the Bibliotheca Hagiographica Latina was compiled.

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Confirmation of the relations with BHL 2760 can also be found in that part of
the conclusive episode, which reports the construction of a titular basilica – the
vocabulary is the same.
BHL 2760: deposuerunt in celeberrimo loco, et … ibidem oratorium con-
struxerunt,
BHL 2762, BHL 2763: in loco celeberrimo recondentes ibidem oratorium
construxerunt.
In my opinion, the analysis of the description of the texts in BHL made in this
way reveals three clearly distinct groups according to hagiographic coordinates –
for November 1, September 2018 and for May 20. It is important to note that the
Latin hagiographical works about St. Eustathius Placidas, containing the date of the
feast September 20, are not represented by a printed edition, i. e. the part of the
manuscript tradition that provides the link with the Byzantine one, is less studied.
In accordance with the discovered textual differences, whose study should be-
come more comprehensive in the future, it appears to me that a new classification
different from the extant one is possible.
Obviously, very soon after the Vita was translated into Latin І (BHL 2760), it
was revised ІІ (BHL 2761b) and it was during this revision that the date of the feast
May 20 appeared. This has several versions: IIa – BHL 2761c; IIb – BHL 2761d; IIc
– BHL 2761 ( >BHL 2761b + BHL 2761c). The place of BHL 2761g in the tradition
of the Cassino version remains unclear for the time being19 .
On the basis of comparison of the excerpts of texts accessible to me, I would
take the liberty to question the assumption of Henry Fros20 about a direct genetic
BHL 2761b – BHL 2760b link. One should note in addition that there are grounds to
assume BHL 2761b was used in creating BHL 2760а, which is a prose text version
ІІІ. It is a result of contamination of BHL 2761b and BHL 2760.
18
It is important to specify that BHL 2760, which is printed in the academic publication
of Acta Sanctorum by the Bollandists, gives the date of the feast of St. Eustathius and his
family as November 1.
According to the description of legendary content in West European Midle Ages made
by Phillipart, there are manuscripts in which the date is September 20 (Phillipart 1977: 68).
Phillipart quoted eight manuscripts, the earliest of which – cod. 14 of the Bollandist Library
in Brussels – dates from the 9th–10th century, while the latest – cod. 1269 of Bibliotheca
Angelica in Rome dates from the 13th century.
19
According to the first researcher of the text O. Engels, John of Gaeta compiling BHL
2761g used not only the Cassino version but also the Latin translated vita (BHL 2760) and
the Byzantine vita of Symeon Metaphrastes (Engels 1957: 121–122).
20
Fros 1986: 315.

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The fourth group of texts consists of prose hagiographic works created from
the 13th century onwards. These are united by the date of the feast as November 1–2.
These are ІV – BHL 2762 (Legenda aurea); ІVа – BHL 2763 (Gesta Roma-
norum); ? – BHL 2763d. I think that on the basis of studying the manuscript tradition
and text content analysis it is possible to prove that BHL 2762 is a abbreviated and
revised version of BHL 2760 (AASS) in the spirit of the late medieval Dominican
compendia. It is quite possible to prove, as I have already mentioned,21 that BHL
2763 up to the so-called moralizacio22 is a version of BHL 2762.
As regards the relation of BHL 2763d with the above-mentioned short versions
no statements whatsoever could be made, since the text is registered in two copies
kept at the University Library in Bologna – cod. lat. 738, f. 33r–48r of the 15th
century and cod. lat. 1622, f. 196v –203r of the 16th century – unpublished. Its place
in the tradition is interesting, as we shall see a little later, for it seems to me from the
accessible excerpts of text that this prose version has some relation to two of the
poetic ones. Should a considerable similarity of content be established, it is not clear
whether the movement was from poetry to prose or vice versa.

I. 1. 2. Poetic hagiographic works about St. Eustathius Placidas

The classification of poetic versions in BHL confines to a simple listing of the
texts,23 with their initial and final phrases. The listing of poetic vitas in chronological
order is more appropriate for establishing the relation between the poetic and the
prose vitas.
A rhythmic vita in 43 five-line stanzas has survived to this day from the earliest
period in which the Vita of St. Eustathius was disseminated in Western Europe. It
was first published by Ernst Dümmler (Dümmler 1879: 273–80) after codex XC
(end-9th century), f. 70v–75v of the Bibliotheca Capitolare in Verona.24 The manu-
script originated from St. Gallen monastery, and in BHL the Vita is described under
No. 2771 with the following beginning and end:
Inc. Placidas fuit dictus magister militum – Des. Tunc toti quattuor missi in
bovem aereum….
The content and the motives in the poetic versions were taken from the prose
ones. Thomas Klein drew attention to the fact that, judging by the linguistic and
21
Batalova 2003.
22
The instructive stories (exempla) in Gesta Romanorum end with allegorical
interpretations designated as moralizatio, reductio, applicatio moralizata et mystica.
23
BHL 2, 1949: 414–415.
24
Critical edition with corrections: MGH 1923: 593–99.

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stylistic peculiarities, the earliest poetic hagiographic work was based on an “8 th

century unadorned charming prose Vita.”
Judging by the quoted initial line of the rhythmic Vita it cannot be classified
with any of the prose versions. The final line is featured incompletely in BHL and
we read the following ending in the Strecker edition:25
213. Et meruerunt habere Christi consorcium,
Et in uno sunt omnes sepulti tumulo,
Ubi semper in multis florent virtutibus. Amen.
One of the prose versions described above, BHL 2760b,26 coincides almost
literally at the end with BHL 2771. The only difference is the adjective “multis”
added in BHL 2771 probably for reasons of rhythm. More detailed research could
clarify whether the link is direct or a version of BHL 2761b has also been used.
The remaining six poetic versions of the vita are metric, including two hexa-
metric: BHL 276727 of the 10th or 11th century and BHL 276928 of the 12th century.
Assumptions about the prose model that follows the first anonymous metric version
can be made only on the basis of the date of the feast – die prima mense incipiente
novembre – of all the data in the hagiographic repertory of the Bollandists. Neither
BHL, nor the catalogues of hagiographic collections and codices prepared by the
Bollandists give any information about the manuscript tradition of BHL 2767. As a
whole, the text published after Laud. Misc. 410 (saec. X–XI), f. 1v–18v, shows de-
pendence on the group of works related to the tradition of the early translated vita of
St. Eustathius. It can definitely be said that the Cassino version was not used as an
example.
The manuscript in which one reads BHL 2769, however, obviously originated
from Cоteaux, Burgundy. A legendary that is kept today in Dijon originated from the
same place and century29 . The readings in it are for November, which shows the date
of the feast of St. Eustathius in the local calendar. There is a relatively large possibil-
ity that the version presenting the text published in Acta Sanctorum was taken as a

25
See (Dümmler 1879: 273–280).
26
See above the description of BHL 2760b.
27
Published by Varnhangen after Oxford, Bodleian Library, Laud. Misc. 410 (saec. X–
XI), f. 1v–18v . (Varnhangen 1881: 4–25).
28
The only unpublished poetic version, first mentioned by Daniel Pappebroch – cf.
(AASS 1867: 107, 3). The work is kept at Dijon, Bibliothèque municipale 228 (190) (saec.
XII), Cоteaux, f. 92r – 98r.
29
Phillipart quotes Dijon 641, Cоteaux, XIIs. (Phillipart 1977: 14, 69).

