|
m redirect bypass from Notre dame de paristoNotre-Dame de Paris using popups
|
Changed "september" to "October" for the Saint's day (as given in the main text)
|
||
| (42 intermediate revisions by 28 users not shown) | |||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
{{short description|3rd-century Bishop of Paris and saint}} |
{{short description|3rd-century Bishop of Paris and saint}} |
||
{{about|the saint|places in Paris called Saint Denis|Saint Denis (disambiguation)}} |
{{about|the saint|places in Paris called Saint Denis|Saint Denis (disambiguation)}} |
||
{{Infobox saint |
{{Infobox saint |
||
| Line 6: | Line 5: | ||
|name= Denis of Paris |
|name= Denis of Paris |
||
|birth_date=3rd century |
|birth_date=3rd century |
||
|death_date=c. 250, 258,<ref name="softheday">{{cite web | title=St. Denis and Companions | work= |
|death_date=c. 250, 258,<ref name="softheday">{{cite web | title=St. Denis and Companions | work=Saint of the Day | url=http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/SaintOfDay/default.asp?id=1163 | access-date=2007-01-16 | url-status=dead | archive-url=http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20050422220922/http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/SaintOfDay/default.asp?id=1163 | archive-date=2005-04-22 }}</ref> or 270 |
||
|feast_day=9 October |
|feast_day=9 October |
||
|venerated_in=[[ |
|venerated_in=[[Catholic Church]]<br>[[Anglican Communion]]<br>[[Eastern Orthodox Church]] |
||
|image=Paris - Cathédrale Notre-Dame - Portail de la Vierge - PA00086250 - 003.jpg |
|image=Paris - Cathédrale Notre-Dame - Portail de la Vierge - PA00086250 - 003.jpg |
||
|imagesize=200px |
|imagesize=200px |
||
| Line 17: | Line 16: | ||
|canonized_date= |
|canonized_date= |
||
|canonized_by= |
|canonized_by= |
||
|attributes= [[ |
|attributes= [[Christian martyrs#Degrees of martyrdom|A martyr]] carrying his [[decapitation|severed head]] in his hands; a bishop's [[mitre]]; city; furnace<ref name="patron">{{cite web |last=Jones |first=Terry |title=Denis |work=Patron Saints Index |url=http://www.catholic-forum.com/Saints/saintd03.htm |access-date=2007-01-16 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070107080025/http://www.catholic-forum.com/saintS/saintd03.htm |archive-date=2007-01-07 }}</ref> |
||
|patronage= [[Paris]]; against frenzy, strife, headaches, [[Rabies|hydrophobia]], [[San Dionisio, Parañaque|San Dionisio]] ([[Parañaque]]), possessed people |
|patronage= [[Paris]]; against frenzy, strife, headaches, [[Rabies|hydrophobia]], [[San Dionisio, Parañaque|San Dionisio]] ([[Parañaque]]), possessed people |
||
|major_shrine=[[Saint Denis Basilica]] |
|major_shrine=[[Saint Denis Basilica]] |
||
}} |
}} |
||
| ⚫ | '''Denis of France''' was a 3rd-century [[Christian martyr]] and [[saint]]. According to his [[hagiographies]], he was [[bishop of Paris]] (then [[Lutetia]]) in the third century and, together with his companions Rusticus and Eleutherius, was martyred for his faith by [[decapitation]]. Some accounts placed this during [[Domitian]]'s [[Domitianic Persecution|persecution]] and incorrectly identified St{{nbsp}}Denis of Paris with the [[Dionysius the Areopagite|Areopagite]] who was converted by [[Paul the Apostle]] and who served as the first [[bishop of Athens]]. Assuming Denis's historicity, it is now considered more likely that he suffered under the [[Decian persecution|persecution]] of the [[list of Roman emperors|emperor]] [[Decius]] shortly after AD{{nbsp}}250.<ref name="cathen"/> |
||
| ⚫ | Denis is the most famous [[cephalophore]] in Christian history, with a popular story claiming that the decapitated bishop picked up his head and walked several miles while preaching a sermon on repentance. He is [[veneration of saints|venerated]] in the [[Catholicism in France|Catholic Church]] as the [[patron saint]] of France and Paris and is accounted one of the [[Fourteen Holy Helpers]]. A chapel was raised at the site of his burial by a local Christian woman; it was later expanded into an [[Abbey of Saint Denis|abbey]] and [[basilica of Saint Denis|basilica]], around which grew up the French city of [[Saint-Denis, Seine-Saint-Denis|Saint-Denis]], now a suburb of Paris. |
||
| ⚫ |
'''Denis of |
||
| ⚫ |
Denis is the most famous [[cephalophore]] in Christian |
||
