''De correctione rusticorum'' ('on the correction of rural people'), also known as ''Pro castigatione rusticorum'' ('for the castigation of rural people') is a letter by
Saint Martin of Braga (c. 520–580 CE), written in
Gallaecia
Gallaecia, also known as Hispania Gallaecia, was the name of a Roman province in the north-west of Hispania, approximately present-day Galicia, northern Portugal, Asturias and Leon and the later Kingdom of Gallaecia. The Roman cities inclu ...
. The text begins with a letter from Martin to Bishop
Polemius of Astorga, indicating that Polemius had asked Martin to write a piece on the origin of idols. Compared with
Caesarius of Arles
Caesarius of Arles (; 468/470 27 August 542 AD), sometimes called "of Chalon" (''Cabillonensis'' or ''Cabellinensis'') from his birthplace Chalon-sur-Saône, was the foremost ecclesiastic of his generation in Christianity in Merovingian Gaul, Mer ...
, Martin seems to take a gentler stance on how to accommodate non-Christian traditions in the course of missionary work in the region.
Sources and influence
The ''De correctione'' drew on ''
De catechizandis rudibus'' by
Augustine of Hippo
Augustine of Hippo ( , ; ; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430) was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Africa. His writings deeply influenced the development of Western philosop ...
It was in turn a major influence on
Pirmin of Reichenau's ''Scarapsus'', and a source for several of
Ælfric of Eynsham
Ælfric of Eynsham (; ; ) was an English abbot and a student of Æthelwold of Winchester, and a consummate, prolific writer in Old English of hagiography, homilies, biblical commentaries, and other genres. He is also known variously as '' ...
's sermons, not least his famous ''
De falsis diis''. The text may also have been referred to directly by the writer of the
Old Norse
Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants ...
''Um þat hvaðan ótrú hófsk'' ('how false belief began'), whose text is, however, more strongly influenced by Ælfric's ''De falsis diis''.
[Jonas Wellendorf, ''Gods and Humans in Medieval Scandinavia: Retying the Bonds'' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2018), p. 140 n 21.]
Editions and translations
An unprovenanced online text of the sermon
*''
Martin von Bracara's Schrift De Correctione Rusticorum'', ed. by C. P. Caspari (Christiana, 1883) (including German translation)
* C. W. Barlow, ''Iberian Fathers: Martin of Braga, Paschasius of Dumium, Leander of Seville'', Fathers of the Church, 62 (Washington, 1969), pp. 71-85 (English translation)
*''Martini episcopi Bracarensis opera omnia'', ed. by C. W. Barlow (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1950), pp. 183-203 (edition of the Latin)
* Clols, Jove, ''Martin de Braga: Sermon contra las supersticiones rurales'' (Barcelona, 1981) (includes Spanish translation)
* Serban, G. I., 'Martino da Dumio, antico scritore rumeno', ''Mitropolia banatului'', 39 (1989), 47-60 (includes Romanian translation)
* Martino de Braga, ''Contro le superstizioni: catechesi al popolo. De correctione rusticorum'', ed. by M. Naldini, Biblioteca patristica, 19 (Nardini, 1991) (includes Italian translation)
* Colonna, Enza, 'Il Sermo Rusticus de Martino di Braga', ''Invigilata lucernis'', 13-14 (1991-92), 121-47 (includes Italian translation)
* López Pereira, J. E. and J. Correa Corredoira, ''De correctione rusticorum: Martiño de Braga; gravados Correa Corredoira; a traducción ao galego da presente obra estivo a cargo do profesor X. Eduardo López Pereira e foi realizada a partir dos manuscritos latinos orixinais'' (A Coruña: Espiral Maior, 1997)
References
Christian sermons
5th century in Hispania
5th-century Christian texts
5th-century books in Latin
Medieval Galicia (Spain)
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