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model. In my opinion, it is interesting to see whether research of this version in

parallel with BHL 2761g would lead to novelties in clarifying the place of the prose
version. Regrettably, the final lines of BHL 2769 are not quoted anywhere in the
descriptions accessible to me or in academic literature. The initial formula of the
prose Vita, however, shows similarities with BHL 2769, 2770 and maybe 2768.
BHL 2761g: Romani imperii Traiano regente monarchiam, maxima a Dacis et
Scitis
BHL 2769: Claruit in Roma Traiano sceptra regente.
BHL 2770: Imperii Romae Traiano sceptra gerente.
BHL 2768: Cum sub Traiano regeretur caesare mundus.
The next work in chronological order is the first-ranking in the BHL list metric
Vita of (?Peter Riga/ Petrus Riga) (†1209). It is preserved in three author versions –
BHL 2764, BHL 2765, BHL 2766. This vita in hexameters with leonine rhyme30
was printed by the publisher and scholar of the work of (?Peter Riga/ Petrus Riga),
Charles Fierville in 1884.31 It is the only one that contains the date of the feast,
November 1, consistently and with similar formulas in its three versions.
BHL 2764: Sanctos deponunt exorto mense novembris
BHL 2765: Sanctos deponunt in prima luce novembris
BHL 2766: Sanctos deponunt sub prima luce nov.
In the case of Petrus Riga, the place where he studied in the course of one year
– Paris, was of great importance. After he returned to Rheims as a canon of the
abbey of St.-Denis, he wrote Vitas of St. Agnes, St. Eustathius and St. Susanna as
part of his work titled Floridus aspectus.
The cult of Eustathius was introduced in Paris in the 12th century and a church
was dedicated to him.32 The extant date of the feast in the conclusive line and to a
certain extent the fact that the vita has an “author” seem the only reasonable reason
behind the fact that the Bollandists placed it first in their list.
Some scholars relate the work of Petrus Riga with BHL 2770. Thomas Klein
claims that Max Manitius classified BHL 2770 as a later version of BHL 2764 (Klein

30
The rhyme was named after the medieval poet Leo, canon of the St. Victor church in
Paris, whose verses written in hexameter and pentameter with caesura in the middle rhyme in
semi-verses.
31
Inc. Tempore Traiani studii cultura profani. Ed. Fierville 1884: 60–86. Information
about the manuscript tradition see also (Manitius 1931: 828–829).
32
Cf. (Delehaye 1966: 239).

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1994: 57)33 . In fact, Manitius simply reported that a later version dating from the
14th century contains the same number of lines, but they are in distichs34 .
As I have already mentioned, one could also possibly make a rather different
assumption about the probable link between the Vita published by Varnhangen (BHL
2770) and the remaining metric works about St. Eustathius.
The longest of all poetic Vitas was published recently by Thomas Klein after
manuscript No. 11341 of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France in Paris, f. 68r–88v.
Until now, this is the only manuscript known to contain BHL 2768, as the version
was designated by the Bollandists (Klein 1994: 57).
As Klein has pointed out, one can only make assumptions as to the time and
place where this metric Vita was created (Klein 1994: 58). Judging by the linguistic
peculiarities and the borrowing of lines from late medieval poets, this scholar as-
sumed that Vita Eustachii should be dated in the 12th–13th century (Klein 1994: 59).
The relation of the Vita with the prose version that served as its basis can be
established only on textological grounds. The date of the saint’s feast either was not
mentioned in the text or else was lost with the pages of the codex that have not
reached us. The second option should not be excluded, because the text ends without
the expected epilogue, which would complete the composition35 .
In his critical apparatus Klein makes reference to the places in the prose Vita,
published in Acta Sanctorum, of which he has found corresponding parts in the
poetic text. On the basis of his observations, which can be expanded and made more
profound, one should note that this poetic version is in relation with the prose ver-
sions of the Vita for the date of the feast on November 1–2 or September 20. There-
fore, it would be interesting to make the respective parallels not only with the “ca-
nonical” text from Acta Sanctorum, but also with the texts from the Late Middle
Ages presenting this branch of the tradition.
33
“Eine späte Redaktion (14. Jahrhundert) dieser Fassung liegt nach Manitius III 828
Anm. 6 vor in der von Varnhangen, in: ZfdA 24 (1880), 241–254, nach der Handschrift
London, British Library, Arundel 23 herausgegebenen Version in Distichen (458 Verse). Inc.
Christe deus, summa bonitas, moderamine miro.”
34
Manitius 1931: 828:“Das Gedicht aus dem Floridus Aspectus wird schon von Hugo
von Trimberg genannt und besitzt in seinem letzten Teile drei Fassungen, von denen Audomar.
115 die beiden kürzeren Fassungen (4586 und 404 Verse) und Paris. Arsénal 1136 die längere
(492 Versse) überliefert.”
In footnote 6 on the same page, given above with an index, Manitius reported: “Diese
Verszahl besitzt auch Arundel 23 s. XIV, aber dort besteht das Gedicht aus Distichen.”
35
Klein 1994: 58.

