Germanus (died 541) was the
bishop of Capua
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Capua ( la, Archidioecesis Capuana) is an archdiocese (originally a suffragan bishopric) of the Roman Catholic Church in Capua, in Campania, Italy, but its archbishop no longer holds metropolitan rank and has no ...
from 519 or shortly before until his death. He played a major role in bringing to an end the
Acacian schism
The Acacian schism, between the Eastern and Western Christian Churches, lasted 35 years, from 484 to 519 AD. It resulted from a drift in the leaders of Eastern Christianity toward Miaphysitism and Emperor Zeno's unsuccessful attempt to reconcile th ...
, the first major schism that divided the Christian church between east and west.
After his death, he was venerated as a saint. His
feast day
The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context d ...
is October 30 in the ''
Roman Martyrology
The ''Roman Martyrology'' ( la, Martyrologium Romanum) is the official martyrology of the Catholic Church. Its use is obligatory in matters regarding the Roman Rite liturgy, but dioceses, countries and religious institutes may add duly approved ...
''.
Life
Early life and election as bishop
Of Germanus's life before he was bishop nothing is known with certainty. The only source to provide information about this period is a
hagiography
A hagiography (; ) is a biography of a saint or an ecclesiastical leader, as well as, by extension, an adulatory and idealized biography of a founder, saint, monk, nun or icon in any of the world's religions. Early Christian hagiographies migh ...
penned in the ninth century. It records his father's name as Amantius and his mother's as Juliana. He was born in
Capua
Capua ( , ) is a city and ''comune'' in the province of Caserta, in the region of Campania, southern Italy, situated north of Naples, on the northeastern edge of the Campanian plain.
History
Ancient era
The name of Capua comes from the Etrusc ...
in the 470s. After his father's death, he sold his inheritance with his mother's blessing in order to devote himself to the ascetic life. When on the death of Bishop Alexander the Capuans elected him their bishop, Germanus at first refused the honour before being persuaded to accept. This account of his early life cannot be substantiated in other sources.
Mission to the East in 519–520
At the time of his election, Capua lay within the
Ostrogothic Kingdom
The Ostrogothic Kingdom, officially the Kingdom of Italy (), existed under the control of the Germanic peoples, Germanic Ostrogoths in Italian peninsula, Italy and neighbouring areas from 493 to 553.
In Italy, the Ostrogoths led by Theodoric the ...
. Shortly after his election, he was made a member of the legation sent by Pope
Hormisdas to the court of the Emperor
Justin I
Justin I ( la, Iustinus; grc-gre, Ἰουστῖνος, ''Ioustînos''; 450 – 1 August 527) was the Eastern Roman emperor from 518 to 527. Born to a peasant family, he rose through the ranks of the army to become commander of the imperial ...
in
Constantinople
la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه
, alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...
, the purpose of which was to negotiate an end to the
Acacian schism
The Acacian schism, between the Eastern and Western Christian Churches, lasted 35 years, from 484 to 519 AD. It resulted from a drift in the leaders of Eastern Christianity toward Miaphysitism and Emperor Zeno's unsuccessful attempt to reconcile th ...
between the western and eastern churches. The contemporary ''
Liber pontificalis
The ''Liber Pontificalis'' (Latin for 'pontifical book' or ''Book of the Popes'') is a book of biographies of popes from Saint Peter until the 15th century. The original publication of the ''Liber Pontificalis'' stopped with Pope Adrian II (867 ...
'' refers to him as "Capuan bishop" (''Capuanus episcopus'') in connection with this legation and provides a ''
terminus ante quem
''Terminus post quem'' ("limit after which", sometimes abbreviated to TPQ) and ''terminus ante quem'' ("limit before which", abbreviated to TAQ) specify the known limits of dating for events or items..
A ''terminus post quem'' is the earliest da ...
'' for his assumption of episcopal office. The legation consisted of Germanus, the Alexandrian deacon
Dioscorus, a bishop named John, a Roman deacon named Felix, a Roman priest named Blandus and a notary named Peter. They gathered in Rome between January and March 519. In both the ''Liber pontificalis'' and the letters of Pope Hormisdas, Germanus is always named first, indicating that he was the leader of the group.
