Magnus of Trani

Saint Magnus of Anagni
Bishop and Martyr
BornTrani
Diedc. 250
near Fabrateria, probably Fabrateria Nova
Venerated inCatholic Church
Major shrineAnagni Cathedral
FeastAugust 19
Attributesepiscopal attire, palm of martyrdom
PatronageAnagni; Santi Michele e Magno, Rome; Colle San Magno

Saint Magnus of Trani (Italian: San Magno di Trani; born early 3nd century), also known as Magnus of Anagni, Magnus Episcopus or Magnus of Fabrateria Vetus (probably Fabrareria Nova near Ceprano), is venerated by Catholics as the patron saint of Anagni in the Province of Frosinone (Lazio).[1][2][3][4] His name is also associated with the church of Santi Michele e Magno in Rome, from where a skull and a arm were translated to St. Peter's Basilica.[5] Since 1901 the saint is venerated in Louisville, Kentucky, after a set of relics – including a skull – from Anagni were sent to the St. Martin of Tours Catholic Church.

Pope Gregory XIII's Roman Martyrology from the year 1583 referred to Magnus as bishop and martyr of Anagnia. In the revised edition of 2001 he is classified as a martyr from Lazio (since 2004 Fabrateriae Veterus), with the proviso that the data regarding his actual life are uncertain.[6][7] On August 19th, his feast is celebrated in Anagni and many other places.

Hagiographers have always speculated about the saint's true identity. According to the Neapolitan scholar Gennaro Luongo, "the dossier of St. Magnus is among the most intriguing in medieval hagiography due to the variety of texts […]. The many versions of the Passio or Vita, which have completely ignored the scant but reliable data from liturgical documentation, have — because of the story’s evident stereotypical and fabulous character — posed serious difficulties for defining the saint's biographical profile and even his historical identity".[8]

Recent studies suggest that his character may have been a combination of a martyr from Lazio and a bishop of Trani. In the 9th and 10th centuries, his cult became intertwined with that of the Eastern military saint Andrew Stratelates ("the Tribune") and his 2,597 fellow warriors from Cilicia, but from the late 11th century onward, his episcopal legacy was claimed almost exclusively by the Anagni Cathedral, where, according the legend, his relics had been transferred from Fondi, and where his Passion was composed around 1100. Probably due to the interaction, a third character evolved – the supposed martyr Magnus of Cappadocia from Caesarea, whose deeds are preserved in two 14th-century manuscripts.[9] The 18th-century Bollandist Willem Cuypers regarded them as distinct figures, alongside Andrew the Tribune, who was at times also referred to as Magnus.

The 19th-century historian Sabine Baring-Gould took Magnus for a "mistaken duplication" of Saint Andrew, due to an additional comma that made one martyr into two.[10] His Italian colleague Francesco Lanzoni argued the opposite — that the original story of Magnus, like those of other Italian martyrs, was "torn from its place of origin" and relocated to the eastern provinces.[11] There, it must have absorbed, as we may assume, additional motifs, which later found their way back to Italy, taking root in the Passion of Magnus of Cappadocia.[12] The latter include elements from the Passion of Andrew the Tribune (such as the number of companions) and also from that of Saint Mammes of Caesarea (youth as a shepherd, taming of lions, withstanding the flames, names of persecutors).

The 13th-century crypt of the Cattedrale di Santa Maria Annunziata in Anagni is dedicated to Magnus and decorated with frescoes of scenes from his life and death, in which his shrine is symbolized as the Ark of the Covenant.[13][14] Since the 17th century Magnus also serves as patron saint of the Church of Santi Michele e Magno in Rome.

