Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-lnqnp Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T05:49:54.465Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Chapter 3 - Versified Martyrs

The Reception of Thecla from the Latin West to Medieval Ireland

from Part I - An Act to Follow

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 May 2022

By
Caitríona Ó Dochartaigh
Edited by
Ghazzal Dabiri  and
Flavia Ruani
Ghazzal Dabiri
Affiliation:
University of Maryland, College Park
Flavia Ruani
Affiliation:
Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Paris
Get access

Summary

Although there is no concrete surviving evidence that the Acts of Paul or the Passio sanctae Theclae circulated in Ireland, there are a number of references to Thecla in medieval Irish martyrologies and devotional literature. These sparse references to the proto-martyr are too few to reconstruct the true extent of her cult in medieval Ireland or to assess her possible impact on Insular hagiography. However, one curious uniting feature shared by these fragmentary references to Thecla is that they are all in versified form. Thecla is also venerated in litany-like verse prayers in both Old and Middle Irish where she is included in groupings of significant apostolic figures. Late antique and early medieval continental Latin sources in which Thecla is referred to in a similar context may provide the likely roots of transmission. These possible Latin sources, however, are not all in verse form. Therefore, the choice of a poetic medium coupled with the use of the vernacular may provide precious evidence for the intended audience and reception milieu of such popular hagiographical texts.