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Summing up the data about the poetic Vitas of St. Eustathius one should point
out once again that they are two types according to the type of versification: one
rhythmic and five metric. Should one accept this manner of division into groups as
formal, it seems to me a remarkable fact that the same poetic works are divided into
two groups according to another token, i.e. relation with the prose versions with
which they have more similarities.
In my opinion, the rhythmic Vita – the earliest poetic work about St. Eustathius
Placidas – reveals many of the characteristic features of the stylistics of the so-called
Cassino version (BHL 2761b). The metric vitas, however, probably used as an ex-
ample the entirely Latin vitas of the BHL 2760–? 2761g– 2762–2763 series.
I. 2. Manuscript tradition of BHL 2760, 2761b, 2762 and 2763.
The manuscript tradition of the prose hagiographic works about St. Eustathius
Placidas registered in more than one copy have not been the subject of study and
description in their entirety so far. Therefore this paper calls for an exposition an-
swering the question what is known about that manuscript tradition and the pro-
liferation of the versions of the vitas of St. Eustathius Placidas on a chronological
and spatial plane. The description of the written evidence of the more widespread
and sharing a common origin versions BHL 2760, BHL 2762, BHL 2763 and – on
the other hand – of BHL 2761b, BHL 2761 – is the first attempt to compile a model
of corpus Eustathianum and is a necessary condition when commencing textological
analysis.
The hagiographic text described in note 2760 in Bibliotheca Hagiographica
Latina is accepted as the earliest Latin text about St. Eustathius Placidas. As Al.
Siegmund has pointed out, it is found in many 10th century codices (Siegmund. 1949:
236).
Accessible manuscript catalogues and one of the latest studies of the Latin
legendary (Philippart 1977), show that the version of BHL 2760 has the richest
manuscript tradition, uniting two dates of the feast of the saint – September 20 and
November 1–2.
The numerous catalogues of European libraries, studied and described by the
Bollandists feature 97 codices in which this prose version is found. The oldest manu-
script presenting BHL 2760 was listed under signature Q Ms. 7 in the Bollandist
Library in Antwerp (Moretus 1905: 425–472). Today it is kept at the Bollandist
Library in Brussels, cod. Bollan. 14. The manuscript came there from Tongerloo
Abbey, where the hagiographic society of Jean Bolland’s followers settled after the
secularisation of the Jesuit order in 1788.

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It is important to note for the history of the codex that fragments from three
different parchment codices were actually bound in one body in cod. Bolland. 14 in
the 17th century (Moretus 1905 : 432 )36 . In the total volume of 237 pages, f. 1–161
feature a 10th century codex, f. 162–171 a 13th century one and f. 171–237 the work
of another 13th century copyist.
The Vita of St. Eustathius is located in the first part of the codex, on f. 101v–
104v. The reading is titled Passio Beati Eustachii martyris et filiorum eius and is for
the date of September 20, i. e. it directly indicates the Byzantine tradition.
In his study of Latin legendaries and other hagiographic manuscripts Gui
Philippart pointed out that this codex originated from Northern France or Belgium
and he dated it around the end of the 9th century (Philippart 1977: 15, 59). This
manuscript was not used in preparing the text published in Acta Sanctorum, despite
the fact that it is one of the three earliest copies of version BHL 2760. One finds
confirmation of such a conclusion not only in the absence of the manuscript in the
description preceding the text itself in the series, but also in the following words of
Jean Cle regarding the date of the feast in memory of the saint in November: “Ita
Mss. Latina omnia cum Fastis non paucis itidem Latinis: inde transiit sanctorum
Martyrum memoria apud Latinos ad diem sequentem. Hinc Usuardus: Horum festi-
vitas cum in Kalendis habeatur, hic tamen (IV Nonas Novembris) plenius recolitur.
Inde etiam postea ob Commemorationem fidelium defunctorum in sequentem et alio
rejecta est. At Graeci omnes cum Actis Graecis, tum nostris, tum Combefisianis et
Fastis Latinis aliquot et Romano moderno Martyrologio, XX Septembris S. Eustathius
et Socios celebrant….”.37
Cod. KBR 1820–1827(3150), 74r–80v, today at the Royal Library in Brussels,
and cod. Vat. lat. 528, 139r–148v at the Vatican Apostolic Library also belong to the
same chronological period. The former is dated from the 9th – the beginning of the
10th century, while the other two manuscripts – Bolland. 14 and Vat. lat. 528 – were
created after the middle of the 9th century.
From the 10th century to this day there are eight surviving and known to science
codices, which feature the hagiographic story about St. Eustathius Placidas follow-
ing the early Byzantine model. As it seems, the manuscripts originated from France.
In more general terms, the manuscripts dated to the 10th century include: City Li-
brary in Chartres cod. 144 (506 5/B), 219r–224v from Dreux (Northern France) and
cod. 193 (507 5/B), 333r–337v (?); Paris National Library Par. lat. 3851 A, 130r–

36
“Constat nempe fragmentis trium codicum iam seculo XVII simul compactis.”
37
AASS 1867: 137dd.

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131v – apostolic passional38 from Limoges, Par. lat. 5577, 3v–15r (?), Par. lat. 17002,
125v–129v from Moissac; Vatican Apostolic Library – Vat. lat. 318, 207r–213r from
St.-Denis.39
Another two manuscripts belong to this group. The first of these is kept today at
the Public Library of Saint Omer – cod. lat. 791, 38v–53r, from the middle of the 10th
century. That it is mentioned in the description of the manuscript tradition of
hagiographic works about St. Eustathius Placidas is of particular interest, because
the collection of the same library features two copies of poetic metric works dedi-
cated to the saint, as well as a later copy of version 2760 from the first half of the 13th
century.40 This leads one to the idea of studying the local tradition of the cult and the
story, in case the collection is restricted.
The last codex in this group in chronological terms is part of the fund of the
Public Library in Rouen, BP cod. U42, 155r–160v, which Poncelet dated around the
end of the 10th or the beginning of the 11th century (Poncelet 1904: 152).
Analysis of the hagiographic coordinates shows that in the tenth century on the
territory of contemporary France, the feast of St. Eustathius was celebrated both on
September 20 and on November 2. For example, in one of the above-mentioned
manuscripts from the City Library in Chartres, cod. 144(506 5/B), the date of the
feast is September 20, while in cod. U42 from Rouen it is November 2.
In addition to the increasing number of Latin manuscripts containing the Vita,
the interest in it and its proliferation in Western Europe in that century is also indi-
cated by the first translation into Anglo-Saxon.41
In comparison with the preceding two centuries, Bollandist descriptions for the
11th century feature six codices in which this reading is present42 . These include one
apostolic passional – cod. lat. 178 – presently owned by the Public Library in Arras.
38
This term designates miscellanies of legendary type, which mainly include readings
about the life and passion of the apostles or stories related to their feasts. On the matter see:
(Philippart 1977: 25, 87–93).
39
The origin of the manuscripts is quoted after (Philippart 1977: 15; Siegmund 1949:
225).
40
This is Saint-Omer BP 716, 33r–37r.
41
See the first version in Anglo-Saxon in (Skeat 1881–1900: 190–219). On the Old
English editions of the vita see (Lapidge 1988: 255–65).
42
These are: Arras, Bibliothèque Publique (BP), cod. lat. 178 (309), 127v–130r; Paris
(Par.), Bibliothèque Nationale de France (BNF), lat. 5283, 101r–112v; Par., BNF, lat. 5340,
88v–91r; Par., BNF, lat. 15436, 108r–113v; Rouen, BP, Y 80, 5 – 8v; Città del Vaticano,
Bibliotheca Apostolica (BAV.), Reg. 1896, 104r–107r. The last codex dates from the second
half of the 11th century.

