Agaunum
Encyclopedia
Roman
Agaunum, the modern Saint-Maurice in the canton
Valais
in southwesternmost Switzerland
, was a minor post confined between the Rhône
and the mountains along the well-travelled road that led from Roman Genava, modern Geneva
, over the Alps
by the Great St. Bernard Pass
to Italy
.
Agaunum is noted for the fact that the monks at the monastery of Agaunum performed perpetual prayers since its formation in 522 by King Sigismund
.
Near Agaunum, in a place still identifiable as a former temple to Mercury
, god of travellers, recently excavated behind the abbey's present sanctuary, a revelation led to the discovery of martyrs' bones during the time of Theodore, Bishop of Theodore, Bishop of Octudurum (now Martigny
), who was in office 350 AD. The etiological narrative
explaining the cache of human remains led to the cult of an entire Roman legion, the legendary Theban Legion
, martyred at the spot, when this entirely Christian legion refused to sacrifice to the Emperor Maximian
and were put to death, by decimation
, one out of ten at a time, until all were martyred. Their leader according to the legend was Saint Maurice
.
The martyrology was written by Eucherius, Bishop of Lyon, who died in 494 AD. He wrote
Eucherius' telling of the legend reports that the shrine erected by Theodore was already in his time a basilica
that was the destination of pilgrims. It lay within the diocese of the Bishop of Sion
. The actual site of the martyrdom (or of the cache of bones) was pointed out to pilgrims as the "true place" the vrai lieu, a name it still carries, as Verroliez, according to local etymology
.
In 515
, the basilica became the center of a monastery built on land donated by Sigismund of Burgundy
, the first king of the Burgundians
to convert from Arianism
to Trinitarian Christianity. His personal conversion was not pressed upon his Burgundian nobles. With the cooperation of the Catholic bishops, Sigismund set out to remake the existing hospice and community that already ministered to pilgrims around the shrine. The result was a unique development in its time: a monastery created ex nihilo under patronage, rather than one that developed organically around the person of a revered monk. Between 515 and 521, Sigismund lavishly endowed his royal foundation, and he transferred monks from other Burgundian monasteries, to ensure that a constant liturgy was kept. The liturgy, known as the laus perennis "perpetual praise" of relays of choirs, was an innovation for Western Europe, imported from Constantinople
; it was distinctive to the abbey of St. Maurice and the practice spread widely from there.
St. Maurice's Abbey at Agaunum was the chief abbey of the Burgundian kingdom. In the tenth century the Saracens of Fraxinet
established an outpost near the abbey to control the Alpine passes. In 961
the relics of Maurice and the martyrs were conveyed to the new cathedral being erected at Magdeburg
by Emperor Otto I
but the abbey has continued to flourish.
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
Agaunum, the modern Saint-Maurice in the canton
Cantons of Switzerland
The 26 cantons of Switzerland are the member states of the federal state of Switzerland. Each canton was a fully sovereign state with its own borders, army and currency from the Treaty of Westphalia until the establishment of the Swiss federal state in 1848...
Valais
Valais
The Valais is one of the 26 cantons of Switzerland in the southwestern part of the country, around the valley of the Rhône from its headwaters to Lake Geneva, separating the Pennine Alps from the Bernese Alps. The canton is one of the drier parts of Switzerland in its central Rhône valley...
in southwesternmost Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, was a minor post confined between the Rhône
Rhône River
The Rhone is one of the major rivers of Europe, rising in Switzerland and running from there through southeastern France. At Arles, near its mouth on the Mediterranean Sea, the river divides into two branches, known as the Great Rhone and the Little Rhone...
and the mountains along the well-travelled road that led from Roman Genava, modern Geneva
Geneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
, over the Alps
Alps
The Alps is one of the great mountain range systems of Europe, stretching from Austria and Slovenia in the east through Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Germany to France in the west....
by the Great St. Bernard Pass
Great St. Bernard Pass
Great St. Bernard Pass is the third highest road pass in Switzerland. It connects Martigny in the Canton of Valais in Switzerland to Aosta in Italy. It is the lowest pass lying on the ridge between the two highest summits of the Alps, Mont Blanc and Monte Rosa...
to Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
.
Agaunum is noted for the fact that the monks at the monastery of Agaunum performed perpetual prayers since its formation in 522 by King Sigismund
Sigismund of Burgundy
Sigismund was king of the Burgundians from 516 to his death. He was the son of king Gundobad, whom he succeeded in 516. Sigismund and his brother Godomar were defeated in battle by Clovis' sons and Godomar fled. Sigismund was taken by Chlodomer, King of Orléans, where he was kept as a prisoner. He...
.
Near Agaunum, in a place still identifiable as a former temple to Mercury
Mercury (mythology)
Mercury was a messenger who wore winged sandals, and a god of trade, the son of Maia Maiestas and Jupiter in Roman mythology. His name is related to the Latin word merx , mercari , and merces...
, god of travellers, recently excavated behind the abbey's present sanctuary, a revelation led to the discovery of martyrs' bones during the time of Theodore, Bishop of Theodore, Bishop of Octudurum (now Martigny
Martigny, Switzerland
Martigny is the capital of the French-speaking district of Martigny in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. It lies at an elevation of , and its population is approximately 15000 inhabitants . It is a junction of roads joining Italy, France and Switzerland...
), who was in office 350 AD. The etiological narrative
Etiology
Etiology is the study of causation, or origination. The word is derived from the Greek , aitiologia, "giving a reason for" ....
explaining the cache of human remains led to the cult of an entire Roman legion, the legendary Theban Legion
Theban Legion
The Theban Legion figures in Christian hagiography as an entire Roman legion — of "six thousand six hundred and sixty-six men" — who had converted en masse to Christianity and were martyred together, in 286, according to the hagiographies of Saint Maurice, the chief among the Legion's...
