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APOCRYPHA
REVUE INTERNATIONALE DES LITTÉRATURES APOCRYPHES
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF APOCRYPHAL LITERATURES
Directeur de publicationJ.-D. DUBOIS
Secrétaires de rédactionR. BURNET et A. VAN DEN K ERCHOVE
Comité de lecture
F. AMSLER , R. GOUNELLE, S.C. MIMOUNI, M.-J. PIERRE,E. R OSE, J.-M. R OESSLI, S. VOICU
Comité scientiqueI. BACKUS, B. BOUVIER , F. BOVON, Z. IZYDORCZYK ,S. JONES, E. JUNOD, A. LE BOULLUEC, J.-N. PÉRÈS,
P. PIOVANELLI, M. STAROWIEYSKI
Revue publiée avec le concours scientiquede l’Association pour l’Étude de la Littérature Apocryphe Chrétienne
(A.E.L.A.C.)et
de la Société pour l’Étude de la Littérature Apocryphe Chrétienne(S.E.L.A.C.)
Adresse du secrétariat de la revue :
187, rue BelliardF-75018 [email protected]
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SOMMAIRE
« From Vermont to Cyprus: A New Witness of the Acts of Philip » par François BOVON .................................................................... 9
« Les apocryphes dans les premiers chapitres des deux plus célèbres‘Vies du Christ’ du Moyen Âge »
par Marielle LAMY ...................................................................... 29
« The Middle Irish Homily Scéla Laí Brátha »
par Uáitéar MAC GEARAILT ......................................................... 83
« Deux anciens manuscrits syriaques d’œuvres apocryphes dans le
nouveau fonds de Sainte-Catherine du Sinaï » par Alain DESREUMAUX ................................................................ 115
« Les ‘histoires’ syriaques de la Vierge: Traditions apocryphesanciennes et récentes »
par Charles NAFFAH..................................................................... 137
« Jude l’obscur ou comment écrire les actes d’un apôtre inconnu » par Régis BURNET........................................................................ 189
« Sacrices de la foule, sacrice de Judas: l’ Évangile de Judas et lethème sacriciel »
par Anna VAN DEN K ERCHOVE……… ......................................... 213« L’ascension de l’âme dans l’ Évangile de Judas (45, 24 – 47, 1) »
par Jose MONTSERRAT TORRENTS .................................................. 229
ÉTUDES CRITIQUES« L’ Évangile de Judas en question : à propos de quelques livresrécents »
par Jean-Daniel DUBOIS .............................................................. 239
« À la recherche des juifs qui croyaient en Jésus, À propos d’unouvrage récent »
par Thierry LEGRAND .................................................................. 251
« La question de l’hérésie ou de l’orthodoxie et de l’hétérodoxie » par Simon C. MIMOUNI ............................................................... 265
COMPTES R ENDUS................................................................................... 281
LIVRES REÇUS ........................................................................................ 305
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François BOVON
Harvard University
FROM VERMONT TO CYPRUS:A NEW WITNESS OF THE
ACTS OF PHILIP
To Nancy Patterson Ševenkoand Bertrand Bouvier
A recently restored icon from Arsos (Cyprus) appears to be an
important witness to the newly published Greek Acts of the ApostlePhilip. It con rms some episodes attested only by a few manuscripts,the Athos manuscript Xenophontos 32 in particular.
Une icône d’Arsos (Chypre) offre un témoignage important des
Actes de l’apôtre Philippe récemment publiés. Elle con rme certains
épisodes attestés par quelques manuscrits seulement, par le manuscritde l’Athos Xenophontos 32 en particulier.
Introduction
Greek Texts on the Apostle Philip
The Acts of Philip ( BHG 1516-1526d)1 from the manuscriptAthous Xenophontos 32, published in 1999, is a long Greek text. It
is a more extensive document than either the Martyrdom edited byKonstantin Tischendorf in the middle of the nineteenth century orthe rst Acts published by Maximilien Bonnet at the beginning ofthe twentieth century.2 Between the discovery of the Xenophontos 32
1. BHG is the abbreviation for François HALKIN, Bibliotheca hagiographicaGraeca (3 vols.; 3d. ed.; Subsidia hagiographica 8a; Brussels: Société desBollandistes, 1957; repr. Brussels: Société des Bollandistes, 1986); see alsoFrançois HALKIN, Novum Auctarium Bibliothecae Hagiographicae Graecae (Subsidia hagiographica 65; Brussels: Société des Bollandistes, 1984).
2. Konstantin TISCHENDORF, ed., Acta apostolorum apocrypha (Leipzig:Avenarius et Mendelssohn, 1851) 75-104; IDEM, Apocalypses apocryphae…(Leipzig: Herman Mendelssohn, 1866; repr. Hildesheim: Olms, 1966) 141-56; Maximilien BONNET, «Acta Philippi et Acta Thomae. Accedunt ActaBarnabae,» in Acta apostolorum apocrypha (2 vols. in 3; ed. RichardAdelbert LIPSIUS and Maximilien BONNET; Leipzig: Herman Mendelssohn,
Apocrypha 20, 2009, p. 9-27DOI 10.1484/J.APOCRA.1.102085
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10 F. BOVON
and the publication of the quasi-complete work, I searched for traces
of these Acts of Philip in Byzantine literature.3
The Acts of Philip are not the only memories of the apostle andevangelist—often blended into a single person—that the Byzantine
period has preserved. The most widespread account is that of Symeon
Metaphrastes (BHG 1527), which transports the disciple directly fromPalestine to Asia Minor, to the city of Hierapolis to be precise.4 This
text overlooks the presence of the two animals, the leopard and the kid
goat. The Synaxarion of the Church of Constantinople (BHG 1528e)follows this example and focuses its attention on the martyrdom
without forgetting the presence of Bartholomew and Mariamne.5 The
same is true of the Menologion of the Emperor Basil .6 A text of theMenaea of November (BHG 1528f ) resumes Acts of Philip 1–7, but
does not venture any further.7
A Greek manuscript, edited in part by Maximilien Bonnet, the
Parisinus gr. 1551 (BHG 1528), also presents the contents of Actsof Phil ip 1–7 before moving to the martyrdom story, and has the
particularity of placing the second act, which normally takes place
at Athens, after the seventh and situates it probably at Nicatera.8
This document also has three other distinguishing characteristics.
a) It ignores Acts of Philip 8–14, particularly the entry of the triointo the city of Hierapolis (Acts Phil. 13) and the healing of Stachys(Acts Phil. 14). b) At Nicatera, the opposition to the apostles comes
primarily from the Jews, and in this context, the apostles are explicitly
put in prison. c) The two animals are absent from this composition.
As its name indicates, the account of the Translatio (BH G 1529)follows the martyrdom story and recounts the transfer of the relics of
Philip from Ophiorymos to Hierapolis (the two cities are not confused
1891-1903; repr. Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, 1959) 2.2:
1-90; François BOVON, Bertrand BOUVIER , and Frédéric AMSLER , Acta Phili ppi.Textus (Corpus Christianorum Series Apocryphorum 11; Turnhout: Brepols,1999).
3. François BOVON, “Les Actes de Philippe,” ANRW II 2.25.6: 4431 527.4. PG 115, 188-97. On Symeon, see Christian HØGEL, Symeon
Metaphrastes: Rewriting and Canonization (Copenhagen: University ofCopenhagen, Museum Tusculanum, 2002).
5. Hippolyte DELEHAYE, Propylaeum ad Acta Sanctorum NovembrisSynaxarium Ecclesiae Constantinopolitanae (Brussels: Société desBollandistes, 1902; repr. Brussels, 1954) col. XLVI-XLIX.
6. PG 117, 160-61.
7. PG 105, 183-96. This text leaves the episode at Athens as the second
act. A new witness of this text (BHG 1528f) is the Greek manuscriptSinaiticus gr. 577.
8. BONNET, “Acta Philippi,” 91-98.
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A NEW WITNESS OF THE ACTS OF PHI LIP 11
here).9 The Laudatio (BHG 1530b) edited by Albert Frey insists onthe merits of the apostle, but the author knows the Acts of Phil ip and
even refers explicitly to it (lin. 75-152). He makes several allusions orshort references to the several acts and the martyrdom story. He seemsto allude to Acts of Philip 1, 4, 8, and from 13 till the martyrdom.10
Other texts include the brief Catalogs of the Apostles that situatethe ministry of the saint at Hierapolis, and some of these documents
point out that he was crucied upside-down.11 Sermon 9 (BHG1530), in honor of Philip, by Nicetas the Paphlagonian, insists onthe apostle’s ministry in Asia and on his martyrdom at Hierapolis.12 The Laudatio (BH G 1530c) by Philagathos of Cerami (published also
under the name Theophanes Kerameus) consists of a meditation onthe New Testament passages on Philip, particularly the rst chapterof the Gospel of John.13 What the Byzantine historian NikephorosKallistos Xanthopoulos recounts about Philip does not go beyond thatof Symeon Metaphrastes; his account focuses on Philip preaching andsuffering at Hierapolis. It is even less complete than the metaphrasticone.14 As for the monk of Saint-Sabbas Ioasaph who, at the end ofthe nineteenth century nished his days at Mount Athos, he recountsin popular Greek, in his great black hardbound notebook, a fairly
complete life of the apostle,15 which follows Acts of Phil ip 1–7 beforeunfolding the account of the martyrdom at Hierapolis.16
In brief, with the exception of the Laudatio (BHG 1530b), noneof these witnesses displays an exhaustive acquaintance with the Acts
9. Montague Rhodes JAMES, ed., Apocr ypha Anecdota (TS 2.3; Cambridge,UK: Cambridge University Press, 1893; repr. Nendeln, Liechtenstein: KrausReprint, 1967) 158-63.
10. Albert FREY, “L’‘Éloge de Philippe, saint apôtre et évangéliste duChrist’ (BH G 1530b),” Apocrypha 3 (1992): 165-209.
11. Theodor SCHERMANN, Propheten und Apostellegenden nebstJüngerkatalogen des Dorotheus und verwandter Texte (TU 31.3; Leipzig:J. C. Hinrichs, 1907) 266-69; Richard Adelbert LIPSIUS, Die apokryphenApostelgeschichten und Apostell egenden (2 Bände mit einem Ergänzungsband,Braunschweig, 1883-1890; repr. Amsterdam, APA-Philo, 1976) 2.2: 25-26.