==Name== |
==Name== |
||
| Line 34: | Line 32: | ||
===Martyrdom=== |
===Martyrdom=== |
||
Denis and his companions were so effective in converting people that the [[pagan]] priests became alarmed over their loss of followers. At their instigation, the Roman Governor arrested the missionaries. After a long imprisonment, Denis and two of his clergy were executed by beheading<ref name=SHMI /> on the highest hill in Paris (now [[Montmartre]]), which was likely to have been a [[druid]]ic holy place. The martyrdom of Denis and his companions is popularly believed to have given the site its current name, derived from the Latin ''Mons Martyrum'' ''"The Martyrs' Mountain"'',<ref name="softheday"/> although the name is possibly derived from ''Mons Mercurii et Mons Martis'', ''Hill of Mercury and Mars''.<ref name="br">{{cite web|url=http://www.montmartre.fr/html/legend.htm|title=Légende Montmartre|website=www.montmartre.fr}}</ref> After his head was cut off, Denis is said to have picked it up and walked several miles from the summit of the hill, preaching a [[sermon]] the entire way, making him one of many [[cephalophore]]s in hagiology. Of the many accounts of this martyrdom, this is noted in detail in the ''[[Golden Legend]]'' and in Butler's ''Lives Of The Saints''.<ref>This is the iconographic detail by which he may be identified, whether in the thirteenth-century sculpture at the [[Musée de Cluny]] (''illustration, in Veneration below'') or in the nineteenth-century figure in the portal of [[Nôtre Dame de Paris]], part of [[Viollet-le-Duc]]'s restorations (''illustration, in infobox'').</ref> The site where he stopped preaching and actually died was marked by a small shrine that developed into the [[Basilica of Saint-Denis]], which became the burial place for the [[list of French monarchs|kings of France]]. Another account has his corpse being thrown into the [[Seine]], but recovered and buried later that night by his converts.<ref name="patron"/><ref name=SHMI /> |
Denis and his companions were so effective in converting people that the [[pagan]] priests became alarmed over their loss of followers. At their instigation, the Roman Governor arrested the missionaries. After a long imprisonment, Denis and two of his clergy were executed by beheading<ref name=SHMI /> on the highest hill in Paris (now [[Montmartre]]), which was likely to have been a [[druid]]ic holy place. The martyrdom of Denis and his companions is popularly believed to have given the site its current name, derived from the Latin ''Mons Martyrum'' ''"The Martyrs' Mountain"'',<ref name="softheday"/> although the name is possibly derived from ''Mons Mercurii et Mons Martis'', ''Hill of Mercury and Mars''.<ref name="br">{{cite web|url=http://www.montmartre.fr/html/legend.htm|title=Légende Montmartre|website=www.montmartre.fr|access-date=2009-08-05|archive-date=2010-01-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100113024654/http://www.montmartre.fr/html/legend.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> After his head was cut off, Denis is said to have picked it up and walked several miles from the summit of the hill, preaching a [[sermon]] the entire way, making him one of many [[cephalophore]]s in hagiology. Of the many accounts of this martyrdom, this is noted in detail in the ''[[Golden Legend]]'' and in Butler's ''Lives Of The Saints''.<ref>This is the iconographic detail by which he may be identified, whether in the thirteenth-century sculpture at the [[Musée de Cluny]] (''illustration, in Veneration below'') or in the nineteenth-century figure in the portal of [[Nôtre Dame de Paris]], part of [[Viollet-le-Duc]]'s restorations (''illustration, in infobox'').</ref> The site where he stopped preaching and actually died was marked by a small shrine that developed into the [[Basilica of Saint-Denis]], which became the burial place for the [[list of French monarchs|kings of France]]. Another account has his corpse being thrown into the [[Seine]], but recovered and buried later that night by his converts.<ref name="patron"/><ref name=SHMI /> |
||
{{clear|left}} |
{{clear|left}} |
||
| Line 40: | Line 38: | ||
[[Image:Musee du Moyen Age A01.JPG|thumb|left|Late Gothic statue of Saint Denis, limestone, formerly polychromed ([[Musée de Cluny]])]] |
