Original scientific paper
The Cult of Saint Peregrinus in early medieval Zadar
Nicholas Everett
; Sveučilište u Torontu
Abstract
This article examines information on early medieval
Zadar contained in a Latin hagiographical text,
the Passion of Cetheus of Pescara, which claims that
the Italian saint’s body was interred at Zadar and worshipped
as “the martyr Peregrinus” around 592 A.D.
Reconsideration of the Passion of Cetheus in the light
of new evidence, including a neglected twelfthcentury
manuscript of the text, reveals its historical
and topographical accuracy with respect to Pescara
and the Lombard invasions of Italy, and demands a reevaluation
of the Passion’s epilogue concerning Zadar.
It is argued that the Zadar epilogue provides the key
to dating the Passion’s composition to the first half of
the seventh century, for it reflects papal interest and
imperial control over the province of Dalmatia when
Zadar became its capital city after the abandonment of
Salona due to Avar and Slav invasions 614-640 AD.
The twelfth-century manuscript also contains more
detail in the Zadar epilogue that is here transcribed,
translated into English and considered alongside the
fragmentary historical record for Zadar in this period,
including recent archaeological excavations in Zadar
and elsewhere in Dalmatia. Considered together
the evidence highlights Dalmatia’s close connections
with Byzantine Italy and its key role in maintaining
imperial control of the Adriatic Sea.
Keywords
Zadar; early Middle Ages; saints; church history; Dalmatia; Byzantine empire; papacy; Pope Gregory I; Pope John IV; Italy; Lombards; Pescara/Aternum; manuscript; archaeology; burial; Avars; early Slavs; Salona; Ravenna; Rome
Hrčak ID:
152666
URI
Publication date:
23.12.2015.
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