12. PG 105, 164-84.13. PG 132, 884-96. FILAGATO DA CERAMI, Omeli e per i Vangeli domenical i
e le feste di tutto l’anno (ed. Guiseppe R. Taibbi; testi e monumenti, testi 11;Palermo: Istituto siciliano di studi bizantini e neoellenici, 1969) 111-17.
14. Nikephoros Kallistos XANTHOPOULOS, Hist. eccl. 2.39 (PG 145,860-61); see BOVON, “Les Actes de Philippe,” 4455-456. Nikephoros doesnot mention the role played by Nicanora’s conversion as prologue to themartyrdom of the apostle.
15. Athos, Megisti Lavra, Z 59 , pp. 76-95.16. For a few other Greeks texts and the different versions, see BOVON,
“Les Actes de Philippe,” 4437-456.
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12 F. BOVON
of Philip . They most often know only the account of the martyrdom.Occasionally they bear witness to the rst acts but ignore the ones
that follow. The presence of the two animals, the leopard and the kidgoat, is not always noted, and not extensively when it is. Occasionally,even Bartholomew and Mariamne are absent. Finally, it is sometimesthe victory of the apostle over the Viper, to which the city rendersa cult, and sometimes the conversion of Nicanora, the wife of thegovernor who repels her husband, that precipitates the persecutionthat befalls the apostolic trio.
A Byzantine Icon of the Apostle Philip
Not long ago, during one of the splendid falls for which NewEngland is famous, I paid a visit to Dr. Nancy Patterson Ševenko, ahistorian of Byzantine art, at her home in Vermont. At one point inthe conversation, she inquired of me: “I trust that you know the iconof Philip preserved in a small town on the island of Cyprus?” As Iconfessed my ignorance to her, she brought me a thin book written byKostas Gerassimou and Kyriakos Papaioakeim, published in Larnacain 1997.17 Since that time, I have learned through that book that thesmall town of Arsos was a place of pilgrimage and that St. Philip,
who is venerated at this locale, performed miracles there.Professor Bertrand Bouvier gave me a few pages to read on Arsos
from Rupert Gunnis’s famous old guidebook.18 When a conference brought Bouvier to Cyprus, he was kind enough to visit Arsos forme in the company of his wife, Mrs. Michelle Bouvier-Bron and Dr.Stella Frigerio-Zeniou, a specialist in Cyprian frescoes and icons.He met there Mr. Kostas Gerassimou, who not only showed himaround but also gave him a computer disk with excellent pictures and
permission to publish them (which I am doing here with gratitude).
He also received a more recent book on Arsos that has a few pageson the apostle Philip and his sister Mariamne. The book includes aninteresting article by Christodoulos Chatzichristodoulou on the icon.19 Then, in May of 2009 Dr. Nancy Patterson Ševenko gave me a paper
17. Kostas GERASSIMOU and Kyriakos PAPAIOAKEIM, . (13 ) Larnaka: Hiera MetropolisKitiou, 1997.
18. Rupert GUNNIS, Historic Cyprus: A Guide to its Towns and Villages,Monasteries and Castles (London: Methuen, 1936) 178-79.
19. E. IOAKEIM, , , withthe collaboration of Christodoulos Chatzichristodoulou, Leukosia, 2004. OnPhilip and Mariamne, see pp. 133-34, 306, and 308-9. On the icon, see pp.282-88.
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A NEW WITNESS OF THE ACTS OF PHI LIP 13
by a Greek historian of art, Titos Papamastorakis, who wrote a few pages on the Arsos icon in his study of the vita icons.20
Attached to the church consecrated to St. Philip at Arsos, there is achapel consecrated to Mariamne. The saint is venerated on November14th and his relics on July 31st. The apostle’s sister, Mariamne, isvenerated on February 17th. The presence of both the relics and theicon explain the success of the sanctuary at Arsos from the thirteenthcentury till today. Although the icon was known for some time it didnot arouse much interest, for its origin was believed to be late, datingfrom the seventeenth century.
Other than Philip’s portrait, to my knowledge there are no
iconographic representations of his life or its events. Here— suddently—there is a witness to the long text of the Acts of Philip ,a large set of images that are more complete than all the Byzantinetexts put together, with the exception of the Xenophontos 32 .
Description
The Images
A recent restoration has brought this icon back to its original beauty.
It consists of a superb portrait of the saint, beardless and young,framed by eighteen scenes that relate his acts and his martyrdom.This type of “decorated” icon is called a hagiographical, historiated,or more commonly a vita icon.21 The overall dimensions of the iconare impressive: 150 cm high and 108 cm wide. The portrait of Philipthat occupies the central space measures 118 cm high and 77 cmwide. The narrative scenes that frame the central portrait should beread from left to right and from top to bottom.
20. Titos PAPAMASTORAKIS, “Pictorial Lives. Narrative in Thirteenth-century Vita Icons,” 7 (2007): 33-65. This author isright in insisting on the connections between the Arsos icon and the text onPhilip preserved in the Par isinus gr. 1551. But he exaggerates the differences between this document and the corresponding part in the complete Acts ofPhilip. Further, he does not realize that some scenes of the icon, such asthe entry into Hierapolis (thirteenth scene) and the healing of blind Stachys(fourteenth scene), are absent from the Parisinus gr. 1551 and can only referto the complete version of the Acts of Philip. Finally, he does not admit thatthe text of such apostolic legends was uid and that the painter of icons wasnot slavishly committed to an immutable plot.
21. See Nancy PATTERSON ŠEVENKO, “Vita Icons and ‘Decorated’ Icons ofthe Komnenian Period,” in Four Icons in the Menil Collection (ed. BertrandDAVEZAC; The Menil Collection Monographs 1; Houston: Menil Foundation,1992) 57-69; EADEM, “The Vita Icon and the Painter as Hagiographer,” DOP53 (1999): 149-65.
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14 F. BOVON
The rst of the narrative scenes is the only one that recounts an
event from the canonical gospels. It presents the calling of the apostle
according to the Gospel of John 1:43: “The following day, Jesusdecided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him: ‘Follow
me!’”
All the other scenes depict events from apocryphal accounts of the
saint’s life. The second scene recalls the resurrection of the son of
the widow according to Acts of Philip 1.1: “When Philip the apostle
went forth from Galilee, a widow was carrying out for burial her only
child, who was all she had. Now the apostle was very distressed in
his soul when he saw the miserable old woman...”
The third image evokes Philip sailing to the country of theCandaceans as Acts of Philip 3.10–11 recounts it: “Then Philip went
by sea to the borders of the Candaceans, and he found there a ship
about to sail for Azotus, and he said to the sailors: ‘Take me, O
sailors, and bring me also to Azotus.’ And he agreed to give them four
staters as a fare, and he went on board with them. And when they had
sailed some four hundred stadia, a strong wind came up, so that the
ship was endangered.”
The fourth scene depicts probably the baptism of Charitine, a
young girl, and members of her family. Although the text of the Acts of Philip does not mention Charitine’s sister or mother, the image
corresponds to a passage from Acts of Philip 4.6: “Then her father
also believed even as his daughter did, and they were considered
worthy of the seal in the Lord.” A friend of the king, the father carries
the name of Nikokleides and he exercises the function of an archivist.
But who is the second feminine gure? One thinks rst of her mother,
but under scrutiny this gure looks younger and may well be a sister
of Charitine.
The fth scene describes what precedes the baptism, the healingof Charitine: “When Philip, the servant of Christ, was saying these
things Charitine, the daughter of Nikokleides, who had a severe
disgurement in her right eye, was weeping as she listened to the
apostle through the entire night” (Acts Phil . 4.4). In dialogue with the
girl, “Philip replied to her: ‘Rise and spread your right hand over your
face as you say “in the name of Jesus Christ, let the disgurement of
my eye be cured.”’ So she did just as he told her, and at that moment
she was immediately cured and she was glorifying God” (Acts Phil.
4.5). It is appropriate to point out that the icon does not evoke a self-healing, and the inscription speaks of leprosy and mentions a woman
rather than a young girl.
The sixth scene, which shows the healing of the hand of a young
man named Aristarchos, who confronted the apostle, must correspond
to what is recounted in Acts of Philip 6.10, then 11 and 12: A young
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16 F. BOVON
he began to teach: ‘Blessed are those who are straightforward in the
word of Jesus...’ And Ireos was glad, because Philip entered into his
house” (Acts Phil. 5.25–26).In the tenth scene, we encounter an image whose interpretation is
not undemanding. Two options present themselves. According to the
rst, the scene describes an imprisonment of the apostles. In Acts of
Philip 5–7 the apostles indeed encounter opposition, but they do not
end up in prison. I would like, therefore, to discard this hypothesis.
According to the second, whom I intend to retain, the scene represents
the installation of the apostles in an abandoned building that they
commandeer. The building could consist of storehouses: “‘Who
will receive me as a guest in this city?’ As he was thinking thesethings, suddenly a beautiful child appeared to Philip on his right side,
pointing out to him a shelter among some storehouses in which many
foreigners were lodging. So Philip went in as a foreigner. Now the
storehouses belonged to a certain great archivist...” (Acts Phil. 4.2).
But an option that may be more reasonable is that the image depicts
a dispensary mentioned later: “Once they had entered the city, the
apostles found a vacant dispensary near the gate in which no doctor
was established” (Acts Phil. 13.2).
The eleventh scene portrays the resurrection of a young man. Butwhich resurrection is it? There is a resurrection in Acts of Phil ip 1 that
has already been represented in the second scene. Perhaps this could
be the resurrection that comes at the conclusion of the dispute between
Philip and the high priest in Acts of Philip 2, the resurrection of the
son of a dignitary, suffocated by a demon: “And he [Philip] said to
the man: ‘Bring your son to me, and I will give him back to you alive
through my Christ.’... [He] raised him up, and delivered him alive
to his father” (Acts Phil. 2.23). But it seems more likely to me that
the scene presents the resurrection narrated in Acts of Philip 6. HerePhilip is engaged in another dispute with the Jews but the scriptural
combat becomes also a competition of thaumaturgies: “Nereus, the
father of the one who had died, said: ‘Let my only son be raised...’