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Doubtless the largest number of copies of BHL 2760 date from the 12th–13th
century. Without having been dated more precisely to any half of the 12th century,
there are nineteen manuscripts that indicate the proliferation of the translated form
of the vita on the territory of what are today France, Belgium, Germany and Italy43 .
This group includes cod. lat. 5, 89r–91v written in Grimbergen Abbey, from the
Bollandist Library in Brussels which, as we have already mentioned, is the only
preserved one from those used by Jean Cle to publish the vita in Acta Sanctorum.
Of the remaining codices Vat. lat. 6933 should be mentioned. It attracts at-
tention because it reveals two readings presenting prose versions of the vita for
different dates of the feast. One should not overlook the fact that the version for May
20 covers more pages and, to judge by the oldest copy containing the BHL 2761b
version, it is shorter than BHL 2760! One should recall here, that the definition and
celebration of a saint’s feast on more than one date was an usual phenomenon for the
martyrologies (Delehaye 1934: 54–55), but in my opinion it is peculiar when ob-
served within one legendary.
The Bollandists dated to the second half of the 12th century five copies of the
vita in manuscripts from France and Italy,44 and another three of Italic origin – to the
last quarter of that century.45
In the list of hagiographic legendary prepared by Philippart, in which there are
hagiographic texts about St. Eustathius for September 20, there are another two 12th
century manuscripts. These are Rep. II. 58 (195)46 , which was compiled in Niederal-
43
These are: Angers, Bibliothèque Municipale (BM) 805, 108v–117; Angers, BM, 813,
20v –33v; Bruxelles, Bibl. Royale (BR), 9120 (3221), 39r–41v; Bruxelles, BR, 9289 (3223),
71r–74r; Bruxelles, Bibl. des Bollandistes (BB), 5, 89r–91v; Douai, Bibliothиque Publique
(BP), 857, 32r–32v; Milano, Bibliotheca Ambrosiana (BA), E 84 Inf. 235r–238r; Montpellier,
Bibliothèque de l’ univercité, Faculté de Médicine (FM),30, 169v–172v; Par., BNF, lat. 5290,
142v–150v; Par., BNF., lat. 5293, 130r–135v; Par., BNF, lat. 5345, 77r–82v; Par., BNF, lat.
5365, 157r–160r; Par., BNF, lat. 11753, 167v–173r; Rouen, BP, U 2, 140v–144v; Trier,
Staatsbibliothek (SB) 388 (966), 237v–243r; Vat. Reg. lat.457, 71v–82r; Vat. Reg. lat.524,
67r–75v; Vat. lat.6933, 246r–247r; Vat. lat. 9668, 162r–166v.
This group of copies should also include the passional from the Benedictine monastery
library in Engelberg (Engelberg, Stiftsbibliothek O.S.B.) quoted by Philippart – cod. Engelberg
2 in which the reading about St. Eustathius is for November. On the matter see: (Philippart
1977: 14, 69).
44
Montpellier, FM, 1 t.1, 1r–5v; Par. BNF, lat. 16735, 1r–4r; Par. BNF, lat. 17007, 2r–
6v; Roma, Bibl. Casanatensis, cod. 1055 (alias A. II. 9) 196, 211; Vat. Arch. Cap. S. Mar.
Mag. B, 158–166, the codex was written between 1151 and 1250.
45
Como Seminarium Magnum (Sem Mag) 5 (XIII-13), 92r–95v; Como Sem Mag 6
(XIV-2) 40v–45r; Roma, Bibl. Vallicelliana X 212–218.
46
See (Philippart 1977: 14).

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taich (Bavaria) and is kept today at the University Library in Leipzig, and the leg-
endary from Windberg.
I shall take the liberty to pay some more attention to the legendary from
Windberg, because it is a remarkable representative of the large 12th century pas-
sionals in which the readings follow the order of the church calendar.47 It consists of
six codices written in the mid-12th century at the St. Mary convent of the Pre-
monstratensians in Windberg, Regensburg diocese (Poncelet 1898: 97). Today they
are part of the fund of the Bavarian State Library in Munich (München, Bayerische
Staatsbibliothek) – Clm 22240–22245 (Poncelet 1898: 97).
A marginal note on the first page of Clm 22242 – 22245 informs that the book
was commissioned by the abbot of St. Maria in Windberg, Gebhard (1141–1191).
The reading about St. Eustathius is for September 20 and is contained in Clm 22
24348 , f. 56–61.
When he wrote about the legendaries containing readings about St. Eustathius
for different dates of the feast, Philippart omitted to mention the Bavarian passional
also known as the Great Austrian Legendary (Magnum Legendarium Austriacum). It
should be quoted when speaking of the manuscript tradition of BHL 2760, because
it incorporates a large part of the readings of the Windberg legendary.
We know of two copies of the Bavarian passional containing the reading about
St. Eustathius for November 2. The older one of these, dating from the first quarter
of the 13th century, is Z 1449 from the Cistercian monastery library in Zwettl, Lower
Austria. The other one – cod. lat. M 8< dates 1002>50 of the Benedictine monastery
library in Melk (Melk, Stiftsbibliothek) – from much later – the second half of the
15th century. In connection with the date of the feast, the description of the two
codices as one of the sources of the compilers, we find a quotation of the Martyologyof
Wolfhard. At that, as the hagiographic coordinates indicate, this martyrology is con-
siderably more related to the Windberg legendary. The calendar created by Wolfhard,51
which influenced the development of the legendary in Austria and Bavaria, belongs
to the category of the so-called historical martyrologia. It is the oldest Latin histori-
cal martyrologion that I know of, containing a short reading about St. Eustathius for
47
For these passionals see (Philippart 1977) quoted after (Bărlieva 1998: 13)
48
See (Poncelet 1898: 114).
49
F. 105–108v.
50
F. 9v–14r.
51
Wolfhard was a presbyter and monk at Herrieden, Bavaria. In 895 or a little later he
was commissioned by Erhanbold, Bishop of Eichstat, and wrote four books Miracula S.
Walburgis as well as compiling a passional.