Keywords

TheclaIrelandMartyrologyOld-Irish PoetryOengusFemale MartyrsVirgin Saints
Type
Chapter
Information
Thecla and Medieval Sainthood
<I>The Acts of Paul and Thecla</I> in Eastern and Western Hagiography
 , pp. 85 - 109
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Basset, René. Les prières de S. Cyprien et de Théophile. Les Apocryphes éthiopiens 6. Paris: Librairie de l’art indépendant, 1896.Google Scholar
Bernard, John Henry, and Atkinson, Robert, eds. and trans. The Irish Liber Hymnorum. 2 vols. Henry Bradshaw Society 13–14. London: Henry Bradshaw Society, 1898.Google Scholar
Best, Richard I., and Lawlor, Hugh J., eds. The Martyrology of Tallaght from the Book of Leinster and MS 5100–4 in the Royal Library, Brussels. Henry Bradshaw Society 68. London: Harrison, 1931.Google Scholar
Bisagni, Jacopo, ed. and trans. Amrae Coluimb Chille: A Critical Edition. Dublin: Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 2019.Google Scholar
Bourque, Emmanuel. Étude sur les sacramentaires romains. 3 vols. Laval; Vatican City: Tipografia poliglotta vaticana, 1949–1958.Google Scholar
Cabrol, Fernand, and Leclercq, Henri, eds. Dictionnaire d’archéologie chrétienne et de liturgie. Paris: Letouzey et Ané, 1907–1953.Google Scholar
Caraffa, Filippo, and Morelli, Giuseppe, eds. Bibliotheca sanctorum. 12 vols. Rome: Istituto Giovanni XXIII nella Pontificia Università Lateranense, 1961–1970. Reprint, 1998.Google Scholar
Carey, John. King of Mysteries: Early Irish Religious Writings. Dublin: Four Courts Press, 1998.Google Scholar
Chave-Mahir, Florence. “Medieval Exorcism: Liturgical and Hagiographical Sources.” In Understanding Medieval Liturgy: Essays in Interpretation, edited by Gittos, Helen and Hamilton, Sarah. Burlington: Ashgate, 2016: 159–175.Google Scholar
Clancy, Thomas Owen, and Márkus, Gilbert, eds. Iona: The Earliest Poetry of a Celtic Monastery. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1995.Google Scholar
Colgrave, Bertram, and Mynors, R. A. B., eds. and trans. Bede: Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum. Oxford Medieval Texts. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1969.Google Scholar
Cooper, Kate. “A Saint in Exile: The Early Medieval Thecla at Rome and Meriamlick.” Hagiographica 2 (1995): 1–24.Google Scholar
Delehaye, Hippolyte. Commentarius perpetuus in Martyrologium Hieronynianum ad recensionem H. Quenti. In Acta Sanctorum xxiv. Brussels: Société des Bollandistes, 1931: November 11, part ii.Google Scholar
Ehwald, Rudolf, ed. Aldhelmi opera. Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Auctores Antiquissimi 15. Berlin: Weidmann, 1919.Google Scholar
Elliott, James K., trans. The Apocryphal New Testament: A Collection of Apocryphal Christian Literature in an English Translation Based on M. R. James. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1993. Reprint, 2005.Google Scholar
Faller, Otto, and Zelzer, Michaela, eds. Ambrosius: Epistulae et acta. Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum 82/1–4. Vienna: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1968–1996.Google Scholar
Fontaine, Jacques, and Charlet, Jean-Louis, eds. Ambroise de Milan: Hymnes. Paris: Les Éditions du Cerf, 1992.Google Scholar
Fontaine, Jacques, and Dupré, Nicole, eds. Sulpice Sévère, Gallus. Dialogues sur les ‘Vertus’ de saint Martin. Sources Chrétiennes 510. Paris: Les Éditions du Cerf, 2006.Google Scholar
Franc, Catherine. “The Cult of Saint Thecla in Anglo-Saxon England: The Problem of Aldhelm’s Sources.” Bulletin of the John Rylands Library 86, no. 2 (2004): 39–54.Google Scholar
Gamber, Klaus. Codices liturgici latini antiquiores. Spicilegii Friburgensis subsidia 1. Freiburg: Universitätsverlag Freiburg Schweiz, 1968.Google Scholar
le Goff, Jacques. Un autre Moyen Âge. Paris: Gallimard, 1999.Google Scholar
Greene, David. “Saltair na Rann.” Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies (DIAS), March 10, 2020. www.dias.ie/celt/celt-publications-2/celt-saltair-na-rann/.Google Scholar
Gwara, Scott, ed. Aldhelmi Malmesbiriensis Prosa de virginitate cum glosa latina atquea Anglosaxonica. Corpus Christianorum, Series Latina 124, 124A. 2 vols. Turnhout: Brepols, 2001.Google Scholar
Hänggi, Anton, and Schönherr, Alfons, eds. Sacramentarium Rhenaugiense. Spicilegium Friburgense 15. Fribourg: Universitätsverlag, 1970.Google Scholar
Harnack, Adolf von. Drei wenig beachtete cyprianische Schriften und die Acta Pauli. Texte und Untersuchungen 19.3, N.F. 4.3. Leipzig: J. C. Hinrichs, 1899.Google Scholar
Hartel, Wilhelm von, ed. S. Thasci Caecili Cypriani opera omnia. Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum 3, pt. 3. Vienna: C. Geroldi, 1868.Google Scholar
Hennig, John. “Quelques notes sur la mention de sainte Thècle dans la Commendatio animae.” Nuovo Didaskaleion 14 (1964): 21–27.Google Scholar
Henry, Patrick L., ed. Amra Choluim Chille: Dallán’s Elegy for Columba. Belfast: Colmcille, 2006.Google Scholar
James, Montague R. The Apocryphal New Testament. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1924.Google Scholar
Kaestli, Jean-Daniel, and Rordorf, Willy, eds. and trans. “La fin de la vie de Thècle dans les manuscrits des Actes de Paul et Thècle. Édition des textes additionnels.” Apocrypha 25 (2014): 9–101.Google Scholar
Lapidge, Michael, and Herren, Michael, trans. Aldhelm: The Prose Works. Cambridge: D. S. Brewer, 1979.Google Scholar
Lundberg, Per I. La typologie baptismale dans l’ancienne Église. Uppsala: Alfred Lorentz, 1942.Google Scholar
Magistretti, Marco, ed. Manuale Ambrosianum: Ex codice saec. XI olim in usum canonicae Vallis Travaliae. 3 vols. Milan: U Hoepli, 1904–1905.Google Scholar