Then with no further delay, Philip, after looking up to heaven, said a
prayer, and when he approached the stretcher, he laid his hands upon
the boy...” (Acts Phil. 6.19–20). Theophilos, such is the name of the
young man, thus resuscitates and leaps from his bedding.
The twelfth scene represents the victory of the apostle, probably
over the high priest Ananias: “And immediately the earth was splitopen below the place where Ananias stood... And in that moment the
earth opened its mouth and received him as far as his neck... The
high priestly garment, however, detached itself from his body and
ew away” (Acts Phil. 2.18, 21, 23). One could also ponder whether
the scene does not represent the conict that opposes the apostle to
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PL. I
The vita Icon of the Apostle Philip in the Church of St. Philip, Arsos (Cyprus)
Pictures by Kostas Gerassimou and Kyriakos Papaioakim.
Courtesy of Mr. Gerassimou and Mr. Papaioakim.
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PL. II
1. The calling of Philip by Jesus
2. The raising of the Son of the Widow
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3. The Dangerous Sailing
4. The Baptism of Charitine and her Family
PL. III
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5. The Healing of Charitine 6. The Healing of Aristarchos
7. The Freeing of Slaves or the
Collective Exorcism
8. The Confrontation with the Jews
PL. IV
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9. The Apostle Philip in Dialogue
with Ireos
10. The Installation of the
Apostles in a Dispensary or the
Imprisonment of the Apostles
11. The Resurrection of Nereus's Son 12. The Victory of the Apostle
over the Highpriest
PL. V
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13. Entry of the Apostolic Group into
the City of the Viper
14. The Healing of the Blind
Stachys
PL. VI
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15. Philip, Bartholomew, and Mariamne in Prison
16. The Torture of the Apostle Philip
PL. VII
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17. The Crucixion of Bartholomew or Philip
18. The Apostle Philip's Remains
PL. VIII
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18 F. BOVON
the apostle Philip. We read in Acts of Philip Martyrdom 19: “They
pierced the ankles of Philip, brought hooks, passed the nerfs de bœuf
across his heals and hung him upside-down on a tree located beforethe door of the sanctuary.”
The seventeenth scene brings the viewer to perplexity. It depicts
the crucixion of an apostle. While one expects spontaneously to see
the apostle Philip on an icon devoted to this disciple, there are two
details that—on the contrary—seem to suggest Bartholomew: the
apostle has a beard and the end of the name Bartholomew appears in
a readable section of the partly erased inscription (-).24 Should
we take this as an error on the part of the painter, who should have
represented Philip? Note the following quotations from the text:“When the crowds came up [from the abyss], they looked at Philip
and saw him hanging head downwards.... Then Philip, still hanging
there, addressed them and said...” (Acts Phil. M art . 32–33, recension
). “Therefore, do not grieve because I am hanging in this way; for
I bear the type of the rst human brought head downwards upon
the earth and am once more being made alive through the cross of
wood from the death caused by transgression” (Acts Phil. Mart. 34,
recension ). But one should not forget that Bartholomew is also
tortured. He is hung on a wall: “And they streched out Bartholomewfacing Philip, and they pinned his hands to the wall of the temple gate”
(Acts Phil. Mart. 19, recension ). Bartholomew however does not
die at that moment, for Philip obtains for his companion the following
favor: Bartholomew will be released from his cruel position. This
would explain why, on the icon, Bartholomew is back to normality in
the next scene, where he mourns Philip in the company of Mariamne
(scene eighteenth). One should also not forget that in Acts Phil . Mar t.
31 (recensions and ) the Lord announces that Bartholomew will
later die by crucixion in Lycaonia. The painter may have presentedthis scene as an anticipation of that event.
The eighteenth and nal scene represents the remains of Philip
immediately preceding his burial. While hanging upside-down during
his passion the apostle instructs, “Now as for me, I am going to the
Lord; take my body and prepare it for burial in leaves of Syrian paper
and do not place a shroud on me, because the body of the Lord was
wrapped in linen cloth. When my body has been prepared for burial
in the paper leaves, bind it with papyrus cords, and bury it in the
church” (Acts Phil. M art . 37).
24. See PAPAMASTORAKIS, “Pictorial Lives,” 63 (endnote 56 of p. 53).
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A NEW WITNESS OF THE ACTS OF PHILIP 19
The Inscriptions
Certain inscriptions are easily readable and correspond to what we
expect, as for instance the one that accompanies the rst scene where
we read the names of St. Philip and Jesus Christ and the command
recorded in John 1:43: “Follow me!” If one does not take offense at
the spelling, one recognizes willingly the inscription on the second
scene: “The saint resuscitating the dead” (Acts Phil. 1). The thirdamplies the topic of the scene represented by stating “saint saves
the boat,” which indicates that the painter knew the account of the
storm that was calmed and the shipwreck avoided (Acts Phil . 3). Theinscription accompanying the sixth scene does not pose a problem:
it evokes the healing of the young man’s paralyzed hand in Acts ofPhilip 6. The same goes for the inscription on the eleventh scene:“The saint resuscitating the dead (man)” (Acts Phil. 2 or 6); and forthe inscription on the twelfth scene: “The saint sending the high priest
alive into Hades” (Acts Phil. 2). Also easy to read is the inscriptionon the thirteenth scene: “The saints enter into Hierapolis” (Acts Phil.13). The inscription on the fourteenth scene, which announces the
miraculous healing of blind Stachys (Acts Phil . 14), is partly erased.The fteenth states: “The saints seated (dif cult to read) in prison”
(Acts Phil. M art.); and
nally the eighteenth: “The last care given tothe saint” (Acts Phil. Mart.).In certain cases, the inscription is erased and even an on-the-spot
examination may not allow for its reestablishment. This is true of
the fourth scene: the baptism of Charitine and her parents (Acts Phil. 4); the ninth scene: the reception by Ireos (Acts Phil. 5 or 6); andthe sixteenth scene: the torture of the apostle hanging by his feet
(Acts Phil. M art ). The inscription on the seventeenth scene is dif cultto read, but one can discern the end of the name Bartholomew and
mention of the hunging (Acts Phil. Mart.).In other cases, the inscription is problematic. Thus, the fth scene
is accompanied by the following caption: “The saint heals the face of
the woman af icted with leprosy.” Nothing in Acts of Philip 4 statesthat Charitine was af icted with leprosy. The text of Acts says thatthe young girl suffered in her eye and was ashamed to present herself
disgured. The image agrees therefore with the text of the Acts ofPhilip and not with the inscription. Nothing in the illustrated sceneindicates that the suffering comes from leprosy. The image however
departs from the text of the Acts of Philip on one point: in the story,
the young girl is commanded to heal herself, while in the image it isthe apostle who performs the miracle.25
25. The text BH G 1528, represented by the Parisinus gr. 1551, speciesthat the girl’s eye was af icted with leprosy.
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20 F. BOVON
Personally, I wonder if the writer of the inscriptions sometimes has
it wrong. This is the case when he speaks of an exorcism of demoniacs
in the seventh scene, which probably depicts the freeing of the slavesrecorded in Acts of Philip 6. And he simplies the persecution ofthe saints, attributing it wholly to the Jews (eighth scene), when at
Nikatera it is the citizens of the city—of whom some are Jews—whoattack Philip (Acts Phil . 6).26 The same can be said of the scene wherethe three apostles are seated “in prison” (tenth scene), for the text of
the Acts of Phil ip does not mention any imprisonment at the time butonly the search for a modest lodging (Acts Phil . 4 or 13).27
Interpretation
The Presence of the Animals
Two animals accompany the apostolic group beginning in the
second scene; that is, from the resurrection of the widow’s son, the
equivalent of Acts of Philip 1, although in the literary work they donot appear until Acts of Philip 8. At rst glance, the gure appearsto be only a leopard accompanied by its black shadow. But a more
attentive look, focused in particular on the ninth scene (the apostlesreceived by Ireos), reveals that the black gure is not the shadow
of the leopard but the silhouette of the kid goat, of which we see
clearly the small beard and two horns that are beginning to grow.
Whereas numerous literary witnesses demonstrate their theological
reserve in regard to the participation of the animal world in Christian
redemption and eradicate the presence of the leopard and the kid, the
painter of the icon, at the instigation of the Acts of Phil ip themselves,retains the memory.28 He does not go, however, so far as to depict
either their conversion or their desire for baptism and participation inHoly Communion.
26. Here again BHG 1528, represented by Parisinus gr. 1551, attributesthe opposition to the Jews of the city.
27. The document BH G 1528, represented by the Parisinus gr. 1551,mentions an imprisonment at this point.
28. On the presence and meaning of animals in the apocryphal acts of the
apostles, see Christopher R. MATTHEWS, “Articulate Animals: A Multivalent
Motif in the Apocryphal Acts of the Apostles,” in The Apocryphal Acts of theApostles: Harvard D ivi nity School Studies (ed. François BOVON, Ann GrahamBROCK and Christopher R. MATTHEWS; Cambridge, MA: Harvard University
Press, 1999) 205 32; Janet E. SPITTLER , Animals in the Apocryphal Acts of theApostles: The Wild Kingdom of Early Christianity (WUNT 2.247; Tübingen:Mohr Siebeck, 2008).
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A NEW WITNESS OF THE ACTS OF PHILIP 21
The Absence of Nicanora
While the numerous manuscripts of the martyrdom place in
evidence the role that the conversion of the governor’s wife played
in Philip’s martyrdom, no scene from the icon makes a place for
Nicanora. It is as if the iconographer had to choose between two
causes. He retains the victory of Philip over the cult of the Viper
and foregoes the conversion of the spouse of Tyrannognophos as the
cause of the persecution. As my list of Byzantine memories of the
apostle Philip shows,29 the painter of the Arsos icon is not the only
one who omits the role played by Nicanora and her husband in the
persecution of the apostolic group.
The Presence of M ariamne
Stepping away from the Acts of Philip themselves, there are certainGreek texts and several versions relative to the apostle that ignore
his sister.30 In the eyes of many orthodox, the Acts of Philip presenther as too active: Does she not baptize there? Does she not teach?
