University of Oxford
Browse

File(s) not publicly available

E05959: Marius of Avenches, in a chronicle written in Latin at Avenches (eastern Gaul), c. 581, describes how the monastery dedicated to the *Theban legion (S00339) at Saint-Maurice-d'Agaune (eastern Gaul) was sacked by the Lombards in 574.

online resource
posted on 2018-07-15, 00:00 authored by dlambert
Chronicle of Marius of Avenches

Eo anno iterum Langobardi in Vallem ingressi sunt et Clusas obtinuerunt et in monasterium sanctorum Acaunensium diebus multis habitaverunt: et postea in Baccis pugnam contra exercitum Francorum commiserunt, ubi paene ad integrum interfecti sunt, pauci fuga liberati.

'In this year, the Lombards again invaded Valais and took possession of Clusae. They lived in the monastery of the saints of Agaune for many days, and afterwards engaged the army of the Franks in battle at Bex, where they were killed almost to a man; a few escaped by flight.'


Text: Mommsen 1894, 239. Translation: Murray 2000, 107.

History

Evidence ID

E05959

Saint Name

Theban Legion, commanded by *Maurice, martyrs of Agaunum, Gaul : S00339

Saint Name in Source

sancti Acaunenses

Type of Evidence

Literary - Other narrative texts (including Histories)

Language

  • Latin

Evidence not before

574

Evidence not after

594

Activity not before

574

Activity not after

574

Place of Evidence - Region

Gaul and Frankish kingdoms

Place of Evidence - City, village, etc

Avenches

Place of evidence - City name in other Language(s)

Avenches Tours Tours Toronica urbs Prisciniacensim vicus Pressigny Turonorum civitas Ceratensis vicus Céré

Cult activities - Places

Cult building - monastic

Source

Marius, bishop of Avenches c. 574-c. 594, composed a short continuation of the chronicle of Prosper of Aquitaine, covering events from the end of Prosper's chronicle in 455 up to 581.

Discussion

The reputed site of the martyrdom of Mauritius and the Theban Legion was at Acaunum in the upper Rhone Valley (present day Saint-Maurice-d'Agaune, Switzerland). The monastery there was founded by Sigismund, king of the Burgundians, in 515. This entry in the chronicle of Marius of Avenches is the clearest account of the occupation of the monastery during the Lombard incursion into Francia in 574. This is the event mentioned in the Copenhagen continuation of Prosper (E03573) and the chronicle of Fredegar (E05956).

Bibliography

Edition: Mommsen, T., Marii episcopi Aventicensis chronica, in: Chronica minora saec. IV. V. VI. VII (II) (Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Auctores antiquissimi 11; Berlin, 1894), 232-239. Translation: Murray, A.C., From Roman to Merovingian Gaul: A Reader (Peterborough, Ontario, 2000), 100-108.

Usage metrics

    Evidence -  The Cult of Saints in Late Antiquity

    Licence

    Exports

    RefWorks
    BibTeX
    Ref. manager
    Endnote
    DataCite
    NLM
    DC