Cerbonius
Encyclopedia
Saint Cerbonius (d. 575 AD) was a bishop
of Populonia
during the Barbarian invasions. Saint Gregory the Great praises him in Book XI of his Dialogues.
center.
Another tradition states that Cerbonius was a native of North Africa
who was the son of Christian parents. He was ordained a priest by Saint Regulus (San Regolo), though not the same one as in the Scottish Legend
. Due to persecution by the Arian
Vandals
in North Africa, the local Christian community dispersed, and together with Regulus, Felix, and some priests, Cerbonius escaped to Italy. After a storm at sea, they landed at Tuscany
, where they lived as hermits. During the war
raging currently in Italy between Byzantine
and Gothic
forces, Regulus was imprisoned and decapitated
by the Goths after being accused of aiding the Byzantines.
After the death of the bishop of Populonia, Florentius (Fiorenzo), the citizens and clerics asked that Cerbonius serve as their bishop. The citizens soon became frustrated with him, however, since Cerbonius rose every Sunday at daybreak and said mass
instead of doing so at the normal hour. The people complained to Pope Vigilius
. Vigilius, on hearing what the saint had done, became angry and sent legates to Piombino to bring the bishop to Rome. They found Cerbonius eating breakfast and accused him of heresy
, believing that he was eating before performing mass, when in fact he had already performed the service.
They brought him back to Rome. During the way, he cured three men suffering from fever
and tamed some wild geese by making the sign of the cross
over them, which explains this particular attribute
. The geese accompanied him to St. Peter's
and flew off after Cerbonius made the sign of the cross over them again.
At Rome, the next morning at daybreak, Cerbonius went into the Pope's chamber and roused him out of bed. He then asked the Pope if he did not hear angel
s singing; Vigilius replied that he did hear something of the kind. Cerbonius went off to say mass and Vigilius gave him leave to say his mass at any hour of the morning that pleased him, and sent him back to Piombino.
by Totila
, king of the Ostrogoths, during Totila's invasion of Tuscany. However, the bear remained petrified before Cerbonius. It stood on two legs and opened its jaws wide. Then, it fell back on its paws and licked the feet of the saint. Totila exiled Cerbonius instead, to the island of Elba
.
Around 575 AD, now old and sick, Cerbonius begged to be buried in Populonia. He asked, however, that those burying him should return immediately to Elba. His friends obeyed him. The ship carrying his body ran into a heavy storm, but arrived safely at Populonia. Cerbonius was buried and his followers returned quickly to Elba. Soon after, the Lombards
seized Populonia; Cerbonius had foreseen this and had saved his friends. In the 9th century, Populonia was attacked by pirates. In 835, the bishop of Populonia escaped with his followers to the present site of Massa Marittima.
(Populonia), there is a fountain and chapel dedicated to Saint Cerbonius. A local proverb
states: Chi non beve a San Cerbone - è un ladro o un birbone ("Whoever does not drink from the fountain of Saint Cerbonius – is a thief or a rascal.").
The 13th century cathedral at Massa Marittima
contains a Romanesque
font (1267 with a cover of 1447) and a Gothic reliquary
(1324) of Saint Cerbonius, to whom the cathedral is dedicated.
There is another Saint Cerbonius who is venerated at Verona
.
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
of Populonia
Populonia
Populonia or Populonia Alta today is a frazione of the comune of Piombino . As of 2009 its population was 17...
during the Barbarian invasions. Saint Gregory the Great praises him in Book XI of his Dialogues.
Traditions and legends
An alternate tradition made him a bishop of Massa Marittima around 544 AD, and devotion to the saint in this city arose after Massa Marittima became an episcopalBishop
A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
center.
Another tradition states that Cerbonius was a native of North Africa
North Africa
North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa. Geopolitically, the United Nations definition of Northern Africa includes eight countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, South Sudan, Sudan, Tunisia, and...
who was the son of Christian parents. He was ordained a priest by Saint Regulus (San Regolo), though not the same one as in the Scottish Legend
Saint Regulus
Saint Regulus or Saint Rule was a monk of Patras who, in the fourth century, according to a Scottish legend that became current during the twelfth century , fled to Scotland with the bones of Saint Andrew, and deposited them at St Andrews...