Marstrander, Carl S., et al., eds. Dictionary of the Irish Language Based Mainly on Old and Middle Irish Materials. 15 vols. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy, 1913–1976. Reprint, Compact edition, E. G. Quin, ed. 1984 and online edition, 2007 and 2019.Google Scholar
Martimort, Aimé-Georges. “L’ordo commendationis animae.” La Maison Dieu 15 (1948): 143–160.Google Scholar
McNamara, Martin. The Apocrypha of the Irish Church. Dublin: Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 1984.Google Scholar
Moreton, Bernard. The Eighth-Century Gelasian Sacramentary. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1976.Google Scholar
Musurillo, Herbert, trans. St. Methodius: The Symposium, A Treatise on Chastity. London: Longmans, Green and Co., 1958.Google Scholar
Musurillo, Herbert, and Debidour, Victor-Henry, eds. Méthode d’Olympe: Le Banquet. Sources Chrétiennes 95. Paris: Les Éditions du Cerf, 1963.Google Scholar
Ntedika, Joseph. L’évocation de l’au-delà dans la prière pour les morts. Recherches africaines de théologie 2. Louvain: Nauwelaerts, 1971.Google Scholar
Ó Dochartaigh, Caitríona. “Poems 138–41 in Saltair na Rann.” In Saltair saíochta, sanasaíochta agus seanchais: A Festschrift for Gearóid Mac Eoin, edited by Ó Baoill, Dónal, Ó hAodha, Donncha, and Ó Muraíle, Nollaig. Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2013: 297–310.Google Scholar
Ó Dochartaigh, Caitríona. “A Cult of Saint Thecla in Early Medieval Ireland?” In Sacred Histories: A Festschrift for Máire Herbert, edited by Carey, John, Murray, Kevin, and Ó Dochartaigh, Caitríona. Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2015: 311–332.Google Scholar
Ó Riain, Pádraig. “The Tallaght Martyrologies, Redated.” Cambrian Medieval Celtic Studies 20 (Winter 1990): 21–38.Google Scholar
Ó Riain, Pádraig. Feastdays of the Saints: A History of Irish Martyrologies. Subsidia Hagiographica 86. Brussels: Société des Bollandistes, 2006.Google Scholar
Ó Riain, Pádraig. A Dictionary of Irish Saints. Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2011.Google Scholar
Ó Riain, Pádraig. “The Early Ninth-Century Karlsruhe Irish Calendar of Saints.” Peritia 32 (2021): 181–195.Google Scholar
Paxton, Frederick S. Christianizing Death: The Creation of a Ritual Process in Early Medieval Europe. Ithaca; London: Cornell University Press, 1990.Google Scholar
Quentin, Henri. Les martyrologes historiques du Moyen Âge: Étude sur la formation du martyrologe romain. Aalen: Scientia, 1969.Google Scholar
Roberts, Alexander, and Donaldson, James, eds. The Ante-Nicene Fathers: Translations of the Writings of the Fathers down to A.D. 325. 24 vols. Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1868–1872.Google Scholar
Romestin, H. de, trans. St. Ambrose: Selected Works and Letters. Select Library of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church 10. Oxford: Christian Literature Publishing Company, 1896.Google Scholar
Rordorf, Willy. “Sainte Thècle dans la tradition hagiographique occidentale.” Augustinianum 24, nos. 1–2 (1984): 73–81.Google Scholar
Rossi, Giovanni B. de, and Duchesne, Louis, eds. Martyrologium Hieronymianum. In Acta Sanctorum lxxxii. Brussels: Société des Bollandistes, 1894: November, part ii. Reprint, 1971.Google Scholar
Salmon, Pierre, Coebergh, Carolus, and de Puniet, Pierre, eds. Testimonia orationis christianae antiquioris. Corpus Christianorum Continuatio Mediaevalis 47. Turnhout: Brepols, 1977.Google Scholar
Schermann, Theodor. “Die griechischen Kyprianosgebete.” Oriens Christianus 3 (1903): 303–323.Google Scholar
Schneemelcher, Wilhelm, ed. New Testament Apocrypha. Tübingen: J. C. B. Mohr, 1989. English edition, Wilson, R. McL., ed. 2 vols. Cambridge: James Clarke & Co., 1992.Google Scholar
Schneiders, Marc. “The Irish Calendar in the Karlsruhe Bede.” Archiv für Liturgiewissenschaft 31 (1989): 33–78.Google Scholar
Schönfelder, Albert, ed. Liturgische Bibliothek. Paderborn: Ferdinand Schoeningh, 1904.Google Scholar
Stokes, Whitley, ed. The Saltair na rann: A Collection of Early Middle Irish Poems. Mediaeval and Modern Series 1.3. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1883.Google Scholar
Stokes, Whitley, ed. and trans. Félire hUí Gormáin: The Martyrology of Gorman. Henry Bradshaw Society 9. London: Harrison, 1895.Google Scholar
Stokes, Whitley, ed. “The Bodleian Amra Choluimb Chille.” Revue Celtique 20 (1899): 31–55, 132–183, 248–289, and 400–437.Google Scholar
Stokes, Whitley, ed. and trans. Félire Óengusso Céli Dé: The Martyrology of Oengus the Culdee. Henry Bradshaw Society 29. London: Harrison, 1905.Google Scholar
Stokes, Whitley, and Strachan, John, eds. Thesaurus palaeohibernicus: A Collection of Old-Irish Glosses, Scholia, Prose and Verse. 2 vols. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1903.Google Scholar
Tuilier, André, and Bady, Guillaume, eds. Saint Grégoire de Nazianze: Œuvres Poétiques. Paris: Les Belles Lettres, 2004.Google Scholar
Twelftree, Graham H. In the Name of Jesus: Exorcism among Early Christians. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2007.Google Scholar
Vouaux, Léon, ed. and trans. Les Actes de Paul et ses lettres apocryphes. Paris: Letouzey et Ané, 1913.Google Scholar
Walsh, Patrick G., ed. and trans. Augustine: De bono coniugali, De sancta uirginitate. Oxford Christian Texts. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 2001.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure no-reply@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×