August 19th is also the feast of Saint Magnus of Cuneo, supposed martyr of the Theban Legion, whose cult in the village of Castelmagno (Piedmont), around the Chapel of San Magno, and elsewhere in the Province of Cuneo cannot be traced further back than the 15th century. Though the Roman Martyrology only lists the bishop from Anagnia, the Acta Sanctorum and other reference works also refer to Magnus of Cappadocia, according to Baring-Gould due to the above-mentioned duplication.[15] The 19th-century scholar Johann Stadler identified 35 saints and blessed with the name of Magnus, including the abbot Magnus of Füssen, the bishops Magnus of Avignon (also commemorated on August 19th), Magnus of Oderzo, Magnus of Milan, Magnus of Sens, and the martyr Magnus of Orkneys.[16] Most others have been derived from the martyrology of Jerome.

Traditional narrative

According to the legendary tradition, Magnus was born in Trani (Apulia) in the early 3nd century AD, the son of a man named Apollonius. He became a shepherd at an early age to support the family; he had a small flock of sheep and donated his earnings to the poor. He and his father were baptized by Bishop Redemptus of Trani.[1]

When Redemptus died, Magnus was proclaimed bishop of Trani by the people and local clerics. As bishop Magnus worked to spread Christianity in Fondi, Aquino, and Anagni. In Anagni, he baptized a young woman named Secondina, who would later die as a Christian martyr.

Magnus fled to Rome to escape the persecutions of Christians in the time of the Emperor Decius (249-251 A.D.), which were led by a man named Tarquinius. After a while, Magnus headed home, hiding himself along the way. Soldiers discovered him in a cave near Fondi, however, and he was decapitated near Fabrateria in Latium. His body was then interred in the Abbey of San Magno in Fondi.[4] Other edits of the legend claim that he died of old age.

The saint's name is not mentioned in contemporary sources, but was well known since the 9th century. The oldest Passion, which mainly contains healing miracles, is dating from the late 11th or early 12th century. It must have been composed in the city of Anagni, based on older manuscripts. Despite the various adaptations, the legend seems to have a homogeneous core.[17]

Veneration

The cult of a local martyr Saint Magnus was widespread in Lazio and surrounding area's since the 4th or 5th centuries.[18] As a consequence, the saint's relics may have been translated from a local cemetery to the newly founded Abbey of Fondi, erected in 522 by the abbot Saint Honoratus. According to a 9th-century document, the abbey was dedicated to St. Magnus. Magnus is also mentioned in the 5th-century martyrology of Jerome, in which his death place, or more likely his resting place is listed as Fabrateria, probably Fabrateria Nova or San Giovanni Incarico near Ceprano (not Fabrateria Vetus or Ceccano as has been wrongly inferred).[19] His name appears in Bede's martyrology, in the Sacramentarium Gelasianum (8th century), and in many other liturgical calenders and martyrologies. The Gelasian liturgy firmly anchors his name to the August 19th feast, summoning a prayer for release from death's captivity. During the 9th and 10th centuries his fame spread all over Europe, often being associated with that of Andrew the Tribune, due to the martyrologies of Usard, Ado of Vienne, and the so-called Vetus Romanum. Magnus' name is absent from the 9th-century Marble Calendar in the Cathedral of Naples, where only the latter saint is mentioned as Andreas Milex ("the warrior").

The earliest record in the archiepiscopal archive of Trani, dating from 834, states that the town’s church was commonly known as the episcopal Church of St. Magnus. A late 10th‑century Greek Gospel from Capua identifies him as the former bishop of Fondi. As a rule, however, he was depicted as a martyr; only from the late 12th century onward was he also described as both bishop and martyr. Around the same time, Andrew and his alleged alter ego faded into obscurity. Occasionally, saints’ calendars still mentioned their 2,597 companions, while Magnus of Cappadocia gradually emerged as a distinct figure sharing the same feast day.[20] Andrew made a comeback, however, at the close of the Middle Ages, due to the printing of medieval calendars and martyrologies. Being detached from Magnus, his name reintroduced in the 1583 Roman Martyrology, where he still can be found. In Fondi, moreover, a local tradition preserved the idea of a valley of martyrs, where Magnus' companions were said to have been killed.

