Sicarius of Brantôme or Sicarius of Bethlehem (''Sicaire de Brantôme'', ''Sicaire de Bethléem'') was a
child saint
Child saints are children who died or were martyred and have been declared saints or martyrs of the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Anglican, Episcopalian
Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, ...
who was venerated from the time of
Charlemagne
Charlemagne ( ; 2 April 748 – 28 January 814) was List of Frankish kings, King of the Franks from 768, List of kings of the Lombards, King of the Lombards from 774, and Holy Roman Emperor, Emperor of what is now known as the Carolingian ...
onwards as one of the victims of the
Massacre of the Innocents
The Massacre (or Slaughter) of the Innocents is a story recounted in the Nativity narrative of the Gospel of Matthew ( 2:16– 18) in which Herod the Great, king of Judea, orders the execution of all male children who are two years old and u ...
by
Herod the Great
Herod I or Herod the Great () was a History of the Jews in the Roman Empire, Roman Jewish client king of the Herodian kingdom of Judea. He is known for his colossal building projects throughout Judea. Among these works are the rebuilding of the ...
,Jean Du Puy, ''L'Etat de l'Eglise du Périgord depuis le christianisme'' (Daloy, 1629), Original from Lyon Public Library (Bibliothèque jésuite des Fontaines). Digitized Dec 20, 2010, p. 268. said to have occurred in
Bethlehem
Bethlehem is a city in the West Bank, Palestine, located about south of Jerusalem, and the capital of the Bethlehem Governorate. It had a population of people, as of . The city's economy is strongly linked to Tourism in the State of Palesti ...
at the time of the birth of
Jesus
Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...
. His remains are housed in the Abbey of Saint-Pierre in
Brantôme, Dordogne
Brantôme (; ) is a former commune in the Dordogne department in southwestern France. On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the new commune Brantôme en Périgord.Saint Helen is said to have recovered the relics from the
Holy Land
The term "Holy Land" is used to collectively denote areas of the Southern Levant that hold great significance in the Abrahamic religions, primarily because of their association with people and events featured in the Bible. It is traditionall ...
in 328 AD. The relics were then brought to the Abbey of Saint-Pierre in Brantôme, Dordogne, by
Charlemagne
Charlemagne ( ; 2 April 748 – 28 January 814) was List of Frankish kings, King of the Franks from 768, List of kings of the Lombards, King of the Lombards from 774, and Holy Roman Emperor, Emperor of what is now known as the Carolingian ...
. Saint-Pierre had been founded by Pippin I of Aquitaine. Sicarius' remains are stored in a small glass-and-bronze reliquary mounted on the church wall.
Authenticity
According to Wasyliw, the bones may simply be those of a child who had been named after a
bishop of Laon
The diocese of Laon in the present-day département of Aisne, was a Catholic diocese for around 1300 years, up to the French Revolution. Its seat was in Laon, France, with Laon Cathedral. From early in the 13th century, the bishop of Laon was ...
. In the 19th century,
Sabine Baring-Gould
Sabine Baring-Gould (; 28 January 1834 – 2 January 1924) of Lew Trenchard in Devon, England, was an Anglican priest, hagiographer, antiquarian, novelist, folk song collector and eclectic scholar. His bibliography consists of more than 1,240 pu ...
was skeptical and wrote that "how the infant of a Hebrew mother acquired a Latin name has not been attempted to be explained".Sabine Baring-Gould, ''Castles and Cave Dwellings of Europe'', ReadHowYouWant.com, 2008, pp. 287–8. This sentiment was echoed in 2014 by Kristan Lawson and Anneli Rufus:
The massacre happened a long time ago when Jesus, still a baby himself, hadn't yet developed the following that would turn into
Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...
. (Thus, you might wonder, how did anyone have the foresight to scoop up this dead baby? Ask not, friend.)
The inscription of the tomb, dedicated to an "innocent" child, may have caused the confusion and the subsequent veneration as a Holy Innocent. Sicarius represents an "impulse to personify the supposedly ancient relic with names may imply a heightened sympathy for the sufferings of the infants, and perhaps for their grieving families as well".
Sicarius' name is odd; it means " cut-throat" or "
assassin
Assassination is the willful killing, by a sudden, secret, or planned attack, of a personespecially if prominent or important. It may be prompted by political, ideological, religious, financial, or military motives.
Assassinations are orde ...
".St. Memorius (''Mémoire'') was another child martyr and purported Holy Innocent whose relics were
translated
Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''transla ...
during the reign of Charlemagne; they were taken to the Cathedral of St. Front in
Périgueux
Périgueux (, ; or ) is a commune in the Dordogne department, in the administrative region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, southwestern France.
Périgueux is the prefecture of Dordogne, and the capital city of Périgord. It is also the seat of ...
from
St. Peter's Basilica
The Papal Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican (), or simply St. Peter's Basilica (; ), is a church of the Italian High Renaissance located in Vatican City, an independent microstate enclaved within the city of Rome, Italy. It was initiall ...
in
Rome
Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
.
A fountain near the monastery of Brantôme is named after Sicarius.
Images
Abbaye Saint-Pierre de Brantôme 2559.JPG, Image from the abbey church of Saint-Pierre de Brantôme. Detail of the central part of a painted carved oak panel, depicting Charlemagne presenting the relics of St. Sicarius to the monks of the abbey.
Brantôme - Abbatiale Notre-Dame - 07.jpg, Sculpture representing the martyrdom of Saint Sicarius, Brantôme.