“There is, in fact, between the two branches of the Rhone, a village next to Arles called Trinquetaille where there is a certain magnificent and very high marble column, erected upon the ground, to be sure behind his church. It is to this column, as it is told, that the perfidious populace tied the Blessed Genesius before beheading him. Even today it appears reddish from his rosy blood. No sooner had he been beheaded, than the saint himself, taking the head into his hands, cast it into the Rhone. As to his body, it was carried by the river as far as the basilica of the Blessed Honoratus where it honorably rests. The head, on the other hand, floating down the Rhone to the sea, lead by an angel, reached Cartagena, a Spanish city, where now it splendidly rests and performs many a miracle. His feast is celebrated on August 25.” [transl. William Melczer, The Pilgrim’s Guide (New York: Italica Press, 1993), 97].
I first met Genesius of Arles, a third-century martyr of the church, whose feast is August 25, while reading this account of his execution and translation in the Liber Sancti Jacobi. Book V of the Liber is a twelfth-century “Pilgrim’s Guide” to those walking the Camino de Santiago. The anonymous author of the text urges its readers to visit the Basilica where the relics of Genesius rest and to inspect the column against which he was beheaded.
When I assign this reading to students, they often puzzle over the miraculous translation of St. Genesius’s head from Arles, in southern France, to Cartegena, in modern Spain. Did the twelfth-century author of the Pilgrim’s Guide really think his reader so naive as to believe the martyr’s head had floated down the Rhone, into the Mediterranean, then west some 500 miles before it landed in southern Spain?
In response, I dismiss such skepticism. I suggest to my students that this passage is not intended to be a scientific account of the saint’s posthumous translation. Maybe the author is just clarifying and organizing a tradition, combining competing cults of St. Genesius, using the improbable local tradition concerning the self translation of Genasius’s head?
Still, beyond using Genesius to prompt discussion in a survey class, I’ve never conducted a real investigation into the evidence surrounding his cult. Over the next several weeks, I will conduct preliminary research into the medieval traditions surrounding the life, death, and posthumous deeds of Genesius of Arles. I am blogging my research, so that each step can be followed by students in an upper-level course entitled Saints and Saints’ Cults in the Middle Ages. I especially welcome comments from students and also from academic researchers (who may point out paths not taken, resources overlooked, or errors of fact).
“Just Google it”
I begin with a simple Google search of “Genesius of Arles.” The search generates an unhelpful 13200 results. The most useful will come in the first two pages, which I paste below (scroll down for commentary):
Search Results
1. Genesius of Arles – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Saint Genesius of Arles(in French Saint Genès) was a notary martyred under Maximianus in 303 or 308. His Feast day is celebrated on August 25.
2. St. Genesius of Arles – Saints & Angels – Catholic Online
As a court notary in Arles, Gaul (France), Genesiusexcelled in the art of shorthand, transcribing courtroom speeches and testimony at a remarkable pace for the …
3. St. Genesius of Arles, Martyr – Bartleby.com
St. Genesius of Arles, Martyr. August 26. Butler, Rev. Alban. Volume VIII: August. The Lives of the Saints. 1866.
4. Saint Genesius of Arles | CatholicSaints.Info
CatholicSaints.Info profile of Saint Genesius of Arles.
5. CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Genesius – New Advent
Five people with this name including: Genesius of Rome; Genesius of Arles; Genesius, Bishop of Clermont; Genesius Count of Clermont; and Genesius of …
6. The Fraternity of St Genesius – Actor and Martyr
It has been suggested that he is a Roman version of St Genesius of Arles(Southern France), a notary who also died in the persecution of Diocletian. This St …
7. Genesius of Arles – Oxford Reference
For Genesius of ArlesAA.SS. Aug. V (1741), 119–36 with C.M.H., pp. 464–5 and H. Quentin, Les Martyrologes Historiques du moyen âge (1908), pp. 533–41 …
8. Genesius of Arles – oi
For Genesius of ArlesAA.SS. Aug. V (1741), 119–36 with C.M.H., pp. 464–5 and H. Quentin, Les Martyrologes Historiques du moyen âge (1908), pp. 533–41 …
9. Genesius van Arles
Aug 25, 2008 – Levensbeschrijving heilige Genesiusvan Arles, met legendes, verering en cultuur, patronaten en wijze van afbeelding.