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September 20. The copy of the martyrology, used to throw light upon the content of
the Great Austrian Legendary and the Windberg legendary (Poncelet 1898: 5 – 23),
is Clm 18100 of the Bavarian State Library in Munich.52 The text of the Wolfhard
martyrology has not been published.
According to the description of legendary copies from Zwettl and Melk, the
text of the Vita is identical to that from Acta Sanctorum with the exception of the
prologue and the phrases put in brackets by the publisher 53 .
The Zwettl codex is one of the six legendaries from the first half of the 13th
century in which the presence of a reading about St. Eustathius is indicated. The five
others originate from France and Belgium.54
For the time between the beginning of the 13th century and the beginning of the
14th, in which the usage of short legendaries became increasingly popular, the
Bollandists quote another seventeen copies of this version of the Vita covering a
vast geographical area55 . Legendaries of French and Italic origin are prevalent in
this group. Descriptions of Latin hagiographic manuscripts quote only one 13th cen-
tury legendary, which originates from Germany and contains the BHL 2760 version
– Trier, Seminar-Bibliothek, cod.36, 11r–16v.
In the 1980s, making an outline of the diffusion of the legend about St. Eus-
tathius Alain Boureau noted that there was a period of “progressive loss of interest”
52
Short Vita of St. Eustathius and Companions – Clm 18100, 96–97.
53
Poncelet 1898: 88.
54
In France: Paris National Library – Par. lat. 13772, 88r–97r; Saint-Omer Public Li-
brary – Saint-Omer 716, 33r–37r.
In Belgium: Royal Library in Brussels – KBR 206 (3132), 70v –73v; KBR 11550–
11555 (3233), 224r–227v; City Library in Namur – Namur, BV 15, 107v–112v.
55
Seven of these manuscripts are kept today in France, including: Charleville BP 200,
140r–144v; Douai BP 838, 21r–24r; Douai BP 864, 156r–163v ; Paris BNF lat. 14364, 199r
–202r; Paris BNF lat. 14993, 133r–141v; Paris BNF lat. 16566, 58v–66v; Rouen BP U 22,
13v–19. There are six legendariess of this group in Italy. Four of them are kept at various
libraries in Rome and the Vatican – Roma, Bibliotheca Vallicelliana cod. VII, 264–266r;
Roma, Bibliotheca Nazionale, Sessor.codex 49 (alias XXI), 91v–96v; Roma, Bibliotheca
Angelica cod. 1269 (alias T.1.4), 334–342; BAV, Arch Cap S.Pietro A. 3 (Alias B), 232–233.
The other two are in: Milan – Milano, Bibliotheca Ambrosiana B. 33 In f. 121r–126r; No-
vara – Novara, Bibliotheca Capitolare <104> CIV 45v, 44r–44v, 46r–59r.
Two legendaries from this period are kept at the Royal Library in Brussels – KBRII.
1151 (3300) [Phillipps nВ° 4768]р, 3r–8v and KBR 21885 (3275), 155r–166v. The Public
Library in Mons, Belgium, houses and apostolic passional from the monastery of St. Thomas
an der Kyll – Mons BP 26. 210. 8402. The vita of St. Eustathius can be read on f. 119r–124r.

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in the 14th–19th century period (Boureau 1982: 683). This assertion is true, despite
the fact that the conclusion was not made on the basis of information from the manu-
script tradition of BHL 2760 or of some of the other Latin versions.56 In comparison
to the preceding centuries, we know of only eighteen copies of BHL 2760 dating
from the 14th and the 15th century, which originate mainly from France, Belgium,
Germany and Austria.57 It is from this period precisely that evidence about
popularisation of the version within what is today the Netherlands dates.58 This is
the northernmost region of Europe in which this version of the hagiographic work
about St. Eustathius was brought into circulation.
One should draw attention to the fact that the Latin manuscript tradition of
BHL 2760 from the territory of Germany and Austria is not covered in its entirety
but is represented according to the catalogues of various library collections, whose
descriptions were published by the Jesuit Bollandists from the end of the 19th through
the end of the 1980s.
Although it is possible to complement the data in the present dissertation in
case of access to new sources of information, it is my opinion that no significant
changes will occur in the description of the development of the manuscript tradition
of the translated Latin Vita BHL 2760.
56
The Latin versions of the vita of St. Eustathius are not mentioned separately in the
study. Boureau’s main objective is to suggest a possible explanation for the proliferation of
the legend in the West.
57
The largest number of 14th century copies of the vita is found in the fund of the
National Library in Paris (BNF): Par. lat. 2310, 184r–189v; Par. lat. 5533, 264r–273v; Par.
lat. 5336, 3v–7v; Par. lat. 11759, f. 209v–212v. A legendary from Saint Trond, written in
1356, is kept at the University Library in Liege – Liège BU 57, (210, t. I), 197v–202r. The
Royal Library in Brussels features two 14th century legendaries containing BHL 2760 – KBR
II. 981 (3288), 41r–47v; KBR II 1024 (3296), 102r–110v. The same number of copies are
also kept at the Vatican Apostolic Library – BAV, Arch. Cap. S. Pietro A. 9 (Alias H), 175r–
176v; BAV Borgh. lat.297, 194v–198r.
Two 15th century copies are in Germany – Köln, Historisches Archiv (HA), Hs. der
früheren Gymnasialbibliothek, Fol. 86, 203v–207v; Köln, HA, Wallraf’sche Sammlung, cod.
164 a, 198r–204v. Two copies are also located in France – BNF, Par. lat. 3809 A, 173v–176v;
Rouen, BP,U 17, 203–206.A legendary of 1465, originating from Rouge-Cloître is also kept
at the Royal Library in Brussels – KBR 197 (3131), 164v–169v. Two legendaries with read-
ing 2760 in their content are in the following Austrain book depositories – Wien,
Nationalbibliothek Series Nova 12754, 261rr–265r; Melk Stiftsbibliothek. Cod. 8<1102>,
9v–14r. The Vatican Palat. lat. 850, in which the legend is on f. 19r–22r dates from the same
period.
58
It refers to manuscript 70 E 21, F. 275v–279v, today at the Royal Library in The
Hague.

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The declining interest in this hagiographic work, which can be observed after
the end of the 13th century, could be explained with the introduction of other literary
versions of the legend, dependent in their origin on BHL 2760. As written evidence
indicates, however, it is this that is the richest and most continuously popularised
Latin language version from the 9th through the first half of the 16th century59 .
In the Late Middle Ages, after the traditional ones were replaced by the short
legendaries, one finds evidence of the hagiographic legend about St. Eustathius in
the manuscript tradition of the most famous compendium of this kind – the Legenda
Aurea of Jacob of Voragine. As the textological analysis will show, the version des-
ignated in the repertory of the Bollandists as BHL 2762 is a contraction of 2760.
This conclusion is indicated by the incorporation at the end of the text of the two
dates of the feast of the saint and companions familiar from BHL 2760 – November
2 and September 20.
Despite the fact that BHL 2762 is known mostly as a legend from the miscella-
ny of Jacob of Voragine, there are several earlier Dominican short legendaries in
which one finds readings about the saint. Therefore it is important to pose the ques-
tion whether one can claim that this was a compilation of Jacob’s or else he borro-
wed the reading from some of his predecessors. Arguments in favour of either thesis
can be given when studying the manuscript tradition and after textual analysis.
As already mentioned60 , it is considered impossible to prepare and accomplish
a critical edition of the Legenda aurea because of its considerable proliferation and
difference of miscellany content in the various regions of Western Europe.
The history of this compendium’s manuscript tradition is the subject of Barbara
Fleith’s fundamental study (Fleith 1991). The author clarifies the problem of the
content of this short legendary and gives information about the readings contained
in the 1,042 copies she has studied.
It is very important for the present study of the tradition of hagiographic texts
about St. Eustathius Placidas that Fleith quoted only three manuscripts from the 15th
century that contain the version of BHL 2762 we are interested in.
The earliest of these copies of the said version is contained in cod. lat. І. 76, at
the moment at Bathyaneum Library in Alba-Julia, Romania (Fleith 1991: 57). The
manuscript is titled Legenda sanctorum and dates from 1429. It is known that the

