Severinus Of Noricum
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Severinus of Noricum ( 410 – 8 January 482) is a saint, known as the "Apostle to
Noricum Noricum () is the Latin name for the kingdom or federation of tribes that included most of modern Austria and part of Slovenia. In the first century AD, it became a province of the Roman Empire. Its borders were the Danube to the north, R ...
". It has been speculated that he was born in either
Southern Italy Southern Italy (, , or , ; ; ), also known as () or (; ; ; ), is a macroregion of Italy consisting of its southern Regions of Italy, regions. The term "" today mostly refers to the regions that are associated with the people, lands or cultu ...
or in the
Roman province of Africa Africa was a Roman province on the northern coast of the continent of Africa. It was established in 146 BC, following the Roman Republic's conquest of Carthage in the Third Punic War. It roughly comprised the territory of present-day Tunisi ...
. Severinus himself refused to discuss his personal history before his appearance along the
Danube The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...
in Noricum, after the death of
Attila Attila ( or ; ), frequently called Attila the Hun, was the ruler of the Huns from 434 until his death in early 453. He was also the leader of an empire consisting of Huns, Ostrogoths, Alans, and Gepids, among others, in Central Europe, C ...
in 453. However, he did mention experiences with eastern desert
monasticism Monasticism (; ), also called monachism or monkhood, is a religion, religious way of life in which one renounces world (theology), worldly pursuits to devote oneself fully to spiritual activities. Monastic life plays an important role in many Chr ...
, and his '' vita'' draws connections between Severinus and Saint Anthony of Lerins. Saint Severinus of Noricum is not to be confused with Severinus of Septempeda, bishop of
San Severino Marche San Severino Marche is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Macerata in the Italian region Marche, located about southwest of Ancona and about southwest of Macerata. History From prehistory to Roman age The oldest remains of human ...
and brother of Saint Victorinus of Camerino. According to Thompson, the saint had been a public figure of the utmost importance and held the consulship himself in 461.


Life

Little is known of Severinus' origins. The source for information about him is the ''Commemoratorium vitae s. Severini'' (511) by Eugippius. Severinus was a high-born Roman living as an
anchorite In Christianity, an anchorite or anchoret (female: anchoress); () is someone who, for religious reasons, withdraws from secular society to be able to lead an intensely prayer-oriented, Asceticism , ascetic, or Eucharist-focused life. Anchorit ...
in the East. He himself was an ascetic in practice. He is first recorded as traveling along the
Danube The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...
in Noricum and
Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...
, preaching Christianity, procuring supplies for the starving, redeeming captives and establishing monasteries at
Passau Passau (; ) is a city in Lower Bavaria, Germany. It is also known as the ("City of Three Rivers"), as the river Danube is joined by the Inn (river), Inn from the south and the Ilz from the north. Passau's population is about 50,000, of whom ...
and Favianae, At the age of eight, the orphaned Anthony of Lerins was entrusted to the care of Severinus and brought up at the monastery. Upon the death of Severinus in 482, he was sent to Germany and put in the care of his uncle, Constantius, an early Bishop of Lorsch. While the
Western Empire In modern historiography, the Western Roman Empire was the western provinces of the Roman Empire, collectively, during any period in which they were administered separately from the eastern provinces by a separate, independent imperial court. ...
was falling apart, Severinus, thanks to his virtues and organizational skills, committed himself to the religious and material care of the frontier peoples, also taking care of their military defense."Saint Severinus Abbot", ''Daily Compass''
/ref> He organized refugee camps, migrations to safer areas, and food distribution. Severinus' efforts seem to have won him wide respect, including that of the Germanic chieftain
Odoacer Odoacer ( – 15 March 493 AD), also spelled Odovacer or Odovacar, was a barbarian soldier and statesman from the Middle Danube who deposed the Western Roman child emperor Romulus Augustulus and became the ruler of Italy (476–493). Odoacer' ...
. Eugippius credits him with the prediction that Odoacer would become king of Rome. However, Severinus warned that Odoacer would rule not more than fourteen years. According to Eugippius, Gibuld of the
Alamanni The Alemanni or Alamanni were a confederation of Germanic tribes * * * on the Upper Rhine River during the first millennium. First mentioned by Cassius Dio in the context of the campaign of Roman emperor Caracalla of 213 CE, the Alemanni c ...
used to harry Passau, until he was asked by Severinus to free his Roman hostages. Gibuld was so impressed by the Christian abbot that he agreed to free seventy of his prisoners. Severinus also supposedly prophesied the destruction of Asturis (perhaps ),
Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...
, by the Huns. When the people would not heed his warning, he took refuge in Comagena. Severinus established refugee centers for people displaced by the invasion, and founded monasteries to re-establish spirituality and preserve learning in the stricken region. He died in his monastic cell at Favianae while singing Psalm 150. Six years after his death, his monks were driven from their abbey, and his body was taken to Italy, where it was at first kept in the Castel dell'Ovo, Naples, then eventually entombed at the
Benedictine The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...
monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of Monasticism, monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in Cenobitic monasticism, communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a ...
rededicated to him, the Abbey of San Severino in the city of Naples. Severinus is the patron saint of Austria, and of Bavaria.