10. St. Genesius by Julia Miller on Prezi
St. Genesius Julia Miller Who’s Who? St. Genesius of ArlesHis Story Later On About St. Genesius of ArlesMy Argument Similarities Differences Is St. Genesius …
11. The Oxford Dictionary of Saints – Google Books Result
GEMMA, see GALGANI, GEMMA. GENESIUS OF ARLES(Gennys of Arles) (d. c.303), martyr. This saint is mentioned in the Martyrology of Jerome, in the writings …
12. Glory of the Martyrs – Page 91 – Google Books Result
Avitus also distinguished this church with relics of St Genesius of Aries.80 67. … 81 Genesius of Arleswas thought to have been martyred during the third or early …
13. Our Sunday Visitor’s Encyclopedia of Saints
Feast day: July 16. Genesius> See Anastasius (October 11). Genesius(d.c. 303) > Martyred catechumen who was a notary in the court at Arles, in Gaul (modern …
14. Behind the Name: Genesius of Arles
Genesius of Arles. Home » Namesakes · History. GIVEN NAME(S): Genesius. SURNAME(S): GENDER: Male. BIRTH DATE: ? DEATH DATE: 303. WIKIPEDIA: …
15. Genesius of Arles, Saint -approximately 303 [WorldCat …
Genesius of Arles, Saint -approximately 303. Overview … Most widely held works about Genesius. Acting is believing : a tragicomedy in three acts (c. 1607-1608) …
16. The Apostolic Fathers – Page 455 – Google Books Result
There were two martyrs of this name; (1) A notary of Arles who sulfered under … 4), who was fresh from the Ager Veranus, Genesius of Arlesis mentioned (ver.
17. Südfranzösische Lokalheilige zwischen Kirche, Dynastie und …
Jahrhundert 1.1.1. Das 5. Jahrhundert: das Arelater Jahrhundert der Heiligen 1.1.1.1. Der Hl. Genesius– Patron von ArlesDie römische Kolonie Arelate ist eine …
18. Martyred Genesius of Arles Suggested as Patron of the Craft.
The suggestion has been made to the stenographers of Spain who recently announced their desire for a patron saint, that they choose St. Genesius of Arles.
19. Saint Genesius of Arles (Saint Genès)… – Apostolic Vicariate …
Saint Genesius of Arles(Saint Genès) was a notary martyred under Maximianus in 303 or 308. His Feast day is celebrated on August 25. He is honoured as…
The first two pages of my Google search results turn up 19 discrete entries (I have numbered them above, for quick reference). My first task is to discriminate. Below, I weigh the relative usefulness of the sources from least valuable to most valuable (in descending order).
Popular Dictionaries and Martyrologies
I quickly examine Entries nos. 2, 4, 13, 14. These are online calendars and dictionaries generated primarily for lay Catholic readers. Each of these includes the same basic information: the Saint’s feast day (August 25); the year of his martyrdom under the emperor Maximian (303, 305, or 308); and at least two include a short narrative of his death. From these sources I learn the basic narrative likely told the faithful on Genesius’s feast day or perhaps to tourists visiting one of the churches containing his relics. Most of these accounts contain at minimum the following details of the saint’s life and death:
- Genesius had been a soldier whose skill as a scribe earned him a position as notary for the Roman magistrate of Arles.
- he had become a catechumen in the church and was preparing for baptism.
- after have been summoned to transcribe an imperial edict promulgating the persecution of Christians, he recused himself and fled from town to town.
- eventually, he was apprehended and, while about to be executed, he requested baptism from the local bishop (who assured him that the blood of martyrdom would suffice as his baptism into the faith).
- soon thereafter, he was beheaded.
While these accounts familiarize me with the basic traditions concerning the saint’s martyrdom, the entries leave no references to either the medieval evidence for or modern scholarship on Saint Genesius. Therefore, I quickly focus my attention elsewhere.
Personal Sites and Confraternities
Next, I discard two additional sites, neither of which seems designed for serious researchers:
The first (entry no. 6) is a page hosted by a modern Confraternity of St. Genesius, an Irish Actor’s Guild, founded in 2007 and dedicated to the memory of Genesius of Rome (whose cult is likely based on Genesius of Arles). The fraternity’s homepage does not present itself as a resource for academic researchers. So there is no need to treat it as such.
The second is a Prezi presentation, likely composed for a classroom assignment. It’s interesting work by a High School student or college undergraduate but not useful for the aspiring scholar.
Wikipedia, Catholic Encyclopedia, and Bartleby.com
The top entry (entry no. 1) is the Wikipedia page for Genesius of Arles. Many of us have heard the pedantic complaints of our teachers (and in my case colleagues) against Wikipedia. But I generally equate this resource’s usefulness to the printed Encyclopedias (like Encyclopedia Britannica [1911]) consulted as a first pass by previous generations of researchers. An Encyclopedia is never meant to be definitive. And I trust no Encyclopedia entry as infallibly accurate or current on its topic. Yet, encyclopedias have always been a great first stop to get an overview and basic bibliography on a subject. And Wikipedia is no different, particularly when it comes to research into the saints.
Many Wikipedia entries on the more obscure saints are derived from the Catholic Encyclopedia (1907-14), whose entries were summaries in English of researches by the Bollandists (whose Acta SanctorumI will describe in a subsequent post). In this case, I quickly compare the Wikipedia entry (entry no. 1) to the Catholic Encyclopedia entry (entry no. 5) and to Bartleby.com. The Bartleby entry (no. 3) is derived from Butler’s Lives of Saints, the English language encyclopedia based on the Latin Acta Sanctorum. After comparing the three, I discover that they share a basic outline. However, the Wiki entry includes quotations from the earliest medieval “Life” of Genesius (which it translates from the Acta Sanctorum). In this case, the Wikipedia entry is the most useful of the three, since it is longer, more thorough, and includes references to scholarship (dated scholarship, but useful nonetheless).