But from the end of antiquity the place of women in the life of the
Church is well delimited; conned to a few charitable responsibilities,
subordinated. It is remarkable then that the icon at Arsos, like the Acts
of Philip , has preserved the memory of Mariamne and her ministry.31
However, just as certain manuscripts of the Martyrdom of Philip tend to limit the ministerial functions of this woman, the icon of
Arsos, while admitting the existence of Philip’s sister, progressively
diminishes her importance. She is fully present at the beginning,
in the second scene that recounts the resurrection of the widow’s
only son (Acts Phil . 1). But she is half-hidden behind her two malecompanions in the sixth scene that depicts the healing of the young
man with the paralyzed hand (Acts Phil. 6). Then she disappearsalmost completely in the seventh scene, the liberation of the slaves
(or the exorcism of the demoniacs) (Acts Phil. 4 or 6). She reappearshowever toward the end of Philip’s life, in the fteenth, sixteenth,
and eighteenth scenes.
The Selection of Episodes
All creation implies selection. The person who commissioned
the painting, the iconographer, or the painter of the model the
29. See in particular Nikephoros Kallistos Xanthopoulos’s account on the
apostle Philip, above, p. 11 n. 14.
30. See for example the Laudatio (BH G 1530b). For the versions seeBOVON, “Les Actes de Philippe,” 4437-443.
31. See François BOVON, “Mary Magdalene in the Acts of Philip ,” inWhich Mary: The Marys of Early Christian Tradition (SBLSymS 19; Atlanta:Society of Biblical Literature, 2002) 75-89.
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iconographer is copying, was not able to represent all the episodes
in the Acts of Philip such as he knew them and he had perhaps not
at his disposal exactly the same text of the Acts of Philip as theXenophontos 32 . It is tting then to examine what he retained andattempt to understand the reasons behind his choices and omissions.
I have already mentioned certain absences, that of the welcome of the
animals into the community of believers and that of Nicanora and her
husband Tyrranognophos.
If one follows the sequence of the scenes that frame the portrait
of the apostle Philip, one notices a signicant beginning. The rst
scene, the calling of Philip, corresponds to the presence of Philip
in the Gospel where it is most evident, namely, in the Gospel ofJohn. In so doing, the painter has perhaps the intention of securing
biblical authority for the whole story, particularly for the following
noncanonical narratives. Then he moves to events that take place at
the beginning of the Acts of Philip : the resurrection of the widow’sonly son as he leaves Galilee (second scene, Acts Phil. 1) and thecrossing of the ocean in a boat (third scene, Acts Phil . 3). The attentive
viewer notices—and this is hardly a surprise—that at this point Actsof Philip 2, which takes place at Athens, is not represented here. We
know that this episode appears secondary in the Acts of Philip andthat its position in the overall work is uncertain.32 On the Arsos icon,
it comes later (perhaps scene eleven and surely scene twelve).
The next two scenes rejoin Acts of Philip 4, the healing of
Charitine. One must note, however, that at times artists allowed
aesthetic demands to take precedence over narrative logic. Thus the
fourth scene, which probably represents the baptism of Charitine and
her parents, is depicted before the healing of the young woman that,
according to the narrative, takes place beforehand. I see a reason for
this inversion: in situating the baptism rst, in the upper right corner,the artist had at his disposal a horizontal rectangle that was suitable
for presenting the baptism of the group and a vertical rectangle for the
healing of the young girl walking to the encounter with the apostle.
Moreover, placing the healing of the young woman at the left edge
of the icon served as a counterpart for the healing of the young man,
the scene that follows, placed at the right edge.
The iconographer then concentrates on the episodes that play out
at Nikatera and make the character of Ireos famous. There are no less
than
ve scenes devoted to Acts of Philip 5–6; the Acts of Philip 7episode that recounts construction of a church, which is dispensable
32. As I mentioned earlier, the text BHG 1528, represented by theParisinus gr. 1551, places the episode later in the narrative. It does not seemto be the only one that chooses that option.
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A NEW WITNESS OF THE ACTS OF PHILIP 23
to the development of the story and could be an addition, is absent
from the icon. I recognize rst the healing of the young man who
was punished by the apostle (sixth scene, Acts Phil. 6). Then thefreeing of the slaves (I maintain this interpretation rather than the
one that interprets the seventh scene as a collective exorcism, ActsPhil. 6). Next is the discussion with the public assembly, the Jews in
particular, including Aristarchos, who ends up inicting evil treatment
on the three saints (eighth scene, Acts Phil. 6). Then there is thewelcome that Ireos offers to the apostolic trio (ninth scene, Acts Phil. 5, implicitly at the end of Acts Phil. 6). And nally, the incarcerationof the three saints (tenth scene, implicitly Acts Phil. 6), which one
must perhaps understand rather as lodging in an available facility—anarchival depository (Acts Phil. 4) or an abandoned dispensary (Acts
Phil. 13).Frédéric Amsler and Christopher Matthews have shown, each for
his own part, that the intrigue of Acts of Phil ip 6 resembles that of Actsof Phili p 2 at Athens, and that Acts of Philip 2 is probably a rewritingof Acts of Philip 6.33 I also have said that Acts of Philip 2, the episode
at Athens, was not solidly anchored in second rank. The viewer is
therefore not surprised to see, as the eleventh and twelfth scenes, the
resurrection of the young man and the defeat of the high priest. Theidentication of Philip’s victory over his adversary who comes from
Jerusalem (twelfth scene) is easy, for one sees in the scene the ground
split apart and swallowing the high priest Ananias up to his head, as
well as the priestly habit that takes off into heaven to be preserved
until this day (Acts Phil. 2). As for the resurrection (eleventh scene),it is either the one found in Acts of Philip 2 or— more likely—itscounterpart in Acts of Phili p 6, the young Theophilos, son of Nereus.It looks like the iconographer had at his disposal a version of the Acts
of Philip with the content of Acts of Philip 2 in addition to Acts ofPhilip 6: the punishment of the high priest in the abyss and the rescueof his garment, represented in the twelfth scene, is absent in Acts ofPhilip 6 and present in Acts of Philip 2. To this I add the fact that theupper horizontal part of the icon moves straight from Acts of Philip 1 to Acts of Philip 3, ignoring there Acts of Philip 2.
As I stated earlier, the iconographer does not represent the
conversion of the animals (Acts Phil. 9 and 12). I add here that hedoes not mention further the two victories over the dragons (Acts
Phil. 9 and 11). I recall that Acts of Philip 10 is lost and I do not
33. See Frédéric AMSLER , Acta Philippi. Commentarius (CorpusChristianorum Series Apocryphorum 12; Turnhout: Brepols, 1999) 86-127;
Christopher MATTHEWS, Philip, Apostle and Evangelist: Con gurations of aTradition (NovTSup 105; Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2002) 156-97, esp. 186-89.
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24 F. BOVON
think that it is represented on the icon. We come thus to the arrival
of the apostolic group at Ophiorymos, which takes place in Acts of
Philip 13. Here in the thirteenth scene the identication is clear: theynear the city, represented by a city wall with a gate, two towers, and
one house. They have just achieved a decisive victory over the two
serpents that, as genuine sentinels, forbade those who are not followers
of the cult of the Viper access to the city. Defeated, the reptiles
writhe in pain before dying while the apostle and his companions
ready themselves to enter the city. What comes next is logical and
corresponds to the plot of the Acts of Philip . One sees the healing of
Stachys (Acts Phil. 14, fourteenth scene), the imprisonment of the
three saint apostles (Acts Phil. Mart., but implicit only in the writtentext, fteenth scene), the torment of Philip hung upside-down (Acts
Phil . Mart , sixteenth scene), the temporary torture or the prophesied
crucixion of the apostle Bartholomew (Acts Phil. Mart , seventeenth
scene), and the repose of Philip, the holy martyr, wrapped in his paper
bandages from Syria and laid in his cof n (Acts Phil. Mart.).
In summary, the major scenes that are absent from the icon are
the destruction of the dragons (Acts Phil . 9 and 11), the conversion
of the animals and their request for holy communion (Acts Phil. 8
and 12), the asceticism of Nicanora and the anger of the governor,her husband, Tyrannognophos. Other elements, many of which would
be dif cult to illustrate, also do not gure in the scenes that frame
the portrait of St. Philip. These are Philip teaching, the unexpected
arrival of the apostle John at Ophiorymos, Philip’s error that subjects
his enemies to public scorn, the intervention of the eagle, the storm
and the mob.
Conclusion
The icon at Arsos is an impressive witness to the cult of Philip
during the Byzantine period. It is particularly valuable since this cult
was never very popular and the memories are not many. Compared to
the triumph that Peter and Paul achieved at Rome or John at Ephesus,
the success of the apostle Philip in Phrygia remained modest. Rare,
this witness of Cyprian origin is very precious. Its value increases if
one admits, as I have a tendency to do, that the iconographer and his
commissioners had in their hands a copy of the Acts of Philip .The analysis shows that the artist took a measure of liberty with
the text, as was customary. It may also be that his text of the Acts
of Philip was not exactly the same as the one provided by the Athos
manuscript Xenophontos 32 . In neglecting the Acts of Philip 8–12, it
is consistent with the other main manuscript of the Acts of Philip , the
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A NEW WITNESS OF THE ACTS OF PHILIP 25
Vaticanus gr. 824 . At some places, the icon shares the opinion of thesummary BH G 1528, represented by the Parisinus gr. 1551. But the
Arsos icon and the Xenophontos 32 manuscript are the two uniquewitnesses to Philip’s victory over the snakes at the city gate (ActsPhil. 13). The Arsos icon is also the exceptional witness to manyepisodes in the apocryphal acts, from the resurrection of the widow’sson in Galilee and the dangerous sailing episode to the healing ofCharitine and the restoration of sight to Stachys; from the presence ofthe two animals to Ireos’s hospitality and the opposition of the townmeeting; from the apostle’s instructions to wrap his body with stripsof paper from Syria to his agony of being hung upside-down.