59
The latest manuscript containing BHL 2760 is Vat. lat. 6076, where the reading is on
f. 25r–28v.
60
Bărlieva 1998: 33.

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Moravian monk Petrus Moravus de Thyczin copied it and that it originates from the
Siebenbürgen.
The other two legendaries the contents of which Fleith has described, are more
imprecisely dated. A miscellany from the second half of the 15th century has been
preserved titled Legendae sanctorum per anni circulum, today at the Central Library
in Solothurn, Switzerland – cod. lat. S. I. 211 (Fleith 1991: 279). The manuscript
originates from the diocese of Konstanz or Freiburg. Fleith also gives the important
information that, in many cases, the source of this compendium of legends was Pierre
Calo61 .
The last of the copies mentioned is currently located at the University Library
in Giessen, Germany, under signature 641. The compendium originating from
Butzbach and dating from the third quarter of the 15th century, is titled Petri Lom-
bardi vitae sanctorum.62
We saw from the review of the short description of copies made by Fleith that
the Vita of St. Eustathius, designated as BHL 2762 in the Bollandist repertory with
reference to the publication of Legenda Aurea, is found in very few of the known
testimonies of the of the otherwise rich manuscript tradition of the miscellany.
My work with the manuscript catalogues of the Bollandists helped me to es-
tablish that the said version is incorporated in another four manuscripts. Three of
these date from the 14th and a 15th century one has been preserved fragmentarily.63
Judging by the content of the legendaries, I should point out that cod. lat. 166
from the Public Library in Avranches is the only one directly related to the manu-
script tradition of Legenda aurea, although it has not been included among the manu-
scripts studied by Fleith. According to the description, on f. 1r–210r it carries a
compendium of abridged vitas titled Iacobi a Voragine Legendae Sanctorum. A Vita
61
The Dominican Pierre Calo was born in the second half of the 13th century in Chi-
ogga, in the region of Venice. He died on December 1, 1348. He is the author of a short
legendary known under the name of Legendae de tempore or else as Legendae de sanctis.
The work features in three manuscripts – Roma, BAV, Barb. Lat. 713–714 [before 1340];
Venezia, Bibl. Marciana, ms. IX. 15–20, six volumes; York, Cath. Ms. XVI G23 [XVI s.]
62
Peter Lombard was born c. 1100 in Novara (or Lumello), Italy. In 1152 Pope Euge-
nius III appointed him Archbishop of Bauvais, and in 1158 or 1159 he became Archbishop of
Rome. He died c1160–1164. Three works under his name have come us: a) Еnnarationes in
Psalmos et in ep. St. Pauli; b) Sermones; c) Quattuor libri sententiarum.
63
The fragmentarily preserved manuscript is cod. lat. 300 (258) from the City Library
in Trier. It contains vitas of St. Aegidius/Giles, St. Alexius the Confessor, as well as the
version 2762 of St. Eustathius Placidas we are interested in.

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of Marcial, Bishop of Limoges, follows on f. 210r, which is an indication of the

origin of the manuscript, while the Vita of St. Eustathius – BHL 2762 – is at the very
end of the codex.
The same version – BHL 2762 – can be read on f. 109v–117r in cod. lat. 22 (14th
century), today at the Capitular Library in Ivrea, Piedmont (Northern Italy). The
legendary contains 62 readings about saints venerated mainly in Italy and Southern
France.
Besides the order of the calendar64 one can reveal other features of usage of
short Dominican legendaries in the compilation of the codex. Such features are the
incorporation of saints who were members of the Dominican order and senior offi-
cials,65 and on the other hand mentioning Jacob of Voragine as the author of several
of the readings.66
As it seems, in this case we have a short legendary, which, according to its
content, functioned as a local passional. A review of the contents permits the sta-
tement that the hagiographic works in cod. lat. 22 at the Capitular Library in Ivrea
were taken from an earlier similar, probably Dominican, miscellany, or else were
abbreviations67 of hagiographic works known previously.
The hagiographic legend about St. Eustathius BHL 2762 also features on f.
241v–245v in cod. lat. 78 A 31 from the Royal Library in The Hague. The manu-
script dates from the 14th century and contains 75 readings for the church feasts from
the end of July to the beginning of December.68 The feasts and the origin of the
saints permit one to outline a vast geographical area including Italy, France, Ger-
many, Portugal, Belgium and the Netherlands, in which church feasts are celebrated
on generally established dates. It follows from this observation that that it is not
impossible to speak of a legendary of universal application. Such a view finds its
confirmation in the fact that Humbert of Romans69 and St. Bonaventura70 – two of
the great names in the history of the Dominican and Franciscan orders in the second
half of the 13th century – are mentioned as the authors of two of the Vitas.
64
The manuscript begins with a vita of St. Alexis the Confessor – Alexi conf. Edessae
et Romae XVI kal.aug.
65
E.g. f. 61v–66r Ludovici ep. Tolosani, O. M. Vita.
66
E.g. f. 66r–77v contains Bernardi ab. Clarevallensi vita auctore Iacobo a Voragine.
67
E.g. f. 77v–85v Ludovici IX regis Francorum Vitae epitome.
68
The first reading is Mariae Magdalenae penitentis Vita, while the last presents the
final, fifth part of Servatii ep. Tongrunensis Vita, translatio, miracula auct. Iocundo presb.
69
F. 53v–55v – Dominici fundatoris Ordinis Praedicatorum Vita auctore Humberto.
70
F. 184v–188v – Francisci Assiniensis fundatoris Ordinis Minoritorum Vita auctore
S. Bonaventura.