According the legendary story, probably composed around 1115 by bishop Pietro II (but only preserved in a 16th-century manuscript), the captain Plato of Veroli looted the relics of Saint Magnus from Fondi during the Arab raid against Rome in 846. It is a classical account of relic theft (furta sacra). The saint's body was temporarily kept in Veroli, in the crypt of the Cathedral of Sant'Andrea Apostolo, but even there it was not safe. The legend claims that a Muslim overlord named Musa subsequently converted Magnus' crypt into a stable. When the horses placed in the stable began to die, Musa became frightened and sold the relics to citizens from Anagni. It is stated, moreover, that the relics were translated to Anagni Cathedral in the presence of the (alleged) Bishop Zacharias (who was in fact papal legate to Constantinopel, fl. 877). There is some reason to doubt whether these events actually took place in the 9th century. Archaeological research in the Abbey of Fondi suggests that Magnus' relics were cherished here well into the 11th century, when the church was completely rebuilt around the supposed shrine. The translation to Anagni is first mentioned in the Passio of Saint Peter of Anagni, written by Bruno of Segni in the early 12th century. An alternative legend holds that the saint's relics were translated from Fondi to the Santi Michele e Magno church in Rome.

The Cathedral of Anagny was rebuilt 1072 to 1104 under the rule the influential bishop and papal legate Peter of Anagni (fl. 1105), who is said to have discovered the marble sarcophagus holding the Saint's body under the church floor. The chest was sealed with iron bands, which – according to legend – magically loosened. Despite the Greek inscription, Peter was unsure of the saint's identity until it was confirmed by revelation. After Peter was canonized himself, his remains were buried in 1112 next to those of Magnus in the crypt under the main altar. During the reconstruction of the crypt in 1231, the saint's relics were recovered and then ceremonially buried under a new cosmatesque mosaic floor.

Magnus was declared patron saint of Anagni, and was also venerated in Colle San Magno (Frosinone), in San Mango sul Calore and San Mango Piemonte (Campania), in San Mango d'Aquino (Calabria), and many other towns and villages.[1] He enjoyed wide veneration in the lower Latium region as well as in Umbria, Campania and Puglia. In Cittaducale (Lazio) he was rediscovered as the original patron saint during the 17th century.[21]

The newly founded Carolinian Abbey of Saint-Riquier in Picardy cherished his relics as early as the 790s. His veneration in Northern Germany started in the 9th century, when Pope Nicholas I donated the saint's relics to the bishop of Münster, probably destined for the parish church of Everswinkel. Though remaining a minor saint, his popularity was boosted by the consecration of the Saint Magnus church in Braunschweig in 1031, which was followed by several village churches such as Niedermarsberg (Sauerland) in 1043. It is thought that established Benedictine abbeys and episcopal churches played an important role in the spread of his relics and cult to the Frisian, Westphalian and Lower Saxon districts, especially in the dioceses of Münster, Utrecht and Bremen. Accordingly, Magnus became the patron saint of the parishes of Hollum, Anloo, Sande, and Tating. His relics were also mentioned in an 11th-century tradition about a supposed case of dancing mania in the Saxonian village of Cölbigk.[22] Magnus became a popular dynastic name in Germany and Scandinavia. Around the city of Bremen, the veneration of Magnus flowered during the later Middle Ages.[23] About 1250, the Bishop of Minden was able to acquire a finger from Anagni; later the Minden Cathedral claimed to possess large parts of the saint's relics.[24] The St. Vitus Cathedral of Prague cherished a thigh bone.