A double task remains for future research. This concerns the originof the icon and the origin of the cult of Philip and Mariamne onCyprus during the rst half of the 13th century C. E.: Where wasthe Arsos icon painted? Is it a Cyprian production, since there is nodocumented vita icon from Constantinople?34 Or does it come fromanother part of the Byzantine Empire, Sinai, for example? On the ipside, did the cult of the apostle rst develop in Constantinople, therelics being transferred from the capital to the island35 to protect themfrom the Frank invasion? Or should we imagine the constitution of
this cult on Cyprus itself? Should we consider it to be the result ofa Western initiative under the Lusignan to counterbalance an Easterninuence? Personally, regarding the origin of the cult I opt for therst solution, a translation from the capital, for the second solutiondoes not explain the presence of Greek manuscripts about the apostlePhilip in other parts of the Byzantine Empire and the third solutiondoes not take into suf cient consideration the fact that the Latin storyof Philip36 is quite different from the story told by the icon and theGreek Acts of Phil ip .
34. I owe this information to Dr. Nancy Patterson Ševenko during arecent conversation. She added also that no sources indicates that such vitaicons were used in Constantinople.
35. I owe also to Dr. Nancy Patterson Ševenko the following referencesconcerning the translation of Philip’s relics on July 31: Konstantin C. DOUKAKIS, (14 vols.; Athens: Papageorgiou, 1889-1897) 7: 485-87; and Enrica FOLLIERI, I calendari in metro innogra co diCristoforo Mitileneo (2 vols.; Subsidia hagiographica 63; Brussels: Sociétédes Bollandistes, 1980) 1: 265 n. 261.
36. For the Latin story, see BHL 6814 817; BH L is the abbreviation forSocii Bollandiani, Bibliotheca Hagiographica Latina Antiquae et MediaeAetatis (2 vols.; Subsidia Hagiographica 6; Brussels: Société des Bollandistes,1898-1901) 6814-817; see also Henryk FROS, Bibliotheca HagiographicaLatina Antiquae et Mediae Aetatis: Novum Supplementum (SubsidiaHagiographica 70; Brussels: Société des Bollandistes, 1986); BOVON, “Les
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Post Scriptum
This paper had already been sent to the editor of Apocrypha whenI met briey with Professor Annemarie Weyl Carr at Dumbarton
Oaks in Washington, D.C. Dr. Carr is a historian of Byzantine art
and an expert on Cyprus. In a long letter (April 15, 2010) she drew
my attention to an article by Ioannes A. Eliades ( , «
»,
74 [ 2004], 9-12). She also told methe importance of this paper: “Eliades’ study opens with a study of
the scenes of the arrival of the relic of St. Philip’s skull in Cyprus in
the Lusignan period that are depicted on the reliquary of the skull,now in the monastery of the Holy Cross, Omodos, in Cyprus. The
reliquary was made in 1774, replacing the original one, but the
scenes on it still show the Lusignan-era church and portray both the
Latin lord, , and a gure labeled
[ = ] — presumably Baldwin of Flanders, thus plausibly
one of the two Latin emperors of Constantinople by that name. This
suggested to Eliades that the relic had come from Constantinople in
the time of or as a gift from one or the other Baldwin. Indeed, the sole
and beloved son of the second Baldwin (1228/1237-1261) was namedPhilip; Baldwin was with Louis IX in Damietta, and who knows—
might have had reason to court the Lusignans.” Dr. Carr goes on to
give her understanding of the icon itself. Here is what she writes:
“The panel itself is a complex one. I suspect that it is a composite,
with the wide frame added around an originally unframed panel.
Certainly the central gure is of a different date from the scenes
surrounding it. It is of superb quality, from the thirteenth century—
probably pretty early in the century, and most likely to have been
made by a painter trained in Constantinople. This would not excludehis being a Cypriot, and the patterns in the plaster relief of the saint’s
halo, which are repeated in other thirteenth-century Cypriot icons
(though not quite so early as this), suggest that the icon was made
on Cyprus. I think Eliades is quite right in suggesting that the icon
Actes de Philippe,” 4437-438. In the West, in the Latin texts as well as
the iconographic documents (for example the large painting by Domenico
Muratori in the Church of the Twelve Apostles at Rome, dated 1704), Philip
dies after a victory over the god Mars and the expulsion of a monster in the
company of James the Minor, and not in the presence of Bartholomew and
Mariamne. See BOVON, “Les Actes de Philippe,” 4437-438. James however
is not mentioned in the chapter on Philip in Jacobus of Voragine’s GoldenLegend ; see JACQUES DE VORAGINE, La Légende dorée (ed. Alain BOUREAU etal.; La Pléiade 504; Paris: Gallimard, 2004) 351-53.
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A NEW WITNESS OF THE ACTS OF PHILIP 27
was made in response to the translation of the relic.” Three elementsemerge from this conversation with Dr. Carr and from my reading of
Eliades’s paper. First, a historical situation has been suggested as wellas a connection with the Lusignan dynasty. Second, it is probable thatthe icon was made in response to the translation of the saint’s relicsfrom Constantinople to Cyprus. Third it is possible that the icon has
been elaborated in two phases: rst, in the early-thirteenth century,the central gure; then, perhaps in the early-fourteenth century, theeighteen scenes that frame the portrait of Saint Philip. This hypothesis,supported by Dr. Ševenko, however should be veried through anexamination of the material support of the icon. Besides Dr. Carr, I
would like to thank Dr. Nancy Patterson Ševenko, Prof. BertrandBouvier, Prof. John Duffy, Dr. Bruce Beck, Prof. Kimberley Patton,and Father Joachim, Librarian at Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Schoolof Theology for their help.
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Marielle LAMY Université Paris IV-Sorbonne
LES APOCRYPHES DANS LESPREMIERS CHAPITRES DES DEUX
PLUS CÉLÈBRES « VIES DU CHRIST »DE LA FIN DU MOYEN ÂGE
(LES MEDITATIONES VITAE CHRISTI DU PSEUDO-BONAVENTURE ET LA VITA CHRISTI
DE LUDOLFE LE CHARTREUX)
L’une des caractéristiques des nombreuses « Vies du Christ » écritesà la fin du Moyen Âge est la présence de nombreux matériaux extra-canoniques, et notamment de matériaux apocryphes. C'est à partir dedeux ouvrages qui furent des bestsellers de la littérature spirituelle,les Méditations de la vie du Christ pseudo-bonaventuriennes et la Viedu Christ du Chartreux Ludolphe de Saxe, qu’on étudié ici la place etl ’in uence des traditions apocryphes dans les récits concernant d'une
part les origines et la jeunesse de Marie, depuis l'annonce de saconception jusqu'à son mariage avec Joseph, et d’autre part le cyclede l’enfance du Christ. Après avoir identi é les sources retenues parces deux auteurs, examiné les critères qui ont pu guider leur choixet la manière dont ils ont présenté, combiné et parfois transformé lestraditions apocryphes, il devient possible d’apprécier l’importance
relative de ces traditions apocryphes à côté d’autres matériaux extra-canoniques.
One of the main features of the numerous so called Life of Christwritten in the late Middle Ages is the presence of copious extracanonical material, and mostly apocryphal material. Two bestsellersof the devotional literature, pseudo-bonaventurian Meditations on thelife of Christ and Ludolf of Saxony’s Carthusian Life of Christ , arethe starting point here to study the place and in uence of apocryphaltraditions in narratives about Virgin origins and youth from her
conception to her marriage with Joseph on the one hand, and aboutChrist’s infancy on the other hand. We identify the sources of ourtwo authors and we examine the reasons of their choice and theirway of introducting, combining and sometimes altering apocryphaltradtions. Then we will be able to value the importance of theseapocryphal traditions beside other extra canonical material.
Apocrypha 20, 2009, p. 29-82DOI 10.1484/J.APOCRA.1.102086
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M. LAMY30
Les « vies du Christ » se sont multipliées à la n du Moyen Âge,
sous des titres divers qui n’indiquent pas toujours de façon expliciteleur contenu. Il est à vrai dire assez dif cile de dénir de manière
précise le corpus concerné, qui inclut des ouvrages fort différentsles uns des autres : écrits en prose ou en vers, en latin ou en languevulgaire, simples « livrets » ou monumentales compilations, textesautonomes ou appuyés sur des images… Retenons toutefois deuxéléments caractéristiques1 :
– Une dimension narrative, avec le propos d’évoquer la vie duChrist en ses diverses étapes, depuis son commencement jusqu’à son
achèvement. – Une dimension dévotionnelle : à travers l’évocation de la vie du
Christ, proposée comme support à la méditation ou la contemplation,il s’agit de susciter l’amour, la compassion, le désir de le servir et del’imiter, en fournissant parfois les mots mêmes de la prière qu’on luiadressera alors.
Par ces deux traits, les vies du Christ s’inscrivent au conuent dedivers genres. Le premier les relie d’abord à ces ouvrages exégétiques
particuliers que furent les concordances des évangiles, initiées dès
l’époque patristique avec par exemple le De consensu evangelistarum d’Augustin2. Ce genre est remis à l’honneur au XIIe siècle, comme onle voit avec le traité In unum ex quattuor du prémontré Zacharie deBesançon (dit Chrysopolitanus). À partir d’une ancienne concordancequi n’est autre que le Diatessaron de Tatien, il développe un longcommentaire nourri par un orilège de citations d’auteurs patristiqueset carolingiens mais intègre aussi les nouvelles questions discutéesdans les écoles3. Mais au-delà des concordances, il faut citer lescompilations qui, telle l’ Historia scolastica de Pierre le Mangeur au
XIIe
siècle ou le Speculum historiale de Vincent de Beauvais au XIIIe
siècle, visaient à présenter la matière biblique sous la forme d’unevaste fresque historique, privilégiant le sens littéral tout en intégrantdes données empruntées à l’histoire profane ou aux traditions
1. Pour une première approche, cf. Hermann Josef SIEBEN, « Mystères dela vie du Christ », 1. Étude historique, dans DSpi, t. X, Paris, 1980, col.1874-1880 ; Geneviève HASENOHR , « La littérature religieuse », dans La Littérature française aux XIV e et XV e s. (Grundriss der romanischen Literaturen des Mittelalters, VIII-1), 1988, p. 291-296 pour les « Passions et Vies du Christ ».