. Due to persecution by the Arian
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...
Vandals
Vandals
The Vandals were an East Germanic tribe that entered the late Roman Empire during the 5th century. The Vandals under king Genseric entered Africa in 429 and by 439 established a kingdom which included the Roman Africa province, besides the islands of Sicily, Corsica, Sardinia and the Balearics....
in North Africa, the local Christian community dispersed, and together with Regulus, Felix, and some priests, Cerbonius escaped to Italy. After a storm at sea, they landed at Tuscany
Tuscany
Tuscany is a region in Italy. It has an area of about 23,000 square kilometres and a population of about 3.75 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence ....
, where they lived as hermits. During the war
Gothic War (535–552)
The Gothic War between the Eastern Roman Empire and the Ostrogothic Kingdom of Italy was fought from 535 until 554 in Italy, Dalmatia, Sardinia, Sicily and Corsica. It is commonly divided into two phases. The first phase lasted from 535 to 540 and ended with the fall of Ravenna and the apparent...
raging currently in Italy between Byzantine
Byzantine
Byzantine usually refers to the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages.Byzantine may also refer to:* A citizen of the Byzantine Empire, or native Greek during the Middle Ages...
and Gothic
Goths
The Goths were an East Germanic tribe of Scandinavian origin whose two branches, the Visigoths and the Ostrogoths, played an important role in the fall of the Roman Empire and the emergence of Medieval Europe....
forces, Regulus was imprisoned and decapitated
Decapitation
Decapitation is the separation of the head from the body. Beheading typically refers to the act of intentional decapitation, e.g., as a means of murder or execution; it may be accomplished, for example, with an axe, sword, knife, wire, or by other more sophisticated means such as a guillotine...
by the Goths after being accused of aiding the Byzantines.
After the death of the bishop of Populonia, Florentius (Fiorenzo), the citizens and clerics asked that Cerbonius serve as their bishop. The citizens soon became frustrated with him, however, since Cerbonius rose every Sunday at daybreak and said mass
Mass
Mass can be defined as a quantitive measure of the resistance an object has to change in its velocity.In physics, mass commonly refers to any of the following three properties of matter, which have been shown experimentally to be equivalent:...
instead of doing so at the normal hour. The people complained to Pope Vigilius
Pope Vigilius
Pope Vigilius reigned as pope from 537 to 555, is considered the first pope of the Byzantine Papacy.-Early life:He belonged to a aristocratic Roman family; his father Johannes is identified as a consul in the Liber pontificalis, having received that title from the emperor...
. Vigilius, on hearing what the saint had done, became angry and sent legates to Piombino to bring the bishop to Rome. They found Cerbonius eating breakfast and accused him of heresy
Heresy
Heresy is a controversial or novel change to a system of beliefs, especially a religion, that conflicts with established dogma. It is distinct from apostasy, which is the formal denunciation of one's religion, principles or cause, and blasphemy, which is irreverence toward religion...
, believing that he was eating before performing mass, when in fact he had already performed the service.
They brought him back to Rome. During the way, he cured three men suffering from fever
Fever
Fever is a common medical sign characterized by an elevation of temperature above the normal range of due to an increase in the body temperature regulatory set-point. This increase in set-point triggers increased muscle tone and shivering.As a person's temperature increases, there is, in...
and tamed some wild geese by making the sign of the cross
Sign of the cross
The Sign of the Cross , or crossing oneself, is a ritual hand motion made by members of many branches of Christianity, often accompanied by spoken or mental recitation of a trinitarian formula....
over them, which explains this particular attribute
Saint symbology
Christianity has used symbolism from its very beginnings. Each saint has a story and a reason why he or she led an exemplary life. Symbols have been used to tell these stories throughout the history of the Church. A number of Christian saints are traditionally represented by a symbol or iconic...
. The geese accompanied him to St. Peter's
St. Peter's Basilica
The Papal Basilica of Saint Peter , officially known in Italian as ' and commonly known as Saint Peter's Basilica, is a Late Renaissance church located within the Vatican City. Saint Peter's Basilica has the largest interior of any Christian church in the world...
and flew off after Cerbonius made the sign of the cross over them again.
