Lindsay Rudge PhD Thesis - University of St Andrews

Dedicated virgins also appear in non-normative writings, particularly those of
Sulpicius Severus (c.363-402). Sulpicius, describing Martin of Tours’ funeral to his
mother-in-law, noted the presence of a chorus virginum among the monks; 29 he also
accompanied the bishop on a pastoral visit to a virgin who refused to see him because he
was a man. 30 Sulpicius was approving; other virgins spent too much time associating with
each other and with monks and clerics. 31 Clearly this woman was not an isolated
phenomenon. The most well-known writing of Sulpicius, the Vita Martini, also includes a
mention of a dedicated virgin. In perhaps the earliest reference to a consecration, a man
named Magnus Arborius brought his daughter to be consecrated by Martin after the
bishop had miraculously cured her of an illness. 32
Sulpicius’ writings refer to the region around Tours, but dedicated virgins were
also found in other parts of Gaul. In Rouen, bishop Victricius noted the devotarum
inlibatarumque virginum chorus (‘the chorus of devoted and unimpaired virgins’ 33 ) who
formed part of the crowd awaiting the entry of relics; 34 Victricius also wrote to pope
Innocent I for advice on various matters, one of which being the subject of virgines
lapsae, and received a detailed reply, dated February 15, 404, which found its way into at
least one later church councils. 35
Archaeological evidence also suggests contexts for imagining the earliest forms of
dedicated life. In his work on Gallo-Roman villas, John Percival makes the important
point that what such evidence suggests is ‘a pattern of experiment and compromise’ in
religious life, and that few of those attempting to dedicate their lives to God would have
had much idea of what style of physical surroundings might be suitable for an ascetic
life. 36 In this way, existing or partially ruined Roman villas could metamorphose into
29
Epistula 3a, ed. C. Halm Sulpicii Severi libri qui supersunt CSEL I (Vienna, 1866) 150.
30
Sulpicius Severus, Dialogues II, 12, ed. Halm, CSEL I, 194.
31
Metz, ‘Les vierges chrétiennes’, 121-2.
32
Sulpicius Severus, Vita Martini ed. Halm, CSEL 1, 128.
33
It seems probable that ‘devotarum… virginum’ also refers to the status of the virgins as dedicated to God,
as in the common description Deo devota.
34
Victricius of Rouen, De laude sanctorum 3, ed. R. Demeulenaere, CCSL 64, 53-93, at 73.
35
PL 20: 469-481. It was subsequently used by the Council of Tours (567), can. XX.
36
J. Percival, ‘Villas and Monasteries in Late Roman Gaul’, Journal of Ecclesiastical History 48:1 (1997)
1-21, at 4.
34