2. AUGUSTIN, De consensu Evangelistarum libri quatuor , PL 34, 1041-1230.
3. ZACHARIAS CHRYSOPOLITANUS, In Unum ex quatuor sive de concordia Evangelistarum libri quatuor , PL 186, col.11-620. Cf. Bernard ARDURA,« Zacharie de Besançon », dans DSpi, t.XVI/2, Paris, 1994, col.1581-1583.
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31VIE DU CHRIST
légendaires4. Ces compilations ont pu nourrir ou entrer en contactavec une littérature biblique qui déborde très largement, à l’époque
qui nous intéresse, le cadre théologique et scolastique : « histoiressaintes », « bibles historiales » ou « bibles moralisées » qui visaientun large public et se sont multipliées aux derniers siècles du MoyenÂge5. Au sein de cette littérature régnait une assez grande liberté,tandis que certains livres ou certaines gures bibliques bénéciaientd’un intérêt plus marqué ; ce fut le cas naturellement pour Marie etJésus. Il semble que les « vies de Marie » aient précédé les « vies deJésus »6 et on peut citer, parmi les œuvres en français, trois textes qui
4. Seul le premier livre de l’ Historia scolastica a fait l’objet à ce jourd’une édition critique : cf. Agneta SYLWAN, Petri Comestoris Scolastica Historia : Liber Genesis (Corpus Christianorum. Continuatio Mediaevalis,191), Turnhout, Brepols, 2005. Pour l’ensemble du texte, on continuera doncà se reporter à l’édition de la Patrologie Latine, PL 198, 1049-1644. LeSpeculum Historiale de Vincent de Beauvais a connu plusieurs rédactions ;l’édition classique pour la rédaction dite trifaria est celle de Douai : Bibliotheca Mundi… Speculum quadruplex : Naturale, Doctrinale, Moraleet Historiale…, en 4 vol. (4e vol. pour le Speculum Historiale), Douai, 1624
(reprod. en fac-sim., Graz, Akademische Druck-u. Verlagsanstalt, 1964-1965) ; on peut aussi consulter en ligne, sur le site de l’Atelier Vincentde Beauvais, le texte d’un manuscrit du XIVe siècle, le ms. Douai 797(http://atilf.atilf.fr/bichard/). Cf. Bernard GUENÉE, Histoire et culturehistorique dans l’Occident médiéval , Paris, Aubier-Montaigne, 1980 ; SergeLUSIGNAN, Monique PAULMIER -FOUCART et Alain NADEAU (dir.), Vincent de Beauvais : intentions et réceptions d’une œuvre encyclopédique au Moyen Âge, Actes du XIVe colloque de l’Institut d’Études Médiévales, Université deMontréal, 27-30 avril 1988 (Cahiers d’Études Médiévales. Cahier spécial, 4),Saint-Laurent-Paris, 1990 ; Serge LUSIGNAN et Monique PAULMIER -FOUCART (dir.), ‘ Lector et compilator’. Vincent de Beauvais, frère prêcheur. Unintellectuel et son milieu au XIII e siècle, Actes du colloque de Royaumont,9-11 juin 1995 (Rencontres à Royaumont, 9), Creaphys, Grâne 1997 ; MariaC. SHERWOOD-SMITH, Studies in the Reception of the Historia scholastica of Peter Comestor : the Schwarzwälder Predigten , the Weltchronik of Rudolfvon Ems, the Scholastica of Jacob van Maerlant and the Historiebijbel van1360 (Medium Aevum Monographs.New series, 20), Oxford, 2000.
5. Cf. Jean-Robert SMEETS, « Les traductions-adaptations versiées dela Bible en ancien français », dans Les Genres littéraires dans les sourcesthéologiques et philosophiques médiévales. Actes du colloque internationalde Louvain-la-Neuve, 25-27 mai 1981, Louvain-la-Neuve, 1982, p. 249-258,et Pierre-Maurice BOGAERT, « Adaptations et versions de la Bible en prose(langue d’oïl) », ibid ., p. 259-277 ; ID, « Bible française », dans Dictionnairedes lettres françaises, Le Moyen Âge, éd. revue sous la dir. de GenevièveHASENOHR et Michel ZINK , Paris, 1992, p. 179-196.
6. Cf. l’article utile, même s’il porte davantage sur l’aire orientale, deSimon MIMOUNI, « Les Vies de la Vierge. État de la question », Apocrypha, 5
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intègrent à un récit biblique une vie de Marie : Li Romanz de Dieuet de sa Mere d’Herman de Valenciennes7, dès la n du XIIe siècle,
puis le Roman de saint Fanuel et de sainte Anne et de Nostre Dameet Nostre Segnor et de ses apostres8 à l’orée du XIIIe siècle et la Bibledes sept estats du monde de Geufroi de Paris (1243)9.
Le second trait caractéristique des vies du Christ les met en rapport
avec le genre des méditations et oraisons à tonalité affective qui ont
commencé à se répandre largement à partir du XIe siècle et ont rencontré
un grand succès, illustrées par le talent et l’ardeur spirituelle de
grandes gures comme saint Anselme de Canterbury10. Ces oraisons,
qui portent sur des sujets divers tels que l’eucharistie, la croix, les
saints, la Vierge, ne s’inscrivent plus dans le cadre du culte liturgiquemais sont conçues pour la méditation personnelle, la dévotion privée
(on peut noter toutefois que dans le cadre des célébrations liturgiques
ou communautaires, la prédication elle-même adopte souvent à partir
du XIIe siècle un nouveau registre, plus lyrique et affectif, pour inviter
tout au long de l’année à contempler les mystères de la vie du Christ
à partir du cycle des lectures évangéliques ; c’est le cas en particulier
en milieu cistercien11). C’est en 1260 que le franciscain Bonaventure
compose son Lignum vitae, recueil de quarante-huit méditations
entièrement centrées sur le Christ, contemplé aux différents moments
(1994), p. 211-248. Pour le domaine germanique et les vies de Marie écrites
en prose jusqu’en 1520, on peut consulter Hardo HILG, Das ‘Marienleben’des Heinrich von St. Gallen. Text und Untersuchung , (Münchener Texte undUntersuchungen zur deutschen Literatur des Mittelalters, 75), Munich, 1981,
p. 395-433.
7. Cf. Ina SPIELE (éd.), Li Romanz de Dieu et de sa Mere d’Herman deValenciennes, Leyde, 1975.
8. Cf. Camille CHABANEAU (éd.), « Le Romans de saint Fanuel et de sainteAnne et de Nostre Dame et de Nostre Segnor et de ses apostres », Revue des Langues romanes, 27 (1885), p. 118-123 et 157-258 et 32 (1888), p. 360-409(ou édition en tiré à part, Paris, 1889).
9. Seuls certains extraits ont été édités ; cf. L.E. K ASTNER , « Some OldFrench Poems on the Antechrist », The Modern Language Review, 1 (1906), p. 269-282 et 2 (1907), p. 26-33 ; A.J.A. PERRY, La Passion des jongleurs,texte établi d’après la Bible des sept estaz du monde de Geuffroy de Paris,Paris, 1981.
10. Cf. Jean-François COTTIER , Anima mea. Prières privées et textes dedévotion du Moyen Âge latin. Autour des Prières ou Méditations attribuéesà saint Anselme de Cantorbéry ( XI e- XII e s.) (Recherches sur les rhétoriquesreligieuses, 3), Turnhout, 2001.
11. Cf. BERNARD DE CLAIRVAUX, Sermons pour l’année, t. I.1, (SourcesChrétiennes, 480), Paris, 2004, introduction de Marielle LAMY, en particulier
p. 67-72.
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de sa vie et de sa mort – ce recueil serait donc l’une des premières« vies du Christ » latines à proprement parler 12.
Un dernier genre reste à mentionner ici, en lien avec les traitsnarratifs et dévotionnels propres aux vies du Christ : c’est celui descompilations hagiographiques dont les frères prêcheurs, à partir de ladeuxième moitié du XIIIe siècle, se sont fait une spécialité. Le Speculumhistoriale de Vincent de Beauvais était déjà, à certains égards, un« légendier », mais les compilations qui nous intéressent et qui ontvu le jour dans la seconde moitié du XIIIe siècle s’organisent non plusselon le cours des siècles mais selon le déroulement du calendrierliturgique, incluant à la fois le sanctoral et les « fêtes du Seigneur ».
Nous retiendrons ici les noms de Jean de Mailly, Barthélemy deTrente et Jacques de Voragine13.
Les deux vies du Christ les plus connues et les plus diffusées à la ndu Moyen Âge, les Meditationes vitae Christi longtemps attribuées àsaint Bonaventure et la Vita Christi de Ludolphe de Saxe14, s’appuient
12. Cf. SAINT BONAVENTURE, Lignum vitae, dans Opera omnia, éd.
Quaracchi, t.VIII, 1898, p. 68-86 (Jacques-Guy BOUGEROL en a donné unetraduction française, L’Arbre de vie, Paris, 1996).13. Cf. JEAN DE MAILLY, Abrégé des gestes et miracles des saints, trad. du
latin par Antoine DONDAINE (Bibliothèque d’histoire dominicaine, 1), Paris,1947, (G.P. Maggioni prépare actuellement une édition critique de cette Abbreviatio) ; BARTHÉLEMY DE TRENTE, Liber epilogorum in gesta sanctorum,éd. Emore PAOLI (Edizione Nazionale dei Testi Mediolatini, 2), Florence,2001 ; JACQUES DE VORAGINE, Legenda aurea, éd. Giovanni Paoli MAGGIONI,2 vol., Florence, 1998 (2e éd.). C’est la Légende Dorée qui a sans contesteconnu la plus grande diffusion ; parmi d’autres études, cf. Alain BOUREAU, La Légende Dorée : le système narratif de Jacques de Voragine, Paris, Cerf,1984 ; Barbara FLEITH et Franco MORENZONI, De la sainteté à l’hagiographie.Genèse et usages de la Légende Dorée, Genève, Droz, 2001. Pour un regardd’ensemble sur l’apport des compilateurs dominicains dans le domaine plus particulier des apocryphes, cf. Rita BEYERS, « La réception médiévaledu matériel apocryphe concernant la naissance et la jeunesse de Marie »,dans Marie dans les récits apocryphes chrétiens (60e session de la SociétéFrançaise d’Études Mariales, Solesmes 2003), Paris, 2004, p. 179-200.