[[Image:Musee du Moyen Age A01.JPG|thumb|left|Late Gothic statue of Saint Denis, limestone, formerly polychromed ([[Musée de Cluny]])]] |
||
[[File:Nuremberg_chronicles_f_109v_2.png|thumb|St Denis in the ''[[Nuremberg Chronicle]]'' ]] |
[[File:Nuremberg_chronicles_f_109v_2.png|thumb|St Denis in the ''[[Nuremberg Chronicle]]'' ]] |
||
Veneration of Denis began soon after his death. The bodies of Denis, Eleutherius, and Rusticus were buried on the spot of their martyrdom, where the construction of the [[wiktionary:eponym|eponymous]] [[Saint Denis Basilica|basilica]] was begun by [[Genevieve]], assisted by the people of [[Paris]].<ref name="art">{{cite web | last =Vadnal | first =Jane | title =Images of Medieval Art and Architecture: Saint Denis | work =Excerpt from "Sacred and Legendary Art" by Anna Jameson, 1911 | date =June 1998 | url =http://vrcoll.fa.pitt.edu/medart/texts/saints/Jameson/AJ-SLA-Denis.html | access-date =2007-01-16}}</ref> Her ''Vita Sanctae Genovefae'' attests the presence of a shrine near the present basilica by the close of the fifth century. |
Veneration of Denis began soon after his death. The bodies of Denis, Eleutherius, and Rusticus were buried on the spot of their martyrdom, where the construction of the [[wiktionary:eponym|eponymous]] [[Saint Denis Basilica|basilica]] was begun by [[Genevieve]], assisted by the people of [[Paris]].<ref name="art">{{cite web | last =Vadnal | first =Jane | title =Images of Medieval Art and Architecture: Saint Denis | work =Excerpt from "Sacred and Legendary Art" by Anna Jameson, 1911 | date =June 1998 | url =http://vrcoll.fa.pitt.edu/medart/texts/saints/Jameson/AJ-SLA-Denis.html | access-date =2007-01-16 | archive-date =2010-04-21 | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20100421111448/http://vrcoll.fa.pitt.edu/medart/texts/saints/Jameson/AJ-SLA-Denis.html | url-status =dead }}</ref> Her ''Vita Sanctae Genovefae'' attests the presence of a shrine near the present basilica by the close of the fifth century. |
||
[[Dagobert I]], great-grandson of [[Chlothar I]], had the first Royal Basilica built. The Merovingian tradition was, originally, to bury kings such as [[Clovis I|Clovis]] and [[Clotilde|Chlothildis]] in Paris at Abbey St-Genevieve/Genovefa, as Clovis had ordered its construction in 502 AD. Yet Chilperic I had his own mother, [[Aregund|Dowager Queen Aregunda]], buried at Saint-Denis. His grandson was clearly following a family tradition. Aregunda's (death about 580 AD) tomb was discovered in 1959, and her burial items can be seen at the [[Saint-Germain-en-Laye]] museum. A successor church was erected by [[Fulrad]], who became abbot in 749/50 and was closely linked with the accession of the Carolingians to the Merovingian throne. |
[[Dagobert I]], great-grandson of [[Chlothar I]], had the first Royal Basilica built. The Merovingian tradition was, originally, to bury kings such as [[Clovis I|Clovis]] and [[Clotilde|Chlothildis]] in Paris at Abbey St-Genevieve/Genovefa, as Clovis had ordered its construction in 502 AD. Yet Chilperic I had his own mother, [[Aregund|Dowager Queen Aregunda]], buried at Saint-Denis. His grandson was clearly following a family tradition. Aregunda's (death about 580 AD) tomb was discovered in 1959, and her burial items can be seen at the [[Saint-Germain-en-Laye]] museum. A successor church was erected by [[Fulrad]], who became abbot in 749/50 and was closely linked with the accession of the Carolingians to the Merovingian throne. |
||
In time, St{{nbsp}}Denis came to be regarded as the [[patron saint]] of the [[French people]], with [[Louis IX of France|St{{nbsp}}Louis]] the patron of the [[Kingdom of France|monarchy]] and [[list of French kings|royal dynasties]].{{sfnp| |
In time, St{{nbsp}}Denis came to be regarded as the [[patron saint]] of the [[French people]], with [[Louis IX of France|St{{nbsp}}Louis]] the patron of the [[Kingdom of France|monarchy]] and [[list of French kings|royal dynasties]].{{sfnp|Baynes|1878}} ''Saint Denis'' or ''[[Montjoie Saint Denis!|Montjoie! Saint Denis!]]'' became the typical [[war-cry]] of the [[French army|French armies]]. The [[oriflamme]], which became the standard of France, was the banner consecrated upon his tomb. His veneration spread beyond France when, in 754, [[Pope Stephen II]] brought the veneration of Saint Denis to Rome. Soon his ''[[Cult (religious practice)|cultus]]'' was prevalent throughout Europe.<ref name="art"/> [[Abbot Suger]] removed the relics of Denis, and those associated with Rustique and Eleuthére, from the crypt, to reside under the high altar of the Saint-Denis he rebuilt, 1140–44.<ref>Suger, "De rebus in administratione sua gestis," xxxi, and "De Consecratione," v.</ref> |