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I would like to draw attention to the work of Humbert of Romans because of his
role, as master of the Dominican Order, in the creation of a uniform Dominican
hagiographic lectionary,71 and therefore because of his influence on the development
of the legendary.
The differences in liturgical practice observed in the individual provinces around
the middle of the 13th century proved undesirable in the large and quite vigorous
Dominican order. That was why in 1245 the General Chapter of the Dominicans in
Cologne passed a decision for aligning liturgical practice. This task was undertaken
by four friars from the French, British, Lombard and German provinces. In 1246
they gathered in Angers, each carrying a copy of the liturgical books from his prov-
ince. Their work was far from successful and was subjected to plentiful criticism. In
1254 the newly elected Master of the order, Humbert of Romans, was commissioned
by the Chapter in Budapest to correct the liturgical books finally. The lectionary he
created was approved by the Chapter in Milan in 1255.72
The content of the archetype of this Dominican lectionary has not been pub-
lished and it still remains unclear whether it features a text about St. Eustathius
Placidas.
However, there definitely is a short reading in the short legendaries of Jean de
Mailly, Vincent of Beauvais and Bartholomew of Trento. Each one of them is quoted
as a source of Jacob of Voragine. The manuscript tradition clearly reveals that the
hagiographic work BHL 2762 is not an indelible part of Legenda aurea. On the
contrary, one finds it in copies witnessing this work’s development and proliferation
from the 14th and the 15th century. Who then is the author, or more specifically the
compiler of the version in question? The inaccessibility of the texts of the above-
mentioned Dominican legendaries hinders the present study. Therefore I shall repeat
what Karl-Ernst Geith73 recently suggested an answer to this question. He listed 61
vitas from the Legenda aurea whose text is almost completely or entirely borrowed
from Abbreviatio de gestis et miraculis sanctorum of Jean de Mailly, and this means
one third of the content of Legenda aurea. One of the said legends is the BHL 2762
version.

71
The hagiographic lectionary consists of hagiographic readings necessary for the ser-
vice united in one volume. The legendary is a pendant of the lectionary not intended for
liturgical use.
72
On the history of the creation of the Dominican lectionary see: (Boyle 1978: 200–
201).
73
Geith 1990. The text was given to me by S. Bărlieva, to whom I express my gratiude.
On the matter also see: (Geith 1987: 289–302).

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The other abbreviated version of the early translated Vita of St. Eustathius (BHL
2760 – BHL 2763), which is found in the late medieval collection of moral stories
Gesta Romanorum. This miscellany is registered in many copies and incunabula. It
was handed down as anonymous and is considered to have been compiled in Ger-
many or England in the second half of the 14th century. In spite of the efforts of
several generations of scholars, all attempts to establish the identity of the compiler
remain fruitless, while the initial assumptions that indicated Berchorius or Helinandus
have long been rejected. The general character of the miscellany, however, reveals
that the main objective of the medieval compiler was to assist preachers by provid-
ing them with a collection of moral narrative works, supplied with appropriate inter-
pretations designated as moralizatio, applicatio moralizata et mystica, reductio.74
Very soon after its appearance Gesta Romanorum75 became popular both in
Latin and in translations and vernacular versions, while its content came to include
some 250 parables, legends, novellas and stories. The stories are of different origin.
They include examples from the Bible, works of the Church Fathers, medieval
hagiographical literature, ancient literature, historiography, myths and fairy tales.76
Thus formed, the miscellany does not have uniform composition and practically
every part in it is independent. That is why it is important to note that both the Latin
and the national versions are characterised by a variety in the number, sequence and
themes of chapters on the basis of different traditions77 . As even Oesterley has noted,
this circumstance made what he began as a “fundamental critical analysis of the
text” a loss of time as there were “nearly as many texts as manuscripts”. 78
In fact, one can obtain information about the manuscript tradition of the ha-
giographic tale of BHL 2763 mostly from the edition of Gesta Romanorum pub-
lished by Hermann Oesterley in 1872.79 The complete picture of the place of this
narrative in the miscellany and about the change of the hagiographic model emerges

74
Cf. (Sauer 1989: col. 1408).
75
The first three printed editions appeared between 1472 and 1475.
76
On the content, proliferation and sources, as well as a bibliography of studies on
Gesta Romanorum: (Gerdes 1981: 25–34)
77
In relation to this it is interesting to mention that there is no manuscript presenting
the printed ediions. Assumptions are made that the publishers of the first edition selected the
stories from different manuscripts. – Cf. Gesta Romanorum // Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol.
VI. www.newadvent.org – last updated 19 Feb. 2003.
78
Oesterley 1872: 255.
79
There is information about the manuscript tradition in the dissertation of P. Hommers
(Munich 1965) – quoted after (Gerdes 1981: 25–34).

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when one complements Oesterley’s information with that used by Wilhelm Dick for
the next publication of Gesta Romanorum in 1890.80
Dick used what is dated as the oldest manuscript (of 1342) – cod. lat. 310 of the
University Library in Innsbruck, as well as four more codices belonging to the same
textual tradition and presently located in the Bavarian State Library in Münich.81
The text one reads in the 1890 edition is not hagiographic in character, which is why
it is not mentioned in BHL. On the other hand, this repertory gives BHL 2763 as a
hagiographic story with moralizatio. The catalogues of the Bollandists, however,
lack information about the reading. The explanation probably lies in the fact that
Gesta Romanorum as a whole is not a hagiographic compendium but a collection of
the so-called exempla.
Oesterley, however, studied some 250 copies in which there are six similar
stories with allegorical interpretation based on hagiographic works about St. Alexis
the Confessor (15), St. John the Merciful (18), St. Gregory the Great (81), St.
Eustathius Placidas (110), St. Laurence (201.) and St. Hildregard of Bingen (249).
At the end of the edition, the scholar makes a reference (Oesteley 1872: 715, 725,
730, 743,747) of the authors and works in which one finds the moral tales. In these
six cases, Oesterley has quoted the following late medieval authors of hagiographic
texts as sources of the stories in Gesta Romanorum Jacob of Voragine (15.82 ,
18.83 ,110.84 , 201.85 ), Vincent of Beauvais (15.86 ,18.87 ,110.88 , 249.89 ), Humbert of
Romans (249.90 ), Hartmann of Aue (81.91 ), Stephen of Bourbon (249.). According
to the above-quoted work of K. Geith, when compiling the Legenda aurea Jacob of
80
Dick 1890.
81
These were the four codices kept at the end of the 19th century at the Royal State
Library in Munich (München, Hof- und Staatsbibliothek) under the following sigantures:
cod. lat. 18786, cod. lat. 4691, cod. lat. 7759, cod. lat. 7841a .
82
Jacobi a Voragine Legenda aurea vulgo Historia Lombardica dicta. Ad optimorum
librorum fidem recensuit Th. Graesse. Reproductio phototypica editiones tertiae 1890.
Osnabrück, 1965, cap. 94.
83
Jacobi a Voragine 1965: cap. 30, 4.
84
Jacobi a Voragine 1965: cap. 161.
85
Jacobi a Voragine 1965: cap.117.
86
Speculum historiale 18, 43.
87
Speculum morale 3, 10, 23. S. 1483; Speculum historiale 9, 115.
88
Speculum historiale 11, 58–62, 82
89
Speculum historiale 7, 90–92.
90
Humbertus de Romanis 59.
91
Hartmann v. d. Aue ed. Greith, spicil. Vatican. 1838, s. 180–303; ed. Lachmann,
1838.