The mission of 519 was the third such papal initiative since the schism began in 482. That of 496–497 also involved a bishop named Germanus, who in early scholarship was often identified with the Germanus of 519. It has been shown, however, that these were different people. The legate of 496 was
Germanus of Pesaro. Although the two previous missions had yielded no results, that of 519 took place in propitious circumstances. It had the support of the Ostrogothic king
Theoderic
Theodoric is a Germanic given name. First attested as a Gothic name in the 5th century, it became widespread in the Germanic-speaking world, not least due to its most famous bearer, Theodoric the Great, king of the Ostrogoths.
Overview
The name ...
and of the new emperor and patriarch in Constantinople, Justin I and
John of Cappadocia
John II, surnamed Cappadox or the Cappadocian (? – 19 January 520) was Patriarch of Constantinople in 518–520, during the reign of Byzantine emperor Anastasius I after an enforced condemnation of the Council of Chalcedon. His short patriar ...
. In a letter to Justin's nephew, Count
Justinian
Justinian I (; la, Iustinianus, ; grc-gre, Ἰουστινιανός ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was the Byzantine emperor from 527 to 565.
His reign is marked by the ambitious but only partly realized ''renovat ...
, Pope Hormisdas specifies that the members of his legation were selected for their "quality".
Germanus's itinerary on his legation is known primarily from various letters. They crossed the
Adriatic
The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) ...
to
Aulon, then passed through
Lychnidus
Ohrid ( mk, Охрид ) is a city in North Macedonia and is the seat of the Ohrid Municipality. It is the largest city on Lake Ohrid and the eighth-largest city in the country, with the municipality recording a population of over 42,000 inhab ...
on their way to
Thessalonica
Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its metropolitan area, and the capital of the geographic region of ...
, where Germanus celebrated mass. They were met by Justinian ten miles outside of Constantinople. According to a letter from Germanus to Hormisdas dated 22 April 519, the population of the city received them with cheering. They met the emperor and separately the
Senate
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
on the Monday of
Holy Week
Holy Week ( la, Hebdomada Sancta or , ; grc, Ἁγία καὶ Μεγάλη Ἑβδομάς, translit=Hagia kai Megale Hebdomas, lit=Holy and Great Week) is the most sacred week in the liturgical year in Christianity. In Eastern Churches, w ...
(24–31 March). On Thursday, they met with the emperor, Senate and patriarch all at once in
the Palace
''The Palace'' is a British drama television series that aired on ITV in 2008. Produced by Company Pictures for the ITV network, it was created by Tom Grieves and follows a fictional British Royal Family in the aftermath of the death of King ...
to present the ''
libellus Hormisdae'', the document entrusted to them by the pope outlining his conditions for the healing of the schism. The conditions were accepted. Germanus and his colleagues remained in the east for another year securing the acceptance of the ''libellus'' outside of Constantinople. On 9 July 520, the emperor wrote to Pope Hormisdas to commend his legates. The ''Liber pontificalis'' credits Germanus with deftly handling the
Theopaschite controversy, the
calculation of the date of Easter and the reintegration of bishops deposed by the Emperor
Anastasius I.
Later career, death and veneration
Little is known of Germanus's pontificate after the end of his successful mission to the east. According to the tenth-century ''
Chronicon Salernitanum The ''Chronicon Salernitanum'', or "Salerno Chronicle", is an anonymous 10th century chronicle of the history of the Principality of Salerno. It was probably written around 990 (or 974) and has been attributed to Radoald of Salerno, Abbot of San Be ...
'', Germanus changed the dedication of the Constantinian basilica of Capua from the Apostles to Saints
Stephen
Stephen or Steven is a common English first name. It is particularly significant to Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( grc-gre, Στέφανος ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; ...
and
Agatha after depositing there some of their relics that he had obtained as a reward from the emperor himself. According to his eighth- or ninth-century biography, Bishop
Sabinus of Canosa :''for other people called Sabinus, see Sabinus (disambiguation)''
Saint Sabinus of Canosa ( it, San Sabino) (461 – 9 February 566), venerated as a saint in the Roman Catholic church, was bishop of Canosa di Puglia from 514.
