MABTTBDOM
741
MABTTBOLOOY
the most part the story of the inarch of Gort^ against
out.
liartyr got many of his accounts from the discov- erers themselves; he profited by letters of Columbus, and was able also to make use of the reports of the Indian State Council. He himself had a great grasp of geographical problems: it was he, for example, who first realized the significance of the Gulf Stream. For these reasons his " Decades ", which are also written with spirited vivacity, are of great value in the history of geography and discovery. All the eight ** De<»tdes were published together for the first time at Alcald in 1 530. Later editions of single or of all the Decades ** appeared at Basle (1533), Cologne (1574), Paris (1587), and Madrid (1892). A German translation came out at Basle in 1582; an English version may be found in Arber, The first three English books on America" (Birmingham, 1885); a French one by Gaffarel in " Recueil de voyages et de documents pour servir li Thistoire de la Geographic" (Paris, lw7). In addition to his " Decades" another valuable source of historical information is his "Opus epistolarum", although its value is somewhat lessened by the fact that it was not arranged or published until after his death. This collection consists of 812 letters to or from ecclesiastical dignitaries^ generals, and states- men of Spain and Italy, dealmg with contemporary events, and especially with the history of Spain be- tween 1487 and 1525. It appeared first at Alcald in 1530; a new edition was issued by Elzevir at Amster- dam in 1670.
In addition to the numerous works oonoemins Christopher Columbus and the discovery of America, in which Martyr's records are discussed, the reader may consult ScnnMACHBR, Petrtu Martyr, der Oeachiehtachreiber dea W^meercB (New York, 1879); Heidenueimcr, Petrtis Martyr Analeriua und aein 0pU9
Snatolarum (Berlin, 1881); Gbrigk, Das Opua epiat. dea P. M., issertation (Braunsberg, 1881); Idrm, Daa Ld>en dea P. M. in Jahreaber. dea Mariengymnaaiuma tu Poaan (1800) ; Beknayb, P.M. A. u. aein Opua epiat. (Strasburg, 1891).
Otto Hartio.
Martyrdom. See Martyr.
Martyrologium Hieronymianum. See Martte-
OLOGY.
Martyrology. — By martyrology is understood a catalogue of martyrs and saints arranged according to the order of their feasts, i. e., according to the calen- dar. Since the time when the commemorations of martyrs, to which were added those of bishops, began to be celebrated, each Church had its special martjrr- ology. Little by little these local lists were enrich^ by names borrowed from neighbouring Churches, and when the era of martyrs was definitively closed, those were introduced who had shone in the community by the sanctity of their life and notably by the practice of asceticism. We still possess the martyroloey, or fe- rial, of the Roman Church of the middle of uie fourth century, comprising two distinct lists, the " Depositio martvrum*' and the "Depositio episcoporum , lists which are elsewhere most frequently foimd united. Among the Roman martyrs mention is already made in the "Ferial" of some African martyrs (7 March, Perpetua and Felicitas; 14 September, Cyprian). The calendar of Carthage which belongs to the sixth cen- tury contains a larger portion of foreign martyrs and even of confessors not belonging to that Church. LfOcal martyrologies record exclusively the custom of a particular Church. The name of calendars is some- times given to them, but this is a mere question of words. Besides special martyrologies, of which very few types have reached us, there are general martyr- ologies which are of the nature of a compilation. They are formed by the combination of several local naartyr- ologies, with or without borrowing from literary sources. The most celebrated and important of the representatives of this class is the martyrology com- monly called Hieronymian, because it is erroneously
attributed to St. Jerome. It was drawn up in Italy in
the second half of the fifth century, and underwent recension in Gaul, probably at Auxerre, about a. d. 600.
All the MSS. we possess of the " Hieronymian Mart^-
ology spring from this Galilean recension. SettinA[
aside the additions which it then received, the chi^
sources of the "Hieronymian" are a general mart)rr-
ology of the Churches of the East, the local martyrol-
ogy of the Church of Rome, a general martyrolo^ of
Italy, a general martvrol(^ of Africa, and some liter-
ary sources, among tnem Eusebius. The manuscript
tradition of the document is in inexplicable confusion,
and the idea of restoring the text in its integrity must
be abandoned. Of course when any part of the text
is restored, there arises the further problem of deter-
mining itie origin of that portion before pronouncing
on its documentary value.
The "Hieronymian Martyrology" and those resem- bling it in form show signs of nurried compilation. The notices consist mostly of a topographical rubric preceding the name of the saint, e. g. "Ill id. ian. Ronue, in cymiterio Callisti, via Appia, depositio Mil- tiadis episcopi". There is another type of martyrol- ogy in which the name is followed by a short history of the saint. These are the historical martyrologies. There exists a large number of them, the best known being Uiose of Bede (eighth centurv), and Rhabanus Maurus, Florus, Adon, and Usuard, all of the ninth century. Without dwelling here on the relations be- tween them, it may be said that their chief sources are, besides the "Hieronymian", accounts derived from the Acts of the martyrs and some ecclesiastical au- thors. The present Roman Martyrology is directly derived from the historical martyrologies. It is in sum the martyrologyr of Usuard completed by the " Dialogues" of St. Gregory and the works of some of the Fathers, and for the Greek saints by the catalogue which is known as the "Menologion" of Sirlet (in H. Canisius, "Lectiones Antique", III, Pt. ii, 412, Amsterdam, 1725). The edilio princeps appeared at Rome in 1583, under the title: " Martyrologium ro- manum ad novam kalendarii rationem et ecclesiasti- cs historise veritatem restitutum, Gregorii XIII pont. max. iussu editum". It bears no approbation. A second edition also appeared at Rome in the same year. This was soon replaced by the edition of 1584, which was approved and imposed on the entire Church by Gregory XIII . Baronius revised and corrected this work and republished it in 1 586, with the " Notationes " and the "Tractatio de Martyrologio Romano". The Antwerp edition of 1589 was corrected in some places by Baronius himself. A new edition of the text and the notes took place under Urban VIII and was pub- lished in 1630. Benedict XIV was also interested in the Roman Martyrology. The Bull addressed to John V, Kin^ of Portugal, dated 1748 (it is to be found at the begmning of the modern editions of the "Martyr- ology"), makes known the importance of the changes introduced in the new edition, which is in substance and except for the changes noiade necessary by new canonizations, the one in use to-day.
With the historical martyrologies are connected the great Greek S3rnaxaries, the arrangement and genesis of which makes them an important counterpart. But the literature of the synaxaries, which comprises also the books of that category belonging to the various Oriental Rites, requires separate treatment (see " Ana- lecta Bollandiana", XIV, 396 sqq.; Delehaye, "Sy- naxarium ecclesise Constantinopoutanse, Propylseum ad Acta Sanctorum novembris", 1902). Worthy of mention, as in some way being included in the preceding categories, are a number of martyrologies or calen- dars of some special interest, whetner considered as documents more or less important for the history of the veneration of saints, or regarded as purely artifi- cial compilations. We may refer to the provisory list drawn up at the beginning of Vol, I for November of