Accounts of his life

Paul the Deacon Paul the Deacon ( 720s 13 April in 796, 797, 798, or 799 AD), also known as ''Paulus Diaconus'', ''Warnefridus'', ''Barnefridus'', or ''Winfridus'', and sometimes suffixed ''Cassinensis'' (''i.e.'' "of Monte Cassino"), was a Benedictine monk, sc ...
, in his 8th-century ''History of the Lombards,'' mentions the monastery founded by Severinus at Eiferingen, at the foot of the Kahlenberg, not far from Vienna: The ''Vita'' of Severinus was written by Eugippius. Beyond Eugippius' work, the only other contemporary source that mentions Saint Severinus is the ''Vita beati Antonii'' by Magnus Felix Ennodius, bishop of Pavia. In the '' History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'',
Edward Gibbon Edward Gibbon (; 8 May 173716 January 1794) was an English essayist, historian, and politician. His most important work, ''The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'', published in six volumes between 1776 and 1789, is known for ...
notes that the disciples of Saint Severinus were invited by a Neapolitan lady to bring his body to the villa in 488, "in the place of Augustulus, who was probably no more". It is based on the passage in the ''Vita'' by Eugippius where it is said that the estate was called ''castellum Lucullanum''. The estate was converted into a monastery before 500 to hold the saint's remains and Eugippius became an abbot there. The estate is also well attested as the place of exile of the deposed emperor
Romulus Augustulus Romulus Augustus (after 511), nicknamed Augustulus, was Roman emperor of the Western Roman Empire, West from 31 October 475 until 4 September 476. Romulus was placed on the imperial throne while still a minor by his father Orestes (father of Ro ...
Hence, the speculation that the Neapolitan woman Barbaria who received the relics in Castellum Lucullanum might have been Augustulus's mother.
Martin Luther Martin Luther ( ; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, Theology, theologian, author, hymnwriter, professor, and former Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinian friar. Luther was the seminal figure of the Reformation, Pr ...
made reference to St. Severinus in point 29 of his Ninety-five Theses suggesting that it is unclear whether all of the souls in purgatory desire to be redeemed, as it is said not to have been the case, for example, with Saints Severinus and Paschalis.


See also

*
Boethius Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius, commonly known simply as Boethius (; Latin: ''Boetius''; 480–524 AD), was a Roman Roman Senate, senator, Roman consul, consul, ''magister officiorum'', polymath, historian, and philosopher of the Early Middl ...


Notes


References

* Giesriegl, K. (2013), ''Severin'' (Novel. BdP 2013) * Attwater, Donald and Catherine Rachel John. ''The Penguin Dictionary of Saints''. 3rd edition. New York: Penguin Books, 1993. . * Brown, P. (1971), ''The World of Late Antiquity'' (New York: W. W. Norton & Co). * ''Eugippius und Severin: Der Author, der Text und der Heilige'' (Vienna: Verlag der Osterreichischen Akademie Der Wissenschaften). * Ward-Perkins, B. (2005), ''The Fall of Rome and the End of Civilization'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press). * Adolph Spaeth, L.D. Reed, Henry Eyster Jacobs, et Al., Trans. & Eds. ''Works of Martin Luther'' (Philadelphia: A. J. Holman Company, 1915), Vol.1, pp. 29–38. * *


External links


Eugippius, ''The Life of St Severinus''


{{DEFAULTSORT:Severinus of Noricum 410s births 482 deaths 5th-century Christian saints 5th-century Romans Italian Roman Catholic saints Romulus Augustulus