||
In traditional Catholic practice, Saint Denis is honoured as one of the [[Fourteen Holy Helpers]]. Specifically, Denis is invoked against [[demonic possession|diabolical possession]] and headaches<ref name="cathculture">{{cite web | last =Miller | first =Jennifer | title =Fourteen Holy Helpers | url =http://www.catholicculture.org/lit/activities/view.cfm?id=886 | access-date =2007-01-16}}</ref> and with Geneviève is one of the patron saints of Paris. |
In traditional Catholic practice, Saint Denis is honoured as one of the [[Fourteen Holy Helpers]]. Specifically, Denis is invoked against [[demonic possession|diabolical possession]] and headaches<ref name="cathculture">{{cite web | last =Miller | first =Jennifer | title =Fourteen Holy Helpers | url =http://www.catholicculture.org/lit/activities/view.cfm?id=886 | access-date =2007-01-16}}</ref> and with Geneviève is one of the patron saints of Paris. |
||
| Line 51: | Line 49: | ||
[[Image:Henri Bellechose 001.jpg|thumb|right|''Last Communion and Martyrdom of Saint Denis'', by [[Henri Bellechose]], 1416, which shows the martyrdom of both Denis and his companions]] |
[[Image:Henri Bellechose 001.jpg|thumb|right|''Last Communion and Martyrdom of Saint Denis'', by [[Henri Bellechose]], 1416, which shows the martyrdom of both Denis and his companions]] |
||
|
9 October is celebrated as the feast of Saint Denis and companions, a priest named Rusticus and a [[deacon]], Eleutherius, who were martyred alongside him and buried with him. The names Rusticus and Eleutherius are non-historical. The feast of Saint Denis was added to the [[Calendar of Saints|Roman Calendar]] in the year 1568 by [[Pope Pius V]], although it had been celebrated since at least the year 800. |
||
Saint Denis is also [[Calendar of saints (Church of England)|remembered]] with a [[Commemoration (Anglicanism)|commemoration]]<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Calendar|url=https://www.churchofengland.org/prayer-and-worship/worship-texts-and-resources/common-worship/churchs-year/calendar|access-date=2021-04-09|website=The Church of England|language=en}}</ref> in many Anglican Provinces, including the [[Church of England]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.churchofengland.org/prayer-worship/worship/texts/the-calendar/holydays.aspx |title=Holy Days |date=7 October 2017 |publisher=The Church of England }}</ref> and the [[Anglican Church of Canada]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://prayerbook.ca/resources/bcponline/calendar/|title=The Calendar|date=16 October 2013}}</ref> on [[October 9]]. |
Saint Denis is also [[Calendar of saints (Church of England)|remembered]] with a [[Commemoration (Anglicanism)|commemoration]]<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Calendar|url=https://www.churchofengland.org/prayer-and-worship/worship-texts-and-resources/common-worship/churchs-year/calendar|access-date=2021-04-09|website=The Church of England|language=en}}</ref> in many Anglican Provinces, including the [[Church of England]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.churchofengland.org/prayer-worship/worship/texts/the-calendar/holydays.aspx |title=Holy Days |date=7 October 2017 |publisher=The Church of England }}</ref> and the [[Anglican Church of Canada]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://prayerbook.ca/resources/bcponline/calendar/|title=The Calendar|date=16 October 2013|access-date=9 October 2015|archive-date=22 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191022221459/http://prayerbook.ca/resources/bcponline/calendar/|url-status=dead}}</ref> on [[October 9]]. |
||
==Confusion with Dionysius the Areopagite== |
==Confusion with Dionysius the Areopagite== |
||
