The Legends of the Saints

272 Pages·1962·6.524 MB·English

by  Hippolyte Delehaye, Donald Attwater

THE LEGENDS OF THE SAINTS

THE
LEGENDS OF THE SAINTS
by
HIPPOLYTE DELEHAYE
Bollandist
With à Memoir of the Author
by
PAUL PEETERS
Translated
by
DONALD ATTWATER
FORDHAM UNIVERSITY PRESS
New York : 1962
Nihil obstat: Hubertus Richards, S.T.L., L.S.S., Censor
deputatus.
Imprimatur: E. Morrogh Bernard Vic. Gen.
Westmonasterii, die 25a Septembris, 1961.
The Nihil obstat and Imprimatur arc a declaration that a book
or pamphlet is considered to be free from doctrinal or moral
error. It is not implied that those who have granted the Nihil
obstat and Imprimatur agree with the contents, opinions or state­
ments expressed.
© 1962, Geoffrey Chapman Ltd.
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 61-18761
MADE AND PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN
Father Delehaye’s Les Légendes hagiographiques was
first published, at Brussels, in 1905 and a second edition
in the following year. A third edition, revised by the
author, appeared in 1927 ; this was reprinted in a fourth
edition in 1955, with the addition of a memoir and
bibliography of Father Delehaye by Father Paul Pee­
ters.
An English translation of the second edition, by Mrs.
V. M. Crawford, was published in 1907 under the title
The Legends of the Saints: An Introduction to Hagio­
graphy. The present new translation has been made
from the current 1955 edition.
The numerous footnotes of reference have been col­
lected together at the end of each chapter. Those notes
which add something to the text are distinguished by an
asterisk in the textual reference.

CONTENTS
Preface to the First Edition xi
Preface to the Third Edition xv
CHAPTER I. GENERAL IDEAS
Hagiographical documents. Imaginative narratives. Literary
compositions. The romance. Creations of the people. The
myth. The tale. The legend. The hagiographical legend; its
two chief factors . 3
Notes on Chapter 1 10
CHAPTER II. THE PRODUCTION OF LEGEND
I .—Unconscious distortion of truth by the individual, —
by the people. Low level of general understanding. Tend­
ency to simplify. Lack of knowledge. Substitution of the
abstract form for the individual type. Poverty of invention.
Borrowing and spread of legendary themes. Examples. Great
age of some themes. Artificial grouping of persons and
happenings. Cycles ... ... 12
II .—Predominance of sense impressions over ideas. Local­
izations and identifications. Literary origin of some of these.
Legends arising from pictures and statues. Popular etym­
ology. Miracles. Crowd psychology. Vigour of expression.
Intensity of feeling. Ambitions of particular churches. Mass
morality. Local claims . 28
Notes on Chapter II 40
CHAPTER III. THE WORK OF THE HAGIOGRAPHER
I .—Meaning of the term “hagiographer”. Literary genres.
Moralities. The ancients’ idea of history. Particular objects
of medieval hagiographers ... .49
II .—Sources. False attributions. Written tradition. Oral
tradition. Pictorial tradition. Fragments of the past. Selec­
tion of sources. Interpretation of sources. Inscriptions. Use
of various kinds of document .... .55
III .—Dearth of material, and how it was supplemented.
Amplification from stock. Acts of St Clement of Ancyra.
Compilation and adaptation. Life of St Vincent Madel-
garius. An old proceeding. Forgeries . 68
Notes on Chapter III 79
vii
CONTENT s—contd.
CHAPTER IV. THE CLASSIFICATION OF
HAGIOGRAPHICAL TEXTS
Defective systems. Classification by subject, — by categor­
ies of saints. System adopted; historical standpoint. Divi­
sion into six classes. These applied to Ruinart's Acta
sincera. Le Slant's “Supplement” 86
Notes on Chapter IV 99
CHAPTER V. THE DOSSIER OF A SAINT
Documents concerning St Procopius of Caesarea. The
account by Eusebius. Evidence of cultus. The three legends.
Summaries of them. The synaxaries. Latin Acts of St Proco­
pius. Adaptations to St Ephysius and to St John of Alex­
andria. Conclusions 101
Notes on Chapter V 117
CHAPTER VI. PAGAN MEMORIES AND SURVIVALS
I .—Rites and symbols common to Christianity and ancient
religions. Suspect practices. Incubation. Collections of
miracles. Literary borrowings from pagan sources. Inevit­
able analogies. Superstitions . . .119
II .—Hero-worship, and the veneration of saints. The centre
of hero-worship. Ceremonial translations. Relics. Fortuitous
coincidences . . .126
III .—Holy places. Christian transformations. Change of
dedication. Ascertaining primitive titles. Holy wells . 131
IV .—Dates of festivals. Change of object. Coincidences
difficult to prove. Fallacious dating of pagan festivals.
Examples ... ... . . 138
V .—Pagan legends. Christian adaptations. Three kinds of
case. Examples: the legend of St Lucian of Antioch. The
legend of St Pelagia and its fellows. St Liberata or Wilge-
fortis, etc. 143
VI .—Mythological names. Other suspicious names. Icono­
graphie parallels. The Blessed Virgin Saints on horseback 156
Notes on Chapter VI 161
CHAPTER VIL SOME HAGIOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
Not separating a saint from his legend. Excessive trust in
hagiographers. Incautious appeal to local tradition. Con­
fusion between a likely and a true narrative. Excessive
importance given to the topographical element. Utter con­
tempt for legend . . 170
Notes on Chapter VII 182
viii
CONTENT s—contd.
Father Hippolyte Delehaye : a Memoir . 187
Notes on Memoir 225
Bibliography of Scientific Works by Hippolyte Delehaye • 229
Index of Saints 247