During the Investiture Controversy, when the pope fled to Anagni, another set of relics (including a skull and two armbones) appeared in Rome, where they were kept in the Church of Santi Michele e Magno, since it's reconstruction in 1141.[25] A plaque from about 1300 tells how three Frisian warriors and a holy virgin had saved the saint's corps from the Saracens in Fondi during the aftermath of the raid against Rome in 846, mirroring the translation story of Anagni.[26] According to the text, divine intervention convinced the Frisians not to take the relics home. They were allowed, however, to take an arm. The saint's relics were brought to Esens in East Frisia, where a silver shrine was carried around in processions during the third quarter of the 12th century. The actual presence of Frisian warriors in Rome could be explained by their loyalty to the imperial camp. A subsequent tradition identified Magnus as the Frisian standard bearer called Magnus Forteman, who was said to have captured the city of Rome on behalf of Charlemagne in 799.[27] Additionally, Magnus was destined to become the patron saint of the Frisian districts of Harlingerland and Wûnseradiel, whereas his relics were spread across additional parishes. Most relics got lost in the Reformation, but the forearm was rescued and translated to Anderlecht near Brussels, where it disappeared at the turn of the 18th century. During the reign of Pope Martin IV (1417-1431) the saint's skull was translated to St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican. In 1602 the skull was placed in a silver buste, worth 800 florins. Additionally, in 1603 the Chapter of Saint Peter had the other arm also transferred. Since the 19th century, both relics have been kept in a glass casket in the relic chapel. They are displayed to the public on feast days. Some minor relics remained in the Church of Michael and Magnus.

In the 1890s the remains of a saint called Magnus (commemorated on August 19th) were kept by the Cistercian Sisters of Charity in Anagni, who cherished the relics collected by the 18th-century antiquarians Marcantonio Boldetti and Giovanni Marangoni.[28] As the convent had to be relocated, the relics of Saint Magnus and the virgin Saint Bonosa were brought to Rome and subsequently ― with special permission of Pope Leo XIII ― translated to Louisville, Kentucky in 1901. Since then, Saint Magnus is venerated as a Roman centurion, who is thought to have been executed 207 AD as he tried to rescue Bonosa (instead of the Saint Secondina), after which both of them were buried in the catacomb of Pontian.[29] Theoretically, the remains could originate from one of Saint Magnus's namesakes. According to the archaeologist Philip DiBlasi, who conducted research in 2012, the saint was largely of European descent and died in his late forties. Apart from the skull, the skeletal parts are shattered and said to be less than half complete.[30]

  • (in Latin) Willem Cuypers, De S. Magno Episc. et Mart. in Italia, in: Acta Sanctorum, Augusti, vol. 3, Antwerp 1737, col. 701-716 (Ökumenisches Heiligenlexikon)
  • (in Italian) Vincenzo Fenicchia, 'Magno, vescovo di Trani', in: Vincenzo Fenicchia, Filippo Caraffa and Giuseppe Morelli (eds.), Bibliotheca Sanctorum, vol. 8 (1967), cols. 552–557
  • (in Italian) Fabio Arduino (March 13, 2007). "San Magno di Anagni (o da Trani)". Santi e Beati.
  • (in German) "Magnus von Trani". Ökumenisches Heiligenlexikon. May 17, 2023.