, martyred at the spot, when this entirely Christian legion refused to sacrifice to the Emperor Maximian
Maximian
Maximian was Roman Emperor from 286 to 305. He was Caesar from 285 to 286, then Augustus from 286 to 305. He shared the latter title with his co-emperor and superior, Diocletian, whose political brain complemented Maximian's military brawn. Maximian established his residence at Trier but spent...
and were put to death, by decimation
Decimation (Roman Army)
Decimation |ten]]") was a form of military discipline used by officers in the Roman Army to punish mutinous or cowardly soldiers. The word decimation is derived from Latin meaning "removal of a tenth".-Procedure:...
, one out of ten at a time, until all were martyred. Their leader according to the legend was Saint Maurice
Saint Maurice
Saint Maurice was the leader of the legendary Roman Theban Legion in the 3rd century, and one of the favorite and most widely venerated saints of that group. He was the patron saint of several professions, locales, and kingdoms...
.
The martyrology was written by Eucherius, Bishop of Lyon, who died in 494 AD. He wrote
- "We often hear, do we not, a particular locality or city is held in high honour because of one single martyr who died there, and quite rightly, because in each case the saint gave his precious soul to the most high God. How much more should this sacred place, Agaunum, be reverenced, where so many thousands of martyrs have been slain, with the sword, for the sake of Christ."
Eucherius' telling of the legend reports that the shrine erected by Theodore was already in his time a basilica
Basilica
The Latin word basilica , was originally used to describe a Roman public building, usually located in the forum of a Roman town. Public basilicas began to appear in Hellenistic cities in the 2nd century BC.The term was also applied to buildings used for religious purposes...
that was the destination of pilgrims. It lay within the diocese of the Bishop of Sion
Bishop of Sion
The Diocese of Sion is a Roman Catholic ecclesiastical territory in the canton of Valais, Switzerland. It is the oldest bishopric in the country and one of the oldest north of the Alps. The cathedral at Sion, "Notre-Dame du Glarier" was fortified by walls and crowns one of the two hills on which...
. The actual site of the martyrdom (or of the cache of bones) was pointed out to pilgrims as the "true place" the vrai lieu, a name it still carries, as Verroliez, according to local etymology
Etymology
Etymology is the study of the history of words, their origins, and how their form and meaning have changed over time.For languages with a long written history, etymologists make use of texts in these languages and texts about the languages to gather knowledge about how words were used during...
.
In 515
515
Year 515 was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Florentius and Anthemius...
, the basilica became the center of a monastery built on land donated by Sigismund of Burgundy
Sigismund of Burgundy
Sigismund was king of the Burgundians from 516 to his death. He was the son of king Gundobad, whom he succeeded in 516. Sigismund and his brother Godomar were defeated in battle by Clovis' sons and Godomar fled. Sigismund was taken by Chlodomer, King of Orléans, where he was kept as a prisoner. He...
, the first king of the Burgundians
Burgundians
The Burgundians were an East Germanic tribe which may have emigrated from mainland Scandinavia to the island of Bornholm, whose old form in Old Norse still was Burgundarholmr , and from there to mainland Europe...
to convert from Arianism
Arianism
Arianism is the theological teaching attributed to Arius , a Christian presbyter from Alexandria, Egypt, concerning the relationship of the entities of the Trinity and the precise nature of the Son of God as being a subordinate entity to God the Father...
to Trinitarian Christianity. His personal conversion was not pressed upon his Burgundian nobles. With the cooperation of the Catholic bishops, Sigismund set out to remake the existing hospice and community that already ministered to pilgrims around the shrine. The result was a unique development in its time: a monastery created ex nihilo under patronage, rather than one that developed organically around the person of a revered monk. Between 515 and 521, Sigismund lavishly endowed his royal foundation, and he transferred monks from other Burgundian monasteries, to ensure that a constant liturgy was kept. The liturgy, known as the laus perennis "perpetual praise" of relays of choirs, was an innovation for Western Europe, imported from Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
; it was distinctive to the abbey of St. Maurice and the practice spread widely from there.
St. Maurice's Abbey at Agaunum was the chief abbey of the Burgundian kingdom. In the tenth century the Saracens of Fraxinet
Fraxinet
Fraxinet or Fraxinetum was the site of a tenth-century fortress established by Saracen pirates at modern La Garde-Freinet, near Saint-Tropez, in Provence...
established an outpost near the abbey to control the Alpine passes. In 961
961
Year 961 was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar.- Asia :* Ani becomes the capital of Armenia under the Bagratuni Dynasty....
the relics of Maurice and the martyrs were conveyed to the new cathedral being erected at Magdeburg
Magdeburg
Magdeburg , is the largest city and the capital city of the Bundesland of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Magdeburg is situated on the Elbe River and was one of the most important medieval cities of Europe....
by Emperor Otto I
Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor
Otto I the Great , son of Henry I the Fowler and Matilda of Ringelheim, was Duke of Saxony, King of Germany, King of Italy, and "the first of the Germans to be called the emperor of Italy" according to Arnulf of Milan...
but the abbey has continued to flourish.
External links
- Agaunum, Catholic Encyclopedia
- William B. Sweetser, Jr, "From Diocletian to Lenin and Beyond: The Continuing Witness of St. Maurice"
- Official home page of Saint Maurice
- Photos: St. Maurice's Abbey, Abbey Icon, Decoration of Abbey Church