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Voragine borrowed almost completely or in their entirety the legends about St.
Laurence and St. Eustathius, as well as partly that about St. Gregory the Great from
Jean de Mailly, while also using other sources for St. Alexis. The conclusion arrived
at as a result of these observations is that in more than 50% of the cases, Dominican
compendia were the source of instructive examples in the Gesta Romanorum.
The hagiographic legend about St. Eustathius quoted as BHL 2763 is found in
24 of the copies of Gesta Romanorum, the contents of which Oesterley describes92 .
Only three of the copies date from the 14th century and, according to the description,
are kept at the Prussian State Library in Berlin (Preussischen Staatsbibliothek zu
Berlin), at the library of the counts of Schönborn in Pommersfelden, Bavaria
(Pommersfelden, Graeflich Schönbornsche Bibliothek) and the City Library in
Colmar, France.93 As the manuscript tradition of Gesta Romanorum indicates, in the
15th century BHL 2763 spread in the German provinces of Bavaria, Baden-
Württemberg, Hessen, Lower Saxony, Southeastern Germany and Lower Austria.94
As a whole more manuscripts of BHL 2763 than of BHL 2762 are known. Both
versions are better represented in the 14th and the 15th century than BHL 2760, whose
model they follow.
The other Latin version, BHL 2761b, which is much shorter than BHL 2760
and which carries certain changes of content, ascends towards the Greek vita BHG
641. The first evidence about it can be found in two manuscripts from the 9th–10th
century. The Cassino version BHL 2761b is on f. 228v–231v of Vat. lat. 5771, which
we know to have originated from Bobbio monastery (Piedmont, Northern Italy) and
in a manuscript from Benediktbeuren,95 today at the Bavarian State Library in Munich
– Clm 4585. The same version is on f. 47v–50v of cod. XIV from the 11th century at
Vallicelliana Library, and in two codices at the Vatican Library – cod. A. 79, f. 225–
227 of the 11th–12th century and the already mentioned Vat. lat. 6933, f. 130r–133v
of the second half of the 12th century. The manuscripts were studied by Wilhelm
Meyer for the publication of the text of BHL 2761b in the series of the Goettingen
Academy of Sciences96 .
92
See: (Oesterley 1872: 5–260).
93
Cod. Berolin. germ. 64381, fol. (аnte 1377); cod. Pomersfeld. 279392, quart, 1394;
cod. Colmar. Issenhem. 1076, fol. (XIVs.)
94
See the description of the manuscripts under number І, ІV, V, VІІ, ІХ, Х, ХІ, ХІІІ,
ХІV, ХV, ХVІІІ, ХХІІ, ХХV, ХХVІІ, ХХХІ, ХХХІV, ХХХVІ, ХХХІХ, ХLІІ, ХLІІІ, L,
LІІІ, LХІV, LХХІ in: (Oesterley 1872: 9–165).
95
According to Siegmund’s description, the codex originated from Regensburg,
(Siegmund 1949: 216).
96
Meyer aus Speyer 1916: 272–87; 795–98 (non vidi).

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Only one 11th century manuscript – Vat. lat. 7810, f. 99r–102r – features BHL
2761c, which is directly dependent on BHL 2761b, and one should say that it pre-
sents orthographic variants rather than a version of its own account.
In terms of number of copies, BHL 2761b isfollowed by 2761, for which the
classification stated it carries similar features with BHL 2761b and BHL 2761c.
In terms of chronology, the manuscripts containing BHL 2761 date from the
11 –12th century. These include an apostolic passional from San Vincenzo or Vol-
th

turna – cod. VIII, f. 17r–22v of Vallicelliana Library and Cod. Casin. 145 of the
Monte Cassino monastery library, after which the only publication of BHL 276197
was made. The dating of the known manuscripts confirms the assumption of gene-
alogical ties,which I made in my attempt to classify this group of texts.
The variants of the Cassino version mentioned so far are generally found in
11th–12th century copies. The St. Eustathius legend belonging to this branch of the
tradition, BHL 2761d, features in three manuscripts. Two of these – cod. C of the
Capitular Library in Luca and Sessorianus 5 of the National Library in Rome –
originated from Tuscany. The third manuscript, which features the reading about St.
Eustathius in this version, is Urbinus Lat. 49 of the Vatican Apostolic Library. The
manuscript, dating from the 15th century, is the latest and only one until now men-
tioned as evidence of Cassino version proliferation in the Late Middle Ages.
Two distinct units emerge from the review of the manuscript tradition of prose
hagiographic works dedicated to St. Eustathius Placidas.
An uninterrupted tradition of BHL 2760 is observed throughout the Latin Middle
Ages, in spite of the decline after the appearance of its shortened versions BHL 2762
and BHL 2763. All three versions spread across a vast geographic area, reaching the
Netherlands around the middle of the 15th century in their movement from the south
to the north. On the other hand, although it appeared in the second half of the 11th or
the beginning of the 10th century, the so-called Cassino version, which is also based
on the familiar Greek hagiographic work, remained in restricted use in Italy and
Southern Germany. It flourished in the 11th century.

97
Printed twice – Bibliotheca Casinensis III (1877) Flor. 351–354; Ott 1912: 64–69.

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About the author …

Stiljana Batalova received her MA from the Department
of Classical Philology of St. Kliment Oxridsli University
(Sofia). Her MA thesis was entitled „Latin Late Medieval
Chronicles and the Motif of the Conversion of the Bulgarians
to Christianity in Them“. Now she is a doctoral candidate
at the same department and works in the field of mediaeval
Latin hagiography.
Publications: Сл. Бърлиева, Ст. Баталова. “Покръства-
нето на българите в хронографията на Западното Сред-
новековие.”// Средновековна християнска Eвропа: Изток
и Запад. С. , 2002, 418-432; Ст. Баталова. “Промяната на
агиографския модел в две творби за св. Евстатий Плаки-
да в късносредновековния сборник Gesta Romanorum.”
// Acta Philologica. Доклади от Научната сесия на докто-
рантите и асистентите при ФКНФ, посветена на 1100 г.
от Преславския събор и приемането на старобългарския
език за богослужебен. С., УИ “Св. Климент Охридски”,
2003 (in print).

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