References

  1. ^ a b c Fabio Arduino (March 13, 2007). "San Magno di Anagni (o da Trani)". Santi e Beati. Retrieved August 15, 2025.
  2. ^ Angelo de Berardino, 'Magnus, martyr', in: Angelo Di Berardino & al. (eds.), Encyclopedia of Ancient Christianity, Downers Grove, IL 2014, vol. 2, p. 655 (transl. from Nuovo dizionario patristico e di antichità cristiane, Geneva-Milan 2006–2008).
  3. ^ Vincenzo Fenicchia, 'Magno, vescovo di Trani', in: Vincenzo Fenicchia, Filippo Caraffa and Giuseppe Morelli (eds.), Bibliotheca Sanctorum, vol. 8 (1967), cols. 552–557.
  4. ^ a b Ekkart Sauser (2003). "Magnus Episcopus". In Bautz, Traugott (ed.). Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL) (in German). Vol. 21. Nordhausen: Bautz. col. 890. ISBN 3-88309-110-3.
  5. ^ Alessandro Vella, 'Tres illorum milites de Frisia. Nuove considerazioni sulla diffusione del culto di san Magno tra il Lazio e l'Europa settentrionale', in: Leonard Rutgers, Stephan Mols & Sible de Blaauw (eds.), Frontiers: The Transformation and Christianization of the Roman Empire between Centre and Periphery: Proceedings of the 17th International Congress of Christian Archaeology, Leuven / Paris / Bristol CT 2024, vol. 3, p. 23-40.
  6. ^ The Holy See (Vatican), Martyrologium romanum. Ex decreto sacrosancti œcumenici Concilii Vaticani II instauratum auctoritate Ioannis Pauli PP. II promulgatum, Vatican City 2001, p. 782-783.
  7. ^ The Holy See (Vatican): Pontifical Academies. "Martirologio". Translated by Stefano Calvi. Istituto San Clemente i Papa e Martire. In Latin: Marc in Eugene (August 19, 2023). "The Roman Martyrology for August 19 (14th day before the Kalends of September)". In cínere et cílicio.
  8. ^ Gennaro Luongo, 'Agiografia fondana', in: Teresa Piscitelli Carpino (ed.), Fondi tra antichità e medioevo, Atti del Convegno, Fondi, 31 marzo - 1 aprile 2000, Fondi 2002, pp. 193-250, 219.
  9. ^ On Magnus of Cappadocia: Joseph-Marie Sauget, 'Magnus, santo, martire a Cesarea die Capadocia, in: Vincenzo Fenicchia, Filippo Caraffa and Giuseppe Morelli (eds.), Bibliotheca Sanctorum, vol. 8 (1967), cols. 541-542. Willem Cuypers, 'De Sancto Magno martyre, Cæsareæ in Cappadocia', in: Acta Sanctorum … Augusti, vol. 3, Antwerp 1737, p. 717-719. First printing: Petrus de Natalibus, Catalogus sanctorum et gestorum eorum ex diversis voluminibus collectus, Venice 1493, book VII, ch. 76.
  10. ^ Basil Watkins, The Book of Saints: A Comprehensive Biographical Dictionary, 8th rev. ed., London 2016, p. 455. St. Andrew was called in Greek μεγαλομάρτυρος (Latin: megalomartyris), which resulted in his designation as Andreas Tribunus Magnus Martyr. See: Sabine Baring-Gould, Lives of the Saints, vol. 9: August, London 1898, p. 176.
  11. ^ Francesco Lanzoni, Le diocesi d’Italia dalle origini al principio del secolo VII (an. 604). Studio critico, Faenza 1927, vol. 1, pp. 157-58, 268, 300-301.
  12. ^ Cf. Lanzoni, Le diocesi d’Italia, p. 286.
  13. ^ Gioacchino Giammaria (ed.), Un universo di simboli. Gli affreschi della cripta nella cattedrale di Anagni, Rome 2001. Martina Bagnoli, 'A Pilgrim’s Prayer for Salvation: The Miracles of Saint Magnus in the Crypt of Anagni Cathedral', in: Thomas E.A. Dale (ed.), Shaping Sacred Space and Institutional Identity in Romanesque Mural Painting: Essays in Honour of Otto Demus, London: Pindar Press, 2004, p. 69–94.
  14. ^ "Anagni Cathedral", Italia.it
  15. ^ Willem Cuyper, 'De S. Magno Episc. et Mart. in Italia', in: Acta Sanctorum, Augusti, vol. 3, Antwerp 1737, col. 701-716.
  16. ^ Johann Evangelist Stadler, Vollständiges Heiligen-Lexikon. Oder, Lebensgeschichten aller Heiligen und Seliger …, vol. 4, Augsburg 1875, p. 46-53.
  17. ^ Luongo, 'Agiografia fondana', p. 224.
