Herculanus of Perugia

Last updated
Herculanus of Perugia
Pietro Perugino cat48h.jpg
Bishop and martyr
Died549 AD
Kingdom of the Ostrogoths
Venerated in Eastern Orthodox Church
Roman Catholic Church
Canonized Pre-Congregation
Feast November 7; also March 1
Patronage Perugia

Herculanus of Perugia (Italian : Ercolano; died 549 AD) was a bishop of Perugia. He was canonized as a saint by the Catholic Church and is recognised as patron saint of Perugia. His main feast day is November 7; his second feast is celebrated on March 1. According to Pope Gregory the Great in his Dialogues , [1] Herculanus suffered martyrdom when Totila, king of the Ostrogoths, captured Perugia in 549.

Before the city was captured, Herculanus is said to have tried to save the city by feeding the last sack of grain to the last lamb. This was meant to give the Ostrogoth forces the impression that the Perugians had food to spare, and were able to feed a weak lamb with their precious grain. With food to spare, they were thus able to withstand the siege. However, Totila was not fooled by this trick and captured the city just the same. [2]

Totila is said to have given orders for Herculanus to be completely flayed. However, the Ostrogoth soldier who had to perform this task took pity on the bishop and decapitated Herculanus before the flaying had been completed.

Gregory writes that forty days after the head of Herculanus had been cut off, it was found to have been miraculously reunited to his body. [3]

The inhabitants of the castle of Cisterna in Umbria, above the River Puglia, were under Perugian rule, and were obliged to send three pounds of wax to Perugia for the feast of St Herculanus. [4]

Perugian coin of the 15th century (CNG Coins). It depicts the half-length bust of St. Herculanus, holding a crozier. Bolognino Perugia.jpg
Perugian coin of the 15th century (CNG Coins). It depicts the half-length bust of St. Herculanus, holding a crozier.

Related Research Articles

Pope Agapetus I was the bishop of Rome from 13 May 535 to his death. His father, Gordianus, was a priest in Rome and he may have been related to two previous popes, Felix III and Gregory I.

The 540s decade ran from January 1, 540, to December 31, 549.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">549</span> Calendar year

Year 549 (DXLIX) was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 549 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pope Gregory I</span> Head of the Catholic Church from 590 to 604

Pope Gregory I, 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 Gregorian mission, to convert the then largely pagan Anglo-Saxons to Christianity. Gregory is also well known for his writings, which were more prolific than those of any of his predecessors as pope. The epithet Saint Gregory the Dialogist has been attached to him in Eastern Christianity because of his Dialogues. English translations of Eastern texts sometimes list him as Gregory "Dialogos", or the Anglo-Latinate equivalent "Dialogus".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Perugia</span> Comune in Umbria, Italy

Perugia is the capital city of Umbria in central Italy, crossed by the River Tiber, and of the province of Perugia. The city is located about 164 km (102 mi) north of Rome and 148 km (92 mi) southeast of Florence. It covers a high hilltop and part of the valleys around the area. The region of Umbria is bordered by Tuscany, Lazio, and Marche.

Pope Pelagius I was the bishop of Rome from 556 to his death. A former apocrisiarius to Constantinople, Pelagius I was elected pope as the candidate of Emperor Justinian I, a designation not well received in the Western Church. Before his papacy, he opposed Justinian's efforts to condemn the "Three Chapters" in order to reconcile theological factions within the Church, but later adopted Justinian's position.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Totila</span> King of the Ostrogoths from 541 to 552

Totila, original name Baduila, was the penultimate King of the Ostrogoths, reigning from 541 to 552 AD. A skilled military and political leader, Totila reversed the tide of the Gothic War, recovering by 543 almost all the territories in Italy that the Eastern Roman Empire had captured from his Kingdom in 540.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Benedetto Bonfigli</span> Italian painter