At Rome, the next morning at daybreak, Cerbonius went into the Pope's chamber and roused him out of bed. He then asked the Pope if he did not hear angel
Angel
Angels are mythical beings often depicted as messengers of God in the Hebrew and Christian Bibles along with the Quran. The English word angel is derived from the Greek ἄγγελος, a translation of in the Hebrew Bible ; a similar term, ملائكة , is used in the Qur'an...
s singing; Vigilius replied that he did hear something of the kind. Cerbonius went off to say mass and Vigilius gave him leave to say his mass at any hour of the morning that pleased him, and sent him back to Piombino.
Cerbonius and Totila
For hiding several Roman soldiers, he was ordered to be killed by a wild bearBear
Bears are mammals of the family Ursidae. Bears are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans, with the pinnipeds being their closest living relatives. Although there are only eight living species of bear, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats throughout the Northern...
by Totila
Totila
Totila, original name Baduila was King of the Ostrogoths from 541 to 552 AD. A skilled military and political leader, Totila reversed the tide of Gothic War, recovering by 543 almost all the territories in Italy that the Eastern Roman Empire had captured from his Kingdom in 540.A relative of...
, king of the Ostrogoths, during Totila's invasion of Tuscany. However, the bear remained petrified before Cerbonius. It stood on two legs and opened its jaws wide. Then, it fell back on its paws and licked the feet of the saint. Totila exiled Cerbonius instead, to the island of Elba
Elba
Elba is a Mediterranean island in Tuscany, Italy, from the coastal town of Piombino. The largest island of the Tuscan Archipelago, Elba is also part of the National Park of the Tuscan Archipelago and the third largest island in Italy after Sicily and Sardinia...
.
Around 575 AD, now old and sick, Cerbonius begged to be buried in Populonia. He asked, however, that those burying him should return immediately to Elba. His friends obeyed him. The ship carrying his body ran into a heavy storm, but arrived safely at Populonia. Cerbonius was buried and his followers returned quickly to Elba. Soon after, the Lombards
Lombards
The Lombards , also referred to as Longobards, were a Germanic tribe of Scandinavian origin, who from 568 to 774 ruled a Kingdom in Italy...
seized Populonia; Cerbonius had foreseen this and had saved his friends. In the 9th century, Populonia was attacked by pirates. In 835, the bishop of Populonia escaped with his followers to the present site of Massa Marittima.
Veneration
At PiombinoPiombino
Piombino is an Italian town and comune of circa 35,000 inhabitants in the province of Livorno . It lies on the border between the Ligurian Sea and the Tyrrhenian Sea, in front of Elba Island and at the northern side of Maremma.-Overview:...
(Populonia), there is a fountain and chapel dedicated to Saint Cerbonius. A local proverb
Proverb
A proverb is a simple and concrete saying popularly known and repeated, which expresses a truth, based on common sense or the practical experience of humanity. They are often metaphorical. A proverb that describes a basic rule of conduct may also be known as a maxim...
states: Chi non beve a San Cerbone - è un ladro o un birbone ("Whoever does not drink from the fountain of Saint Cerbonius – is a thief or a rascal.").
The 13th century cathedral at Massa Marittima
Massa Marittima Cathedral
thumb|260px|View of the cathedralthumb|260px|The main portalMassa Marittima Cathedral , dedicated to Saint Cerbonius , is the principal church of Massa Marittima, Tuscany, Italy, and the seat of the Diocese of Massa Marittima.-Architecture:...
contains a Romanesque
Romanesque art
Romanesque art refers to the art of Western Europe from approximately 1000 AD to the rise of the Gothic style in the 13th century, or later, depending on region. The preceding period is increasingly known as the Pre-Romanesque...
font (1267 with a cover of 1447) and a Gothic reliquary
Reliquary
A reliquary is a container for relics. These may be the physical remains of saints, such as bones, pieces of clothing, or some object associated with saints or other religious figures...
(1324) of Saint Cerbonius, to whom the cathedral is dedicated.
There is another Saint Cerbonius who is venerated at Verona
Verona
Verona ; German Bern, Dietrichsbern or Welschbern) is a city in the Veneto, northern Italy, with approx. 265,000 inhabitants and one of the seven chef-lieus of the region. It is the second largest city municipality in the region and the third of North-Eastern Italy. The metropolitan area of Verona...
.