Since at least the ninth century, the legends of [[Dionysius the Areopagite]] and Denis of Paris have often been confused. Around 814, [[Louis the Pious]] brought certain writings attributed to Dionysius the Areopagite to France, and since then it became common among the French legendary writers to argue that Denis of Paris was the same Dionysius who was a famous convert and disciple of [[Paul of Tarsus]].<ref name="art"/> The confusion of the personalities of Denis of Paris, Dionysius the Areopagite, and [[pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite]], the author of the writings ascribed to Dionysius brought to France by Louis, was initiated through an ''Areopagitica'' written in 836 by [[Hilduin |
Since at least the ninth century, the legends of [[Dionysius the Areopagite]] and Denis of Paris have often been confused. Around 814, [[Louis the Pious]] brought certain writings attributed to Dionysius the Areopagite to France, and since then it became common among the French legendary writers to argue that Denis of Paris was the same Dionysius who was a famous convert and disciple of [[Paul of Tarsus]].<ref name="art"/> The confusion of the personalities of Denis of Paris, Dionysius the Areopagite, and [[pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite]], the author of the writings ascribed to Dionysius brought to France by Louis, was initiated through an ''Areopagitica'' written in 836 by Abbot [[Hilduin of Saint-Denis]] at the request of [[Louis the Pious]]. "Hilduin was anxious to promote the dignity of his church, and it is to him that the quite unfounded identification of the patron saint with Dionysius the Areopagite and his consequent connexion<!--connexion in original--> with the apostolic age are due."<ref>A. Hamilton Thompson, reviewing [[Sumner McKnight Crosby]], ''The Abbey of Saint-Denis, 475–1122''. Vol. I, in ''The English Historical Review'' '''58''' No. 231 (July 1943:357–359) p 358. But Denis is already said to have been sent to Paris by [[Pope Clement I]] in the earliest Vita of St [[Genevieve]] (chapter 17, [http://www.dmgh.de/de/fs1/object/goToPage/bsb00000750.html?pageNo=222&sortIndex=010%3A020%3A0003%3A010%3A00%3A00 MGH, SS rer. Merov. 3, 222]).</ref> Hilduin's attribution had been supported for centuries by the monastic community at [[Abbey of Saint-Denis]] and it was one of the origins of their pride. In ''[[Historia calamitatum]]'', [[Pierre Abelard]] gives a short account of the strength of this belief and the monastery's harsh opposition to challenges to their claim. Abelard jokingly pointed out a possibility that the founder of the Abbey could have been another Dionysius, who is mentioned as Dionysius of Corinth by [[Eusebius]]. This irritated the community so much that eventually Abelard left in bitterness. As late as the sixteenth century, scholars might still argue for an Eastern origin of the Basilica of Saint-Denis: one was Godefroi Tillman, in a long preface to a paraphrase of the ''Letters'' of the Areopagite, printed in Paris in 1538 by Charlotte Guillard.<ref>"Georgii Pachymerae... Paraphrasis in decem Epistolas B. Dionysii Arepagitae"; see Beatrice Beech, "Charlotte Guillard: A Sixteenth-Century Business Woman," Renaissance Quarterly No. 36, 3 (Autumn 1983:345–367) p. 349.</ref> Most historiographers agree that this conflated legend is completely erroneous.<ref name="cathen"/> |
||
==Depiction in art== |
==Depiction in art== |
||
[[File:StDenis.jpg|thumb|Painting by [[Jean Bourdichon]]]] |
[[File:StDenis.jpg|thumb|Painting by [[Jean Bourdichon]]]] |
||
Denis' headless walk has led to his being depicted in art decapitated and dressed as a [[bishop]], holding his own (often [[mitre]]d) [[cephalophore|head in his hands]].<ref name="art"/> Handling the [[halo (religious symbol)|halo]] in this circumstance poses a unique challenge for the artist. Some put the halo where the head used to be; others have Saint Denis carrying the halo along with the head. Even more problematic than the halo was the issue of how much of his head Denis should be shown carrying. |
Denis' headless walk has led to his being depicted in art decapitated and dressed as a [[bishop]], holding his own (often [[mitre]]d) [[cephalophore|head in his hands]].<ref name="art"/> Handling the [[halo (religious symbol)|halo]] in this circumstance poses a unique challenge for the artist. Some put the halo where the head used to be; others have Saint Denis carrying the halo along with the head. Even more problematic than the halo was the issue of how much of his head Denis should be shown carrying. |