14. Pour le premier ouvrage, désormais cité en note MVC , cf. l’édition deMary STALLINGS-TANEY, Iohannis de Caulibus Meditaciones vite Christi, olimS. Bonaventuro attributae (Corpus Christianorum. Continuatio Mediaevalis,153), Turnhout, 1997 ; pour le second, désormais cité VC , son ampleur a jusqu’à présent découragé toute édition critique et nous nous réfèrerons àl’édition donnée par A.-Clovis BOLARD, Louis-Marie R IGOLLOT et Jean-Baptiste CARNANDET, Vita Jesu Christi e quatuor evangeliis et scriptoribusorthodoxis concinnata per Ludolphum de Saxonia, Paris-Rome, 1865 (auformat in-folio ; une nouvelle édition a été publiée en 1878, en 4 vol. in
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à la fois sur la tradition et sur les genres plus récents que nous venons
d’évoquer. La part qu’elles font aux récits apocryphes dans leurs
premiers chapitres, consacrés à l’histoire de Marie et à l’enfance duChrist, va retenir toute notre attention. Mais en étudiant dans ces
deux ouvrages la place des matériaux apocryphes, la manière dont
ils sont introduits et éventuellement remaniés, les choix sélectifs qui
sont opérés, nous nous efforcerons en même temps de discerner ce
qui est œuvre originale et ce qui tient aux sources auxquelles l’un et
l’autre ont emprunté.
Présentation des Meditationes vitae Christi du Pseudo-Bonaventure et de la Vita Christi de Ludolphe de Saxe
Le premier à remettre en question l’attribution des Meditationes
vitae Christi à saint Bonaventure fut en 1767 Benedetto Bonelli,
éditeur de ses œuvres complètes15. Il s’appuyait d’abord sur des
indices de critique interne, des éléments du texte qui situent l’auteur
et la destinataire – une religieuse clarisse – en Toscane. Au chapitre 77
l’auteur dit à propos du lieu de la crucixion de Jésus et en s’appuyant
sur le témoignage d’un frère qui a parcouru les lieux saints : « Il ditaussi que le mont Calvaire, où [le Christ] fut crucié, est distant de la
porte de la cité autant que notre emplacement l’est de la porte de San
Gimignano. Ainsi le portement de croix était excessivement long16 ».
L’enracinement toscan de l’ouvrage est encore attesté par un autre
passage, où il est question de Marie et Joseph cherchant Jésus à leur
retour de Jérusalem, au terme du pèlerinage auquel Jésus âgé de douze
ans avait participé avec eux : « Ils le cherchaient aussi dans les lieux
environnants, car le retour pouvait se faire par plusieurs chemins. De
la même façon, qui voudrait revenir à Pise depuis Sienne pourrait
8°). Une traduction française datant de la même époque est disponible en
ligne sur Gallica pour les volumes 1 et 6, celle de dom Florent BROQUIN :
La grande vie de Jésus Christ de Ludolphe le Chartreux, Paris, 1891 (3e
édition).
15. Cf. Benedetto BONELLI DE CAVALESIO, Prodromus ad opera omnia S.
Bonaventurae, Bassano, 1767, p. 697-700.
16. MVC , éd. cit., chap. LXXVII, p. 269 : « Qui eciam dicit quod mons
Calvarie, ubi fuit crucixus, distabat a porta civitatis quantum locus noster
a porta Sancti Geminiani. Unde nimis longa erat portacio crucis. » Dans un
certain nombre de manuscrits il est question de la porte Saint-Germain, à
Paris, S. Germani, ce qui est sans doute une leçon fautive pour S. Geminiani ;
mais ceci a accrédité l’attribution à Bonaventure. Cf. l’introduction de
M. STALLINGS-TANEY, ibid ., p. X, n.8.
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aller par Poggibonsi, et par Colle, et par d’autres lieux17 ». En outre,Bonelli a proposé de rapprocher les Meditationes vitae Christi d’un
ouvrage désigné comme « traité de méditation sur les évangiles » ou« méditations sur les évangiles » par le franciscain Barthélemy de Pisedans son De conformitate vitae B. Francisci ad vitam Domini Jesu composé entre 1385 et 1390, traité ou méditations que Barthélemyattribue à un certain frère Jean de Caulibus de San Gimignano, guèreconnu par ailleurs18. Cette attribution à Jean de Caulibus, longtempsdiscutée, ne fait toujours pas l’unanimité19 mais elle a été retenue
par Mary Stallings-Taney pour sa récente édition des Meditationesvitae Christi dans la collection Corpus Christianorum. Continuatio
mediaevalis et nous la suivrons.L’abandon de l’attribution à Bonaventure allait de pair avec une
datation plus récente, passant du troisième quart du XIIIe siècle audébut du XIVe siècle. Plus récemment, il a été proposé de retarder
17. Ibid ., chap. XIV, p. 62 : « Mane vero sequenti tempestive domumexeuntes, querebant eum eciam per circumstancia loca, nam per plures vias patebat reditus. Sicut qui de Senis vellet redire Pisas, posset ire per PodiumBonichi, et per Colle, et alia loca. »
18
. BARTHÉLEMY DE PISE, De conformitate vitae B. Francisci ad vitam Domini Jesu, Analecta Franciscana, IV, Quaracchi (Collège Saint-Bonaventure), 1906, l.I, fruct.VIII, pars 2a, p. 341 : « Tractatum meditationissuper evangelia fecit frater Iohannes de Caulibus de sancto Geminiano » ; l.I,fruct.XI, pars 2a, p. 518-519 : « [Custodia Senensis habet]… Locum de sanctoGeminiano, de quo exstitit oriundus frater Iohannes de Caulibus, magnus praedicator et devotus, qui meditationes super evangelia fecit pulchras ».
19. Elle n’a pas été retenue par Columban FISCHER , « Bonaventure (saint) :Apocryphes », DSpi, t.I, Paris, 1937, col. 1850-1851 (l’auteur y résume dansla rubrique consacrée aux Meditationes les résultats de l’étude menée dansID., « Die Meditationes vitae Christi. Ihre handschriftliche Überlieferung unddie Verfasserfrage », Archivum franciscanum historicum, 25 (1932), p. 3-35,175-209, 305-348 et 449-483). Plus récemment, M. Thomas a suggéréqu’elles pourraient avoir pour auteur Ubertin de Casale ; cf. Michael THOMAS,« Zur religionsgeschichtlichen Standort der Meditationes vitae Christi », Zeitschrift für Religions- und Geistesgeschichte, 24 (1972), p. 209-226 etID., « Zum Ursprung der Meditationes vitae Christi », Scriptorium, 33 (1979), p. 249-254 (le style des Meditationes reste cependant très éloigné de celuide l’ Arbor vitae cruci xae Jesu Christi d’Ubertin, même si l’un et l’autreouvrage s’inscrivent dans le courant du franciscanisme « spirituel »). Danssa notice du Verfasserlexikon consacrée aux Meditationes, Kurt R UH reste prudent : « Heute gilt das Werk allgemein als dasjenige eines unbekanntentoskanischen Franziskaners » (VL, Bd. 6, Berlin-New York, 1987, col.284) ;formule reprise pratiquement telle quelle par Karl-Ernst GEITH, « Lateinischeund deutschsprachige Leben Jesu-Texte. Bilanz und Perspektiven derForschung », Jahrbuch der Oswald von Wolkenstein Gesellschaft , 12 (2000), p. 274.
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encore la composition de l’ouvrage jusque vers le milieu du XIVe siècle, voire le début des années 1360, à partir de la mention, au
chapitre trois des Meditationes vitae Christi, de révélations dontaurait bénécié une certaine dévote de la Vierge que l’auteur désignecomme pouvant être sainte Élisabeth20. Les révélations dont il estici question appartiennent à un petit recueil indépendant de douzeapparitions ou révélations de Marie à l’une de ses dèles, qui aconnu une certaine diffusion et dont le P. L. Oliger a donné uneédition en 192621. Certains des manuscrits qui nous ont transmisce recueil identient la bénéciaire des révélations avec Élisabethde Hongrie (ou de Thuringe), morte en 1231 et canonisée en 1235,
mais il faut noter que la Vita d’Élisabeth ne fait pas mention d’untel corpus de révélations. Il existe par ailleurs dans la littératuremariale de nombreuses références aux visions d’Élisabeth de Schönau(† 1164), à qui le P. Oliger croyait pouvoir en dénitive attribuer lesrévélations qu’il éditait ; mais outre le fait qu’Élisabeth de Schönaun’a pas été canonisée, la tonalité de ses visions dans le corpus quilui est reconnu22 diffère assez notablement de celle des révélationsauxquelles empruntent les Meditationes vitae Christi. C’est pourquoiSarah McNamer et Alexandra Barratt ont proposé d’identier plutôt
l’Élisabeth des Meditationes vitae Christi avec Élisabeth de Töss, petite-nièce de sainte Élisabeth de Thuringe ou de Hongrie, entrée en1309 au couvent des dominicaines de Töss et morte en 1336, connuecomme visionnaire23. Considérant que même si les textes relatifs àses visions avaient été rapidement mis en circulation, ils n’auraient
pu servir de source avant les années 1340-1350 aux Meditationesvitae Christi, elles suggèrent donc pour ces dernières une date de
20. MVC , éd. cit., chap. III, p. 15 : « Quid autem ibi fecerit [ Marie dansle temple de Jérusalem, entre 3 et 14 ans] scire possumus ex revelacionibussuis, factis cuidam sue devote. Et creditur quod fuerit sancta Elizabeth, cuiusfestum solemniter celebramus ».
21. Cf. Livarius OLIGER , « Revelationes B. Elisabeth : disquisitio criticauna cum textibus latino et catalaunensi », Antonianum, 1 (1926), p. 24-83 ;voir également pour la version italienne Giuseppe DE LUCA, Prosatori minoridel Trecento, t. I : Scrittori di religione del Trecento, Milan-Naples, 1954, p. 1063-1079.
22. Cf. F.W.E. R OTH, Die Visionen und Briefe der hl. Elisabeth, sowie dieSchriften der Äbte Ekbert und Emecho von Schönau, Brünn, 1886².
