The ''Martyrology of Usuard'' is a work by Usuard, a monk of 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 ...

abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christian monks and nuns. The co ...

.Thurston, Herbert. "Martyrology of Usuard." The Catholic Encyclopedia
Vol. 15. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912. 12 March 2021 The prologue is dedicated to

Charles the Bald Charles the Bald (; 13 June 823 – 6 October 877), also known as CharlesII, was a 9th-century king of West Francia (843–877), King of Italy (875–877) and emperor of the Carolingian Empire (875–877). After a series of civil wars during t ...

indicating that it was undertaken at that monarch's instigation. It was apparently written shortly before the author's death in 875.Bonniwell O.P., W.R., "Introduction", ''The Martyrology of the Sacred Order of Friars Preachers'', The Newman Press, Westminster, Maryland, 1955
/ref> The martyrology enjoyed consistent success throughout the Middle Ages, as evidenced by numerous surviving manuscripts. This martyrology synthesizes elements of the old

Martyrologium Hieronymianum The ''Martyrologium Hieronymianum'' (meaning "martyrology of Jerome") or ''Martyrologium sancti Hieronymi'' (meaning "martyrology of Saint Jerome") is an ancient martyrology or list of Christian martyrs in calendar order, one of the most used and ...

, the martyrology of

Ado of Vienne Ado (died 16 December 874) was a Frankish churchman and writer. He served as the archbishop of Vienne from 850 until his death and is venerated as a saint. His writings include hagiography and historiography. Life Ado belonged to a prominent nobl ...

, and an enhanced version of that of

Bede Bede (; ; 672/326 May 735), also known as Saint Bede, Bede of Jarrow, the Venerable Bede, and Bede the Venerable (), was an English monk, author and scholar. He was one of the most known writers during the Early Middle Ages, and his most f ...

, attributed to the

archdeacon An archdeacon is a senior clergy position in the Church of the East, Chaldean Catholic Church, Syriac Orthodox Church, Anglican Communion, St Thomas Christians, Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox churches and some other Christian denomina ...

Florus of Lyon. It contains eleven hundred saints' lives. The martyrology is a compilation upon which the later ''

Roman Martyrology The ''Roman Martyrology'' () is the official martyrology of the Catholic Church. Its use is obligatory in matters regarding the Roman Rite liturgy, but dioceses, countries and religious institutes may add duly approved appendices to it. It provid ...

'' depended closely until the twentieth century; it remained throughout the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

the most famous document of its kind. It is preserved to us in innumerable

manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand or typewritten, as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced in some indirect or automated way. More recently, the term has ...

s, of which

Henri Quentin Dom Henri Quentin (7 October 1872, Saint-Thierry - 4 February 1935, Rome) was a French Benedictine abbot. A philologist specializing in biblical texts and martyrologies, he was the creator of an original method of textual criticism (sometimes ...

gives a partial list (''Martyrologes historiques'', 1908, pp. 675–7). The full story of the relation of the texts was unravelled for the first time by Quentin, and the evolution of the early medieval martyrologia culminating in Usuard's work was told by Quentin in the book just cited. Usuard provided what was substantially an abridgement of Ado's ''Martyrology'' in a form better adapted for practical liturgical use. In certain points, however, Usuard reverted to a Lyonese

recension Recension is the practice of editing or revising a text based on critical analysis. When referring to manuscripts, this may be a revision by another author. The term is derived from the Latin ("review, analysis"). In textual criticism (as is the ...

's augmented ''Martyrology'', which was attributed to the

Florus of Lyon. The text of Usuard's ''Martyrologium'' was edited by Jacques Bouillart (Paris, 1718) from manuscript Latini 13745 at Paris, which, if not the

autograph An autograph is a person's own handwriting or signature. The word ''autograph'' comes from Ancient Greek (, ''autós'', "self" and , ''gráphō'', "write"), and can mean more specifically: Gove, Philip B. (ed.), 1981. ''Webster's Third New Intern ...

of the author, dates at any rate from his time. A still more elaborate edition was brought out by the

Bollandist The Bollandist Society (; ) is an association of scholars, philologists, and historians (originally all Jesuits, but now including non-Jesuits) who since the early seventeenth century have studied hagiography and the cult of the saints in Christia ...

Father Jean-Baptiste Du Sollier. In the thirteenth century the Dominican Order adopted Usuard's as the basis for their own martyrology.

Usuard

Usuard (died 23 January 875)Bonniwell O.P., W.R., "Introduction", ''The Martyrology of the Sacred Order of Friars Preachers'', The Newman Press, Westminster, Maryland, 1955
/ref> was a

monk at the

Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christian monks and nuns. The co ...

and a

Carolingian The Carolingian dynasty ( ; known variously as the Carlovingians, Carolingus, Carolings, Karolinger or Karlings) was a Frankish noble family named after Charles Martel and his grandson Charlemagne, descendants of the Arnulfing and Pippinid c ...

scholar. His name appears in a list of monks of Saint-Germain-des-Prés written around 841/847 (a declaration of spiritual association with the monks of the Abbey of Saint-Remi). In 858, he went to Spain with his colleague Odilard monk to collect

relics In religion, a relic is an object or article of religious significance from the past. It usually consists of the physical remains or personal effects of a saint or other person preserved for the purpose of veneration as a tangible memorial. Reli ...

; they returned with those martyrs George, Aurelius and Nathalie, Christians executed in Córdoba, Andalusia on 27 July 852.Effros, B. (1990). "Usuard's Journey to Spain and Its Influence on the Dissemination of the Cult of the Cordovan Martyrs". ''Comitatus: A Journal of Medieval and Renaissance Studies'', 21(1)
/ref> The account of this voyage, accompanied by miracles, was told by their colleague Aimoin Usuard also composed an

obituary An obituary (wikt:obit#Etymology 2, obit for short) is an Article (publishing), article about a recently death, deceased person. Newspapers often publish obituaries as Article (publishing), news articles. Although obituaries tend to focus on p ...

of the abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés, the oldest of its kind (edited by Auguste Molinier, ''The French obituaries in the Middle Ages'', 1890).

Notes

Sources

* ''Martyrology of Usuard'' *

, ''Les martyrologes historiques du Moyen Âge'', Paris, 1908. * *

External links

Opera Omnia by Migne Patrologia Latina with analytical indexesGuide to Usuard, Martirologium. Manuscript, 14--
at th
University of Chicago Special Collections Research Center
{{Authority control Martyrologies