||
Throughout much of the Middle Ages, the Abbey of St Denis and the [[Canon (priest)|canons]] of [[Notre-Dame de Paris|Notre-Dame Cathedral]] were in dispute over ownership of the saint's head. The Abbey claimed that they had the entire body, whilst the Cathedral claimed to possess the top of his head which, they claimed, had been severed by the executioner's first blow.<ref>See Gabriel Spiegel, ''The Cult of St Denis and Capetian Kingship'', in ''Saints and their Cults'', Stephen Wilson (ed), 1985. p.144ff</ref> Thus while most depictions of St Denis show him holding his entire head, in others, the patrons have shown their support for the |
Throughout much of the Middle Ages, the Abbey of St Denis and the [[Canon (priest)|canons]] of [[Notre-Dame de Paris|Notre-Dame Cathedral]] were in dispute over ownership of the saint's head. The Abbey claimed that they had the entire body, whilst the Cathedral claimed to possess the top of his head which, they claimed, had been severed by the executioner's first blow.<ref>See Gabriel Spiegel, ''The Cult of St Denis and Capetian Kingship'', in ''Saints and their Cults'', Stephen Wilson (ed), 1985. p.144ff</ref> Thus while most depictions of St Denis show him holding his entire head, in others, the patrons have shown their support for the cathedral's claim by depicting him carrying just the crown of his skull, for example in the mid 13th-century window showing the story at [[Le Mans Cathedral]] (Bay 111).<ref name="SkullCrown">{{cite web | last =Whatling | first =Stuart | title =Photographs of Le Mans Cathedral—Outer Clerestory Windows—Bay 111, Panel B5 | work =Corpus Narratologica | url =http://www.medievalart.org.uk/LeMans/111_pages/LeMans_Bay111_PanelB5.htm | access-date =2009-06-15}}</ref> |
||
A 1317 illustrated manuscript depicting ''The Life of Saint Denis'', once owned by [[Philip V of France|King Philip V of France]], is preserved in the [[Bibliothèque Nationale de France|Bibliothèque Nationale]] in Paris. It was given to the king by his chaplain Gilles, the abbot of Saint-Denis, having been commissioned by Jean de Pontoise, the previous Abbot of Saint-Denis. The manuscript contains seventy-seven miniatures illustrating the life and martyrdom of Saint Denis.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://employees.oneonta.edu/farberas/arth/arth214_folder/life_st_denis.html|title=Life of Saint Denis|website=employees.oneonta.edu}}</ref> |
A 1317 illustrated manuscript depicting ''The Life of Saint Denis'', once owned by [[Philip V of France|King Philip V of France]], is preserved in the [[Bibliothèque Nationale de France|Bibliothèque Nationale]] in Paris. It was given to the king by his chaplain Gilles, the abbot of Saint-Denis, having been commissioned by Jean de Pontoise, the previous Abbot of Saint-Denis. The manuscript contains seventy-seven miniatures illustrating the life and martyrdom of Saint Denis.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://employees.oneonta.edu/farberas/arth/arth214_folder/life_st_denis.html|title=Life of Saint Denis|website=employees.oneonta.edu}}</ref> |
||
| Line 73: | Line 71: | ||
===Citations=== |
===Citations=== |
||
{{reflist|30em}} |
{{reflist|30em}} |
||
===Bibliography=== |
===Bibliography=== |
||
* {{cite EB9 |wstitle = St Denis |volume= VII | page=79 }} |
|||
* {{cite wikisource|chapter=St Denis|wslink=Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition|plaintitle=Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition||last= Delehaye |first= Hippolyte |author-link= Hippolyte Delehaye|year=1878|volume=VII|wspage=|ref={{harvid|''EB''|1878}} |page=79 }} |
|||
* {{Cite EB1911 |
* {{Cite EB1911|date=1911 |wstitle= Denis, Saint |volume= 8 | pages = 21–22 |last= Delehaye |first= Hippolyte |author-link= Hippolyte Delehaye|short=1}} |
||
==Further reading== |
==Further reading== |
||
| Line 108: | Line 107: | ||
[[Category:Burials at the Basilica of Saint-Denis]] |
[[Category:Burials at the Basilica of Saint-Denis]] |
||
[[Category:Anglican saints]] |
[[Category:Anglican saints]] |
||
[[Category:Christian martyrs executed by decapitation]] |
|||
|
Denis of Paris
| |
|---|---|
Saint Denis holding his head. Statue at the left portal of Notre Dame de Paris.