23. Cf. Sarah MC NAMER , « Further Evidence for the Date of the Pseudo-Bonaventurian ‘Meditationes vitae Christi’ », Franciscan Studies, 50 (1990), p. 235-261 ; Alexandra BARRATT, « The Virgin and the Visionary in theRevelations of Saint Elizabeth », Mystics Quarterly, 17 (1991), p. 125-136et E AD., « The Revelations of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary : Problems ofAttribution », The Library, 6e s., 14 (1992), p. 1-11.
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rédaction plus tardive que ce qui est habituellement admis : ellesne seraient pas antérieures au milieu du XIVe siècle, voire à 1360.
Mais cette construction paraît dif cilement recevable. Outre le faitque l’hypothèse retenue amène à contester, sur des bases parfoisfragiles, l’âge d’un certain nombre de manuscrits des Meditationes
plutôt datés jusqu’à présent des années 1320-1330, les révélationsreproduites par Jean de Caulibus semblent avoir d’abord circulé dansun environnement franciscain, tandis que leur rapport avec Élisabethde Töss paraît assez dif cile à établir 24. Enn et surtout, comme nousle verrons bientôt, l’utilisation des Meditationes vitae Christi commesource par d’autres ouvrages du XIVe siècle ne permet guère de les
rajeunir au-delà des années 1320-1330.L’ouvrage a connu un immense succès, puisqu’on en dénombre
encore aujourd’hui plus de deux cents manuscrits25. Il a été rapidementtraduit dans diverses langues vernaculaires et a circulé sous plusieursformes : à côté d’un traité séparé ne retenant que les épisodes relatifsà la Passion du Christ, pour lequel existe une tradition bien attestée,un certain nombre d’exemplaires des Meditationes présentent uneversion abrégée du texte26. Dans l’édition donnée récemment parM. Stallings-Taney, le texte intégral compte cent huit chapitres. Les
premiers envisagent ce qui a précédé l’Incarnation : d’abord une
24. Le problème se complique encore si l’on prête attention à un passagedu Speculum Historiale de VINCENT DE BEAUVAIS, l.VI, chap.64, Douai, 1624, p. 194 : « Anno imperii Augusti circiter 27. Nata est beata Virgo Maria materDomini, iuxta librum Ioachim et revelationem factam sancte Elyzabeth ».Il ne peut être traité ici de façon détaillée ; relevons simplement, dans lafaçon dont Jean de Caulibus introduit ces éléments, une certaine prudence ouhésitation : « Et creditur quod fuerit sancta Elizabeth » ( MVC , éd. cit., chap.III, p. 15 ; nous soulignons).
25. Cf. Columban FISCHER , « Die Meditationes vitae Christi... », art.cit., p. 3-35 et 175-209 (217 manuscrits signalés). Quelques indications bibliographiques relatives à des compléments et corrections ont étéapportées par Mary JORDAN STALLINGS, Meditaciones de passione Christiolim sancto Bonaventurae attributae, Washington, 1965, p. 8, n.14, qui n’amalheureusement pas donné d’inventaire actualisé des manuscrits dans sonédition de 1997 des MVC .
26. Cf. FISCHER , « Die Meditationes Vitae Christi… », art. cit., quidistingue « Der grosse Text », dont il donne un sommaire p. 312-314 et« Der kleine Text », dont le sommaire est présenté p. 330-331 ; les remarquessur l’existence d’un « grand texte » et d’un « petit texte » sont résuméesdans ID., « Bonaventure (saint) : Apocryphes », art. cit., col. 1849-1850.Toutefois M. JORDAN STALLINGS, Meditaciones de passione Christi, op. cit., p. 9, n.16, relativise l’existence de deux recensions bien dénies, en rappelantque les coupes opérées dans le texte tiennent souvent aux circonstances etaux contraintes matérielles.
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sorte de « procès de paradis » inspiré d’un sermon de saint Bernard,Miséricorde et Vérité se disputant à propos du sort qui doit échoir à
l’homme, jusqu’à ce que soit décidée l’Incarnation27 ; puis, au plande l’histoire humaine, la conception et la naissance de Marie, sonenfance, son mariage avec Joseph. Dans le cycle des épisodes de lavie du Christ, une part notable est faite à son ministère et à sa vie
publique. Un « mini-traité » sur la vie active et la vie contemplativeest inséré après le passage fondé sur la péricope de Luc 10,38-42,mettant en scène Jésus reçu par les deux sœurs Marthe et Marie deBéthanie. La Cène et la Passion font l’objet d’un traitement détaillé,
puis l’ouvrage s’achève, après les apparitions du Christ ressuscité et
les scènes de l’Ascension et de la Pentecôte, par des considérationssur les ns dernières suivies d’une conclusion générale.
Parmi les sources employées par l’auteur, le plus frappant estd’abord le recours massif à de longs extraits de saint Bernard,intégralement reproduits et identiés comme tels. L’auteur s’appuieaussi sur des références patristiques, sur d’autres auteurs médiévauxcomme Anselme de Canterbury, Guillaume de Saint-Thierry ou Pierrele Mangeur. Mais il utilise également les traditions apocryphes etdiverses « révélations ». Cette caractéristique ne doit pas surprendre,
car elle présente une certaine cohérence avec les propos tenus dansle prologue. L’auteur y rappelle d’abord que la contemplation assiduede la vie du Christ est le meilleur des exercices spirituels, qui tientl’esprit à distance des vanités – comme le montre l’exemple de sainteCécile –, fortie contre l’adversité et les épreuves par l’exemple dessouffrances endurées par le Christ – comme on le voit chez sainte Claireet saint François qui ont supporté joyeusement maintes tribulations –,et permet à la fois d’acquérir la perfection des vertus et de repousserles vices – comme on le constate avec saint François, qui a suivi le
27. À l’origine, c’est le premier sermon pour l’Annonciation de saintBernard qui, en s’inspirant du Psaume 84, verset 11 – « Amour et vérité serencontrent, justice et paix s’embrassent » –, a mis en scène un tel procès entred’une part Justice et Vérité qui approuvent la condamnation d’Adam, d’autre part Paix et Miséricorde qui plaident pour son salut (cf. Sancti BernardiOpera, t. V (Sermones, II), éd. Jean LECLERCQ et Henri R OCHAIS, Rome, 1968, p. 13-29). Le thème a connu ensuite une grande fortune, y compris dansl’iconographie. Jean de Caulibus indique qu’il va abréger le récit de Bernardet fait de Miséricorde et Vérité les principales protagonistes de la dispute( MVC , éd. cit., chap. II, p. 12 : « His dictis, Misericordia pulsabat visceraPatris ut subveniret, secum Pacem ferens. Sed contradicebat Veritas, habenssecum Iusticiam. Et inter eas magna controversia facta est, prout narratBernardus pulchro et longo sermone, primo Domini annunciationem. Sedego succincte, ut potero, referam summam. »).
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Christ de si près qu’il a nalement été « transformé en Lui28 ». Maisà propos de François précisément, il note que ce sont les illettrés et
les simples gens qui pénètrent le plus avant dans les choses divines,en se laissant enseigner par le Christ lui-même. Puis, se justiantde prendre la plume malgré ses faibles capacités, il rappelle quel’important n’est pas de charmer par de belles paroles mais de toucherle cœur et nourrir l’esprit, ce à quoi parvient davantage un discourstout ordinaire – et ainsi son peu d’instruction pourra être bénéque àl’ignorance de sa destinataire. Il prend aussi la précaution de signalerà celle-ci que dans les paroles et les actes du Seigneur proposés àla méditation, tout n’est pas connu par les Écritures. Les choses
seront racontées telles qu’on peut croire pieusement qu’elles se sont passées ou qu’elles auraient pu se passer, selon les représentationsimaginaires qui viennent à l’esprit, pour autant que cela ne contredise
pas la vérité ni ne porte atteinte à la foi et aux bonnes mœurs29. Cetteinscription de l’ouvrage dans une démarche spirituelle accessible aux
plus simples et le choix de « sujets » inspirés par le texte bibliquemais non tirés directement de lui favorisaient bien sûr l’intégrationd’un certain nombre d’éléments extra-canoniques, et notamment destraditions apocryphes.
On a sur l’auteur de la Vita Christi, appelé Ludolphe de Saxe ouLudolphe le Chartreux, un peu plus d’informations que sur Jean deCaulibus, même si sa personnalité reste assez mal connue. Il est névers 1300 en Allemagne du Nord ; selon un manuscrit daté de 1454,il aurait été dominicain et maître en théologie avant d’entrer chez les
28. MVC , éd. cit., Prologus, p. 7-9 : « Dico primo quod iugis meditaciovite Domini Iesu roborat et stabilitat mentem contra vana et caduca, ut patetin predicta beata Cecilia… Nam in cunctis virtutibus quam perfeccius poterat[beatus Franciscus] innitebatur eundem, et tandem ipso compellente et per ciente Iesu per impressionem sacrorum stigmatum, fuit in eum totalitertransformatus. Vides ergo ad quam excelsum gradum meditacio vite Christi perducit. »
29. MVC , éd. cit., Prologus, p. 10 : « Non autem credas quod omnia queipsum dixisse vel fecisse meditari possimus scripta sint. Ego vero ad maioremimpressionem ea sic ac si ita fuissent tibi narrabo prout contingere velcontigisse pie credi possunt, secundum quasdam imaginarias representacionesquas animus diversimode percipit. Nam circa divinam Scripturam meditari,exponere et intelligere multifarie prout expedire credimus possumus :dummodo non sit contra veritatem vite, iusticie aut doctrine, id est non sitcontra dem vel bonos mores. Cum ergo me narrantem invenies : Ita dixitvel fecit dominus Iesus, seu alii qui introducuntur, si id per Scripturam non possit probari, non aliter accipias quam devota meditacio exigit. »
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M. LAMY40
Chartreux30. Il entre à la Chartreuse de Strasbourg en 1340 ; de 1343
à 1348 il est prieur de Coblence puis on le trouve comme simple
moine à la Chartreuse de Mayence ; il revient ensuite à Strasbourgoù il meurt en 1378.