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E06563: Aldhelm, in his prose On Virginity, names *Malchus (monk of Maronia, Syria, ob. c. 380, S00463) as an exemplary virgin. Written in Latin in southern Britain, for the nuns at the monastery at Barking (south-east Britain), c. 675/686.
online resource
posted on 2018-09-20, 00:00 authored by bsavillAldhelm, prose On Virginity, 31
[...] Unde Malchus, cum paternae severitatis violentia simulque materna gravitate, qui successurae posteritati consulebant, ad carnale consortium cogeretur, castitatis obtentu et regni caelestis causa contempnere decrevit [...] maluit mucrone transfossus crudeliter occumbere quam pudicitiae iura profanando vitam defendere, nequaquam animae periculum pertimescens, si integer virginitatis status servaretur.
'[...] Hence MALCHUS, when he was forced into a carnal union by the violence of paternal severity and at the same time by maternal pressure – they being concerned about the offspring that were to result – he decided to scorn (the marriage) on the pretext of chastity for the sake of the heavenly kingdom [...] he preferred to die transfixed cruelly by the sword rather than to defend his life by profaning the laws of chastity, fearing in no way danger to his soul if the status of his virginity were preserved intact.'
Ehwald 1919, 270. Translation: Lapidge and Herren 1979, 91, lightly modified.
[...] Unde Malchus, cum paternae severitatis violentia simulque materna gravitate, qui successurae posteritati consulebant, ad carnale consortium cogeretur, castitatis obtentu et regni caelestis causa contempnere decrevit [...] maluit mucrone transfossus crudeliter occumbere quam pudicitiae iura profanando vitam defendere, nequaquam animae periculum pertimescens, si integer virginitatis status servaretur.
'[...] Hence MALCHUS, when he was forced into a carnal union by the violence of paternal severity and at the same time by maternal pressure – they being concerned about the offspring that were to result – he decided to scorn (the marriage) on the pretext of chastity for the sake of the heavenly kingdom [...] he preferred to die transfixed cruelly by the sword rather than to defend his life by profaning the laws of chastity, fearing in no way danger to his soul if the status of his virginity were preserved intact.'
Ehwald 1919, 270. Translation: Lapidge and Herren 1979, 91, lightly modified.
History
Evidence ID
E06563Saint Name
Malchus, monk of Maronia (Syria), ob. c. 380s : S00463Saint Name in Source
MalchusRelated Saint Records
Type of Evidence
Literary - OtherLanguage
- Latin