| |
| Bishop and Martyr | |
| Born | 3rd century Italia, Roman Empire |
| Died | c. 250, 258,[1] or 270 Mons Martis, Lutetia, Roman Gaul (modern day Paris, France) |
| Venerated in | Catholic Church Anglican Communion Eastern Orthodox Church |
| Major shrine | Saint Denis Basilica |
| Feast | 9 October |
| Attributes | A martyr carrying his severed head in his hands; a bishop's mitre; city; furnace[2] |
| Patronage | Paris; against frenzy, strife, headaches, hydrophobia, San Dionisio (Parañaque), possessed people |
Denis of France was a 3rd-century Christian martyr and saint. According to his hagiographies, he was bishop of Paris (then Lutetia) in the third century and, together with his companions Rusticus and Eleutherius, was martyred for his faith by decapitation. Some accounts placed this during Domitian's persecution and incorrectly identified St Denis of Paris with the Areopagite who was converted by Paul the Apostle and who served as the first bishop of Athens. Assuming Denis's historicity, it is now considered more likely that he suffered under the persecution of the emperor Decius shortly after AD 250.[3]
Denis is the most famous cephalophore in Christian history, with a popular story claiming that the decapitated bishop picked up his head and walked several miles while preaching a sermon on repentance. He is venerated in the Catholic Church as the patron saint of France and Paris and is accounted one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers. A chapel was raised at the site of his burial by a local Christian woman; it was later expanded into an abbey and basilica, around which grew up the French city of Saint-Denis, now a suburb of Paris.
The medieval and modern French masculine given name Denis derives from the Latin name Dionysius from Greek Dionysios.
Gregory of Tours[4] states that Denis was bishop of the Parisii and was martyred by being beheaded by a sword. The earliest document giving an account of his life and martyrdom, the "Passio SS. Dionysii Rustici et Eleutherii", dates from c. 600, is mistakenly attributed to the poet Venantius Fortunatus, and is legendary. Nevertheless, it appears from the Passio that Denis was sent from Italia to convert Gaul in the third century, forging a link with the "apostles to the Gauls" reputed to have been sent out with six other missionary bishops under the direction of Pope Fabian. There Denis was appointed first Bishop of Paris.[5] The persecutions under Emperor Decius had all but dissolved the small Christian community at Lutetia (Paris).[3] Denis, with his inseparable companions Rusticus and Eleutherius, who were martyred with him, settled on the Île de la Cité in the River Seine. Roman Paris lay on the higher ground of the Left Bank, away from the river.
Denis and his companions were so effective in converting people that the pagan priests became alarmed over their loss of followers. At their instigation, the Roman Governor arrested the missionaries. After a long imprisonment, Denis and two of his clergy were executed by beheading[5] on the highest hill in Paris (now Montmartre), which was likely to have been a druidic holy place. The martyrdom of Denis and his companions is popularly believed to have given the site its current name, derived from the Latin Mons Martyrum "The Martyrs' Mountain",[1] although the name is possibly derived from Mons Mercurii et Mons Martis, Hill of Mercury and Mars.[6] After his head was cut off, Denis is said to have picked it up and walked several miles from the summit of the hill, preaching a sermon the entire way, making him one of many cephalophores in hagiology. Of the many accounts of this martyrdom, this is noted in detail in the Golden Legend and in Butler's Lives Of The Saints.[7] The site where he stopped preaching and actually died was marked by a small shrine that developed into the Basilica of Saint-Denis, which became the burial place for the kings of France. Another account has his corpse being thrown into the Seine, but recovered and buried later that night by his converts.[2][5]
Veneration of Denis began soon after his death. The bodies of Denis, Eleutherius, and Rusticus were buried on the spot of their martyrdom, where the construction of the eponymous basilica was begun by Genevieve, assisted by the people of Paris.[8] Her Vita Sanctae Genovefae attests the presence of a shrine near the present basilica by the close of the fifth century.
Dagobert I, great-grandson of Chlothar I, had the first Royal Basilica built. The Merovingian tradition was, originally, to bury kings such as Clovis and Chlothildis in Paris at Abbey St-Genevieve/Genovefa, as Clovis had ordered its construction in 502 AD. Yet Chilperic I had his own mother, Dowager Queen Aregunda, buried at Saint-Denis. His grandson was clearly following a family tradition. Aregunda's (death about 580 AD) tomb was discovered in 1959, and her burial items can be seen at the Saint-Germain-en-Laye museum. A successor church was erected by Fulrad, who became abbot in 749/50 and was closely linked with the accession of the Carolingians to the Merovingian throne.