  18. ^ Filippo Carcione (ed.), Magno di Trani. Memoria e culto di un martire paleocristiano nelle valli del Liri e del Sacco. Ricerche di agiografia-topografia-iconografia, Venafro 2004.
  19. ^ Following Paul Fridolin Kehr, Francesco Lanzoni incorrectly held "in Fabriteria Magni" for a toponym, which he identified as Fabrateria Vetus or Ceccano. Cf. Angelo Nicosia, Il Lazio meridionale tra antichità e medioevo. Aspetti e problemi, Marina di Minturno (LT) 1995, p. 29-30. S. Pietrobono, '"In Fabrateria Magni": topografia del territorio tra tardo antico ed alto medioevo', in: Francisco Carcione (ed.), Magno di Trani, Venefro 2004, p. 43-109.
  20. ^ Caesar Baronius, Martyrologium Romanum ad novem kalendarii rationem …, Rome 1586, p. 371-372 ("alio Magno martyre"). Hugo Menardi, Divi Gregorii papae huius nominis primi, cognomento magni Liber. Sacramentorum nunc demum correctior et locupletior editus, Paris 1641, p. 175 ("alius Magnus tantum Martyr, non Episcopus"). Also in the popular catalogue: HimmelCron, das ist, Gantz andächtige, und zuvor noch nie in dem Truck außkomne Gebett, zu allen lieben Heiligen Gottes, vol. 2, Ingolstadt 1614, p. 386-387.
  21. ^ Arnold Witte, 'Lost Frescoes, a Forgotten Saint and a Rediscovered Play: S. Magno in Cittaducale', in: Mariette Verhoeven, Lex Bosman and Hanneke van Asperen (eds.), Monuments & Memory: Christian Cult Buildings and Constructions of the Past. Essays in Honour of Sible de Blaauw, Turnhout 2016, p. 349-359.
  22. ^ Gregor Rohmann, Tanzwut: Kosmos, Kirche und Mensch in der Bedeutungsgeschichte eines mittelalterlichen Krankheitskonzepts, Göttingen 2012, p. 363-494.
  23. ^ Gerhard Schmolze, 'Sankt-Magnus-Verehrung in Bremen im 14. und 15. Jahrhundert', in: Bremisches Jahrbuch 67 (1989), p. 29-54.
  24. ^ Frederiecke Maria Schnack, Zwischen geistlichen Aufgaben und weltlichen Herausforderungen. Die Handlungsspielräume der Mindener Bischöfe von 1250 bis 1500, Ostfildern 2022, p. 258.
  25. ^ Tiemen Brouwer, 'Magnus is de naam. De transformatie van een heilige in de Friezenkerk in Rome', in: Tijdschrift voor Nederlandse Kerkgeschiedenis 9 (2006), p. 68-77. Sible de Blaauw, 'The Medieval Church of S. Michele dei Frisoni in Rome', in: Mededelingen van het Nederlands Historisch Instituut te Rome 51/52 (1992/93), p. 151-221, p. 162.
  26. ^ Martinus Muskens, Santi Michele e Magno dei Frisoni, Rome 1993, p. 98-109. The inscription refers to Charlemagne and Pope Leo IV, conflating the latter with Leo III, whose name is central in the Frisian tradition.
  27. ^ Paul N. Noomen, 'St. Magnus van Hollum en Celdui van Esens. Bijdrage tot de chronologie van de Magnustraditie', in: De Vrije Fries 69 (1989), p. 7–32. Critical: Jan Willem Verkaik, De moord op graaf Floris V, Hilversum 1996, p. 200-208.
  28. ^ A letter from 1901 is referring to the "Cistercian Nuns of Agnani". Cited after Bernard A. Spoekler, 1853-1953: The Centenary of the Church of Saint Martin of Tours, Louisville, Kentucky, Louisville 1953, p. 26.
  29. ^ Discover Our Early Christian Martyrs, Shrine of St. Martin (retrieved 18 July 2025). Saints' Relics in St. Martin of Tours Church in Louisville, Kentucky, Catholic Relic Tours, 2 May 2018 (retrieved 18 July 2025). Kevin Gibson, Secret Louisville: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful, and Obscure, Saint Louis 2017, p. 51. Cf. Watkins, The Book of Saints, p. 227.
  30. ^ Marnie McAllister, Saints at St. Martin believed to be ancient Roman martyrs, The Record, 7 June 2012 (retrieved 18 July 2025). Stephen J. Taylor, Shrine of Saints Magnus and Bonosa, Atlas Obscura, 16 July 2016 (retrieved 18 July 2025).
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.