Eugippius of Lucullanum: A Biography Abigail KathleenGometz Submitted in accordancewith the requirementsfor the degree of Doctor of Philosophy The Universityof Leeds Institute for MedievalStudies April 2008 The candidateconfirms that the work submitted is her own and that appropriatecredit has been given where referencehas been made to the work of others This copy has been supplied on the understandingthat it is copyright material and that no quotation from the thesis may be publishedwithout proper acknowledgement Abstract The following thesis is concerned with reconstructing the life of Eugippiusof Lucullanum,abbot of the monasteryof St Severinus.We must rely upon written sourcesfor the majority of our information about Eugippius'career as biographerand abbot, and we have three texts from which we must reconstructthe details of his vocation. The texts are useful for a multitude of reasons,and have already been utilized by scholarsworking on diverse topics. They also reflect three distinct phasesand interests of Eugippius'career. First chronologicallyis his Excerptaex operibussancti Augustini, a florilegium dedicatedto the virgin Proba; secondwe have the Vita sancti Severini, Eugippius'most personalwork, chroniclingthe life and miraclesof his mentor, St Severinus;finally, we have a monastic regula that has only recently been ascribedto Eugippius;this rule contains extracts from a range of earlier authorities, from Augustineto Cassianto the RegulaMagistri. All three sources are problematic,as they are fundamentally lacking in personaldetails, which makes reconstructingEugippius' activities a complex and challengingtask. For additional information, we must look to both the environment in which he was working, which involvesexamining the political situation in Italy following Theoderic'srise to power, as well as the religioustensions precipitated by the Acacianand LaurentianSchisms. Finally, it is also necessaryto consult the works of Eugippius'circle of contacts, as often their personaldetails, letters, and written documentsprovide details that are omitted from Eugippius'own work. Acknowledgements I would like to expressmy gratitude to the many individuals,groups, and organizationswho have helped me along the way with my researchand my thesis. My supervisorsat the Universityof Leeds,Professor Ian Wood and Dr William Flynn, have been enormouslyhelpful in guiding my research.I must also speciallythank ProfessorDanuta Shanzer,of the ClassicsDepartment at the Universityof Illinois at Urbana-Champaign,with whom I worked on two separateoccasions while participating in the World University Network Exchange.More recent thanks to my examiners,Richard Morris and Dr Kate Cooper,for constructivefeedback and a relaxed environment. I must also thank the students and staff associatedwith the Institute for MedievalStudies at the Universityof Leeds,and the Classicsand Medieval History Departmentsat UIUCfor offering me a lively community within which to work. Finally,thanks must also go to the membersof the Texts and Identities group, and the ManchesterCentre for Late Antiquity, who have also offered many items of useful feedback. Finally, enormousthanks and gratitude must be extended to my parents, who have constantly offered me support, guidance,and love throughout my entire life, and not just during this most recent test of endurance.Last but not least, I must also give an extra-specialthank you to Sonia Mullineux,who has been my constant companionand support network over the last four years; all my words have been spent on the pagesthat follow, and I am left unable to sufficiently expressmy indebtedness.All mistakesand errors which remain in the thesis are entirely my own. Table of Contents 1. Ecclesiastical Politics in the Fifth and Sixth Centuries............ 1 1.1 Introduction 1 ................................................................................. 1.2 An Increase in Religious Tensions 12 ................................................ 1.3 The Acacian Schism 21 .................................................................... 1.4 The Laurentian Schism 28 ............................................................... 1.5 Conclusion 39 ................................................................................. 2. The Vita Severini 41 .................................................................... 2.1 Introduction 41 .............................................................................. 2.2 Eugippius' Correspondence Paschasius 42 with ................................. 2.3 Composition the Vita Severini 56 of .................................................. 2.4 Additional Aspects the Vita Severini 68 of ......................................... 2.5 Conclusion 75 ................................................................................. Sancti Augustini 76 3. The Excerpta ex Operibus ........................... 3.1 Introduction 76 .............................................................................. 3.2 ManuscriptAnalysis 77 .................................................................. 3.3 Circumstances Composition 86 of .................................................... 3.4 Educated Women in Late Antiquity 100 ............................................ 3.5 Contents the Excerpta 109 of .......................................................... 3.5.1 The First Twenty-Six Chapters 111 ..................................... 3.6 Vincent Urins' Excerpta 129 of ........................................................ 3.7 Greek in the Excerpta 148 ............................................................... 3.7.1 Knowledge Greek 152 Augustine's of .................................. 3.8 Conclusion 163 ............................................................................... 4. The Eugippii Regula 165 ............................................................. 4.1 Introduction 165 ............................................................................. 4.2 Early Monasticism: Historiography 170 .............................................. 4.3 The Contents the Eugippii Regula 175 of .......................................... 4.4 The Relationship Between the Regula Magistri RegulaBenedicti 184 and ........................................................... 4.5 The Eugippii RegulaCompared to the Masterand Benedict.........198 4.6 Caritas Humilitas CastellumLucullanum 209 and at ........................... 4.7 Conclusion 212 ............................................................................... S. Eugippius' Circle 217 .................................................................. 5.1 Introduction 217 ............................................................................. 5.2 Fulgentius Ruspe 218 of .................................................................. 5.2.1 Fulgentius,Galla, Proba 221 and ........................................ 5.2.2 Fulgentius Theodorus 223 and ........................................... 5.3 Dionysius Exiguus 225 .................................................................... 5.4 Boethius John the Deacon 232 and .................................................. 5.5 MagnusFelix Ennodius 238 ............................................................. 5.6 Theories Inter-Connectivity 241 of ................................................... 5.7 Conclusion 244 ............................................................................... 6. Conclusion ........................................................................... 245 Bibliography ............................................................................ 248 1. Ecclesiastical Politics in the Fifth and Sixth Centuries 1.1 Introduction Details of the life and career of Eugippius,abbot of the Castellum Lucullanummonastery in the beginning of the sixth century, have regularly featured in a range of works concernedwith reconstructingfeatures of late antique and early medievalsociety. He has receivedmention from scholars studying the developmentof pre-Benedictinemonasticism, as well as those concernedwith the developmentsof the barbarian migrations during the late fifth century. Eugippiushas also featured in the work of both academics studying the reception and re-use of the writings of Saint Augustine in later medievaltexts, as well as those examining both the developmentof hagiographicwriting and the state of female education in the early sixth century. In spite of his connectionwith many of the most-studiedtopics in the late antique and early medieval periods, scholarshave appeared reluctant in producinga comprehensivebiography of this important figure, thus pushing Eugippiusto the periphery of academicstudies. This marginalisationcan, perhaps, be attributed to the diverse and often impenetrablenature of Eugippius'writings. His opus consistsof two works that can be confidently attributed to him: the Vita sancti Severiniand the Excerptaex operibussancti Augustini. There is another work that has recently been attributed to Eugippius, 2 but a certain amount of uncertainty remains as to its authorship; ' if the Eugippii Regula was not composed by Eugippius himself, it is certainly representative of the kind of monastic rule for which he would have been responsible.2 It is these three diverse works, along with a small selectionof personalcorrespondence, and the writings of several of his contemporaries,which we will considerwhile constructingthe biographicaldetails of Eugippiusof Lucullanum. Averil Cameron'sbiography of Procopiusof Caesareahas acted as something