Fortunatianus of Aquileia (c.300-c.370) was an African, Christian poet, and bishop of Aquileia in the mid-fourth century, during the reign of

Constantius II Constantius II (; ; 7 August 317 – 3 November 361) was Roman emperor from 337 to 361. His reign saw constant warfare on the borders against the Sasanian Empire and Germanic peoples, while internally the Roman Empire went through repeated civ ...

. The exact year of his birth is unknown, although it was around 300, and there is no recorded information concerning his early life. He is best known for his commentary on the

Gospels Gospel originally meant the Christian message (" the gospel"), but in the second century AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message was reported. In this sen ...

Writings

The principal ancient source for Fortunatianus of Aquileia is a paragraph referencing him in "Famous Men" composed by

Saint Jerome Jerome (; ; ; – 30 September 420), also known as Jerome of Stridon, was an early Christian priest, confessor, theologian, translator, and historian; he is commonly known as Saint Jerome. He is best known for his translation of the Bible ...

in 393. Fortunatianus wrote a commentary on the Gospels which, according to its reference by

, is the oldest surviving Western commentary on the Gospels, though the document was lost for over a millennium. The commentary was known from only a few excerpts: two identified by French monk and scholar André Wilmart (1876-1941) from a

Troyes Troyes () is a Communes of France, commune and the capital of the Departments of France, department of Aube in the Grand Est region of north-central France. It is located on the Seine river about south-east of Paris. Troyes is situated within ...

manuscript, one from

Angers Angers (, , ;) is a city in western France, about southwest of Paris. It is the Prefectures of France, prefecture of the Maine-et-Loire department and was the capital of the province of Duchy of Anjou, Anjou until the French Revolution. The i ...

identified by German philologist and paleographer Bernhard Bischoff (1906-1991), and a reference in Saint Jerome's correspondence (thus predating Hilary on St. Matthew). In 2012, Fortunatianus' lost commentary was identified by the editor Lukas Dorfbauer in a ninth-century manuscript from the library of

Cologne Cathedral Cologne Cathedral (, , officially , English: Cathedral Church of Saint Peter) is a cathedral in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia belonging to the Catholic Church. It is the seat of the Archbishop of Cologne and of the administration of the Archd ...

. A translation into English by H.A.G. Houghton of the rediscovered commentary was published in 2017.

Beliefs

Fortunatianus was assumed to have favoured anti- Nicene doctrine, though a text from 984 to 986 clearly states that

Trinity The Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the Christian doctrine concerning the nature of God, which defines one God existing in three, , consubstantial divine persons: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ) and God the Holy Spirit, thr ...

was one substance he inclined. Additionally, he alleged there was a large element of figurative language found in the Gospel narratives. He identified two of the four Evangelists in relation to

Ezekiel Ezekiel, also spelled Ezechiel (; ; ), was an Israelite priest. The Book of Ezekiel, relating his visions and acts, is named after him. The Abrahamic religions acknowledge Ezekiel as a prophet. According to the narrative, Ezekiel prophesied ...

and the Apocalypse; in particular, he suggested that Mark was symbolized as the eagle and John as the lion (Lampe, 1998). Fortunatianus was a signatory at the western Council of Serdica which condemned

Arius Arius (; ; 250 or 256 – 336) was a Cyrenaica, Cyrenaic presbyter and asceticism, ascetic. He has been regarded as the founder of Arianism, which holds that Jesus Christ was not Eternity, coeternal with God the Father, but was rather created b ...

' teaching. He subsequently entertained Athanasius on his return journey from Treves to Alexandria, and was chosen by

Pope Liberius Pope Liberius (310 – 24 September 366) was the bishop of Rome from 17 May 352 until his death on 24 September 366. According to the '' Catalogus Liberianus'', he was consecrated on 22 May as the successor to Julius I. He is not mentione ...

to defend Athanasius at the Council of Milan. However he yielded to pressure from Emperor Constantius II. In the aftermath of the council, he urged Pope Liberius to conform.Bryn Mawr website
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References

*Fortunatianus Aquileiensis: Commentaria in Evangelia, ed. Lukas J. Dorfbauer, ( Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum, Band 103), De Gruyter 2017 *H. Houghton
English translation
CSEL (extra seriem), 2017

External links

*Houghton, H
"Lost Latin commentary on the Gospels rediscovered after 1,500 years thanks to digital technology"
Article about the discovery of the manuscript. {{Authority control Bishops of Aquileia 4th-century Italian bishops 4th-century writers in Latin