Oxford Dictionary of Saints
Both entries no. 7 and no. 8 are identical, online versions of “Farmer’s Lives of Saints,” published by Oxford University Press. Each entry gives a quick summary of the saint’s life with a bibliography of the principal scholarship into his cult. The narrative confirms the reliability of the Wikipedia entry and provides the following bibliography:
“For Genesius of Arles AA.SS. Aug. V (1741), 119–36 with C.M.H., pp. 464–5 and H. Quentin, Les Martyrologes Historiques du moyen âge(1908), pp. 533–41; B.L.S., viii. 248;S. Cavallin, Saint Genès le Notaire (1945). For Genesius of Clermont AA.SS. Iun. I (1695), 322–4; B.L.S., vi. 29–30.”
After a bit of searching around online, I learn that the abbreviated entries can be expanded as follows:
- AA. SS. Aug. V (1741) = Acta Sanctorum, August (volume 9), tome V (1741), pp. 119-36.
- C.M.H. = Commentarius Perpetuus in Martyrologium Hieronymianum, edited by Delehaye and Quentin (and published in the Acta Sanctorum, November (volume 11), as tomes 5
- B.L.S, viii. 248 = Butler’s Lives of Saints, vol. viii, p. 248
- B.L.S., vi. 29-30 = Butler’s Lives of Saints, vol. vi. 29-30.
In a subsequent entry, I will discuss the Acta Sanctorumand Butler’s Lives of Saints. Both are older but essential reference tools for scholarly research into the cult of saints. The Martyrologes Historiques by Quentin is a modern scholarly commentary on the Martyrology of (ps) Jerome. The fact that the entry on Saint Genesius is 8 pages is very promising (I will need to order this source via Interlibrary loan [ILL], on which more in a later post).
The only scholarly source dedicated solely to Genesius is Cavallin, Saint Genès le Notaire (1945). This suggests that the saint has not attracted a lot of scholarly commentary in the last 75 years. I am beginning to think that research into his life and cult might present opportunities for genuine discovery. But before I move on to consult the sources I’ve located in the Oxford Dictionary of Saints, I have one final category of entry to consider.
Google Book Hits
Google Books has become an enormously convenient digital resource for rare and hard to find texts, particularly sources that are out of print or out of copyright. Because Google automatically searches all “Google Books” scans for basic search queries, searches may quickly hit upon an important (and once hard to locate) print source, now downloadable in .pdf format.
In addition to a Google books scan of the Oxford Dictionary of Saints(no. 11), already described above, I land two additional hits:
The first is a passage in Gregory of Tours, Glory of the Martyrs, translated by Raymond Van Dam (University of Liverpool Press, 1988). Gregory recounts traditions not mentioned in any of the dictionary entries consulted above, most importantly he describes posthumous miracles performed by the saint, including a story of a crowd rescued from drowning near the spot in the Rhone where Genesius had once fled from his persecutors [his initial escape from persecution was not mentioned in the “Pilgrim’s Guide,” nor was it mentioned in any of the encyclopedias that based their entries on the earliest written Vita (attributed to Paulinus of Nola). Fortunately, although the Google Books entry is only a “partial preview” it includes a full preview of the passage related to Genesius. Still, I would like to view the full text to examine the literary context surrounding this entry. Thus, I will make a note to order Van Dam’s translation of the Gloriae via ILL (and will explain this process in a subsequent post).
What have I learned?
From my quick Google search, I’ve learned (at minimum) the following:
- that there is a strong liklihood that Saint Genesius was an actual historical person, martyred under the Western emperor Maximian. (It cannot be taken for granted that all saints who appear in medieval legendary accounts were real persons, and so the fact of Genesius’s existence will mean the likelihood of substantial late antique evidence concerning the formation and development of his cult.)
- that standard, earlier narratives of Genesius’ life and martyrdom include that he was a catechumen in the church at Arles, engaged in service as an imperial notary, before he was imprisoned and executed in the period, c. 303-308.
- that Genesius of Arles is often confused with Genesius of Rome, whose cult may be entirely fictitious and likely originated from the introduction of Genesius of Arles to Rome sometime in the seventh century.
Finally, I have determined that none of the standard accounts, based on the earliest evidence for Genesius’s life and death, include mention of the miraculous translation the saint’s head, of which I first read in the twelfth-century Pilgrim’s Guide to Santiago. I will continue to search for the earliest documented account of this miraculous translation. In the meantime, I begin to wonder whether similar stories might circulate in the passionesof other martyrs. In a subsequent post, I will examine the possibility of folklorique or literary influences that might have shaped later medieval legends of this saint’s life and death. But first, I must make the standard first stop in all serious hagiographic research: the entry on Genesius in the Acta Sanctorum.
HUMN493: Saints and Saints Cults 