In time, St Denis came to be regarded as the patron saint of the French people, with St Louis the patron of the monarchy and royal dynasties.[9] Saint DenisorMontjoie! Saint Denis! became the typical war-cry of the French armies. The oriflamme, which became the standard of France, was the banner consecrated upon his tomb. His veneration spread beyond France when, in 754, Pope Stephen II brought the veneration of Saint Denis to Rome. Soon his cultus was prevalent throughout Europe.[8] Abbot Suger removed the relics of Denis, and those associated with Rustique and Eleuthére, from the crypt, to reside under the high altar of the Saint-Denis he rebuilt, 1140–44.[10]
In traditional Catholic practice, Saint Denis is honoured as one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers. Specifically, Denis is invoked against diabolical possession and headaches[11] and with Geneviève is one of the patron saints of Paris.
9 October is celebrated as the feast of Saint Denis and companions, a priest named Rusticus and a deacon, Eleutherius, who were martyred alongside him and buried with him. The names Rusticus and Eleutherius are non-historical. The feast of Saint Denis was added to the Roman Calendar in the year 1568 by Pope Pius V, although it had been celebrated since at least the year 800.
Saint Denis is also remembered with a commemoration[12] in many Anglican Provinces, including the Church of England[13] and the Anglican Church of Canada,[14]onOctober 9.
Since at least the ninth century, the legends of Dionysius the Areopagite and Denis of Paris have often been confused. Around 814, Louis the Pious brought certain writings attributed to Dionysius the Areopagite to France, and since then it became common among the French legendary writers to argue that Denis of Paris was the same Dionysius who was a famous convert and disciple of Paul of Tarsus.[8] The confusion of the personalities of Denis of Paris, Dionysius the Areopagite, and pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite, the author of the writings ascribed to Dionysius brought to France by Louis, was initiated through an Areopagitica written in 836 by Abbot Hilduin of Saint-Denis at the request of Louis the Pious. "Hilduin was anxious to promote the dignity of his church, and it is to him that the quite unfounded identification of the patron saint with Dionysius the Areopagite and his consequent connexion with the apostolic age are due."[15] Hilduin's attribution had been supported for centuries by the monastic community at Abbey of Saint-Denis and it was one of the origins of their pride. In Historia calamitatum, Pierre Abelard gives a short account of the strength of this belief and the monastery's harsh opposition to challenges to their claim. Abelard jokingly pointed out a possibility that the founder of the Abbey could have been another Dionysius, who is mentioned as Dionysius of Corinth by Eusebius. This irritated the community so much that eventually Abelard left in bitterness. As late as the sixteenth century, scholars might still argue for an Eastern origin of the Basilica of Saint-Denis: one was Godefroi Tillman, in a long preface to a paraphrase of the Letters of the Areopagite, printed in Paris in 1538 by Charlotte Guillard.[16] Most historiographers agree that this conflated legend is completely erroneous.[3]
Denis' headless walk has led to his being depicted in art decapitated and dressed as a bishop, holding his own (often mitred) head in his hands.[8] Handling the halo in this circumstance poses a unique challenge for the artist. Some put the halo where the head used to be; others have Saint Denis carrying the halo along with the head. Even more problematic than the halo was the issue of how much of his head Denis should be shown carrying.
Throughout much of the Middle Ages, the Abbey of St Denis and the canonsofNotre-Dame Cathedral were in dispute over ownership of the saint's head. The Abbey claimed that they had the entire body, whilst the Cathedral claimed to possess the top of his head which, they claimed, had been severed by the executioner's first blow.[17] Thus while most depictions of St Denis show him holding his entire head, in others, the patrons have shown their support for the cathedral's claim by depicting him carrying just the crown of his skull, for example in the mid 13th-century window showing the story at Le Mans Cathedral (Bay 111).[18]
A 1317 illustrated manuscript depicting The Life of Saint Denis, once owned by King Philip V of France, is preserved in the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris. It was given to the king by his chaplain Gilles, the abbot of Saint-Denis, having been commissioned by Jean de Pontoise, the previous Abbot of Saint-Denis. The manuscript contains seventy-seven miniatures illustrating the life and martyrdom of Saint Denis.[19]
| International |
|
|---|---|
| National |
|
| People |
|