Benedetto Bonfigli was an Italian Renaissance painter born in Perugia, and part of the Umbria school of painters including Raphael and Perugino. He is also known as Buonfiglio. Influenced by the style of Domenico Veneziano, Benozzo Gozzoli, and Fra Angelico, Bonfigli primarily painted frescos for the church and was at one point employed in the Vatican. His best preserved work is the Annunication, but his masterpiece is the decoration of the chapel of the Palazzo dei Priori. Bonfigli specialized in gonfaloni, a Perugian style using banners painted on canvas or linen. Little is known of his personal life, but he was an esteemed painter in Perugia before Perugino, who is said to be his pupil.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flaying</span> Method of slow and painful execution in which skin is removed from the body

Flaying, also known colloquially as skinning, is a method of slow and painful execution in which skin is removed from the body. Generally, an attempt is made to keep the removed portion of skin intact.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gothic War (535–554)</span> A war between the Byzantine Empire and the Ostrogothic Kingdom of Italy

The Gothic War between the Eastern Roman Empire during the reign of Emperor Justinian I and the Ostrogothic Kingdom of Italy took place from 535 to 554 in the Italian Peninsula, Dalmatia, Sardinia, Sicily and Corsica. It was one of the last of the many Gothic Wars against the Roman Empire. The war had its roots in the ambition of the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Emperor Justinian I to recover the provinces of the former Western Roman Empire, which the Romans had lost to invading barbarian tribes in the previous century, during the Migration Period.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">November 7 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)</span>

November 6 - Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar - November 8

<span class="mw-page-title-main">March 1 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)</span>

February 28 - Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar - March 2

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Constantius of Perugia</span>

Constantius of Perugia is one of the patron saints of Perugia, Italy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Perugia Cathedral</span>

Perugia Cathedral is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Perugia, Umbria, central Italy, dedicated to Saint Lawrence. Formerly the seat of the bishops and archbishops of Perugia, it has been since 1986 the archiepiscopal seat of the Archdiocese of Perugia-Città della Pieve.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Palazzo dei Priori</span> Building in Perugia, Italy

The Palazzo dei Priori or comunale is one of the best examples in Italy of a public palace from the communal era. It is located in the central Piazza IV Novembre in Perugia, Umbria. It extends along Corso Vannucci up to Via Boncambi. It still houses part of the municipality, and, on the third floor, the Galleria Nazionale dell'Umbria. It takes its name from the Priori, the highest political authority governing the city in the medieval era.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cerbonius</span>

Saint Cerbonius was a bishop of Populonia during the Barbarian invasions. Saint Gregory the Great praises him in Book XI of his Dialogues.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sack of Rome (546)</span> Siege of Rome during the Gothic War

The Sack ofRome in 546 was carried out by the Gothic king Totila during the Gothic War of 535–554 between the Ostrogoths and the Eastern Roman Empire. Totila was based at Tivoli and, in pursuit of his quest to reconquer the region of Latium, he moved against Rome. The city endured a siege lasting almost a year before falling to the Goths.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Perugia Papacy</span>

Perugia was a long-time papal residence during the 13th century. Five popes were elected here: Pope Honorius III (1216–1227), Pope Clement IV (1265–1268), Pope Honorius IV (1285–1287), Pope Celestine V (1294), and Pope Clement V (1305–1314). These elections took place in the Palazzo delle Canoniche adjoining the Perugia Cathedral.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Siege of Rome (549–550)</span> Siege of Rome during Gothic War

The city of Rome was besieged in AD 549–550 by the Ostrogoths, led by Totila, during a campaign to recapture Italy from the Byzantine Empire. After Totila imposed a blockade, soldiers from the city's garrison opened the gates to him. Many of the male inhabitants were killed in the city or while attempting to flee. The city was afterwards repopulated and rebuilt.

Odolgan was a Hun commander serving under the Byzantine Empire. He was the commander of the garrison of Perugia.

References

  1. "Gregory the Great, Dialogues (1911) Book 3. pp. 105-174". Archived from the original on 2009-09-17. Retrieved 2007-04-13.
  2. Bangkok When the Leaves Turn, Part VII
  3. Dominican Martyrology: March
  4. La Strada del Sagrantino Archived 2006-05-06 at the Wayback Machine