Life
He was sent t ...
was an acquaintance of Germanus. Both went on papal missions to fight
monophysitism
Monophysitism ( or ) or monophysism () is a Christological term derived from the Greek (, "alone, solitary") and (, a word that has many meanings but in this context means "nature"). It is defined as "a doctrine that in the person of the incarn ...
in the eastern churches, Sabinus
in 536. Sabinus was also close to
Benedict of Nursia
Benedict of Nursia ( la, Benedictus Nursiae; it, Benedetto da Norcia; 2 March AD 480 – 21 March AD 548) was an Italian Christian monk, writer, and theologian who is venerated in the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Orient ...
. Pope
Gregory the Great
Pope Gregory I ( la, Gregorius I; – 12 March 604), commonly known as Saint Gregory the Great, was the bishop of Rome from 3 September 590 to his death. He is known for instigating the first recorded large-scale mission from Rome, the Gregori ...
in his ''Dialogues'' mentions how Benedict, praying atop
Monte Cassino
Monte Cassino (today usually spelled Montecassino) is a rocky hill about southeast of Rome, in the Latin Valley, Italy, west of Cassino and at an elevation of . Site of the Roman town of Casinum, it is widely known for its abbey, the first h ...
, had a vision of the soul of Germanus in the form of a ball of fire being carried to heaven by angels. He later learned that this vision coincided with Germanus's death.
The death of Germanus can be placed in early 541 because of an inscription which gives the start of his successor
Victor
The name Victor or Viktor may refer to:
* Victor (name), including a list of people with the given name, mononym, or surname
Arts and entertainment
Film
* ''Victor'' (1951 film), a French drama film
* ''Victor'' (1993 film), a French shor ...
's pontificate in that year. After his death, Germanus was venerated as a saint in southern Italy throughout the early Middle Ages. In his ''Dialogues'', Gregory the Great prays to Germanus to intercede on behalf of the soul of a deacon named Paschasius in
Purgatory
Purgatory (, borrowed into English via Anglo-Norman and Old French) is, according to the belief of some Christian denominations (mostly Catholic), an intermediate state after physical death for expiatory purification. The process of purgatory ...
. When Count
Lando I of Capua Lando I (died 861) was the count of Capua from 843. He was the eldest son and successor of Landulf the Old. Like his father, he supported Siconulf against Radelchis in the civil war dividing the Principality of Benevento in the 840s.
It was Lando ...
relocated the city of Capua in 849, Germanus's body was moved with it. In late 873, following a campaign against the
Arabs
The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Wester ...
harassing Capua, the Emperor
Louis II of Italy
Louis II (825 – 12 August 875), sometimes called the Younger, was the king of Italy and emperor of the Carolingian Empire from 844, co-ruling with his father Lothair I until 855, after which he ruled alone.
Louis's usual title was ''impera ...
took some of Germanus's relics to Monte Cassino, according to the ''
Chronica monasterii Casinensis
Leo Marsicanus (meaning "of the Marsi") or Ostiensis (meaning "of Ostia"), also known as Leone dei Conti di Marsi (1046, Marsica – 1115/7, Ostia), was a nobleman and monk of Monte Cassino around 1061 and Italian cardinal from the 12th cen ...
''. The village at the foot of the hill, ancient
Casinum
Casinum was an ancient town of Italy, of Oscan origin. Varro states that the name in Oscan language meant ''forum vetus'' ("old forum"), and also that the town itself was Samnite before the Roman conquest. Casinum was a Samnite city only befo ...
, became known as San Germano. The Empress
Engelberga
Engelberga (or Angilberga, died between 896 and 901) was the wife of Emperor Louis II and thus Carolingian empress to his death on 12 August 875.Bougard, François (1993)"ENGELBERGA (Enghelberga, Angelberga), imperatrice"‘’Treccani’’. As ...
took another part of his relics to endow the
monastery of San Sisto that she founded in
Piacenza
Piacenza (; egl, label= Piacentino, Piaṡëinsa ; ) is a city and in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy, and the capital of the eponymous province. As of 2022, Piacenza is the ninth largest city in the region by population, with over ...
in 874. Since the ''Vita sancti Germani episcopi Capuani'' (Life of Saint Germanus) mentions neither of these transfers, it was probably finished before 873.
Notes
Bibliography
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Further reading
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{{refend
470s births
541 deaths
People from Capua
Bishops of Capua
Medieval Italian saints
6th-century Christian saints