On This Day In Roman History, January 8
Severinus of Noricum dies on January 8, 482 CE. He died in the confines of a monastic cell while reciting Psalm 150, which when recited with Psalms 146 - 149, makes up the daily prayer during Pesukei D'Zimrah. Saint Severinus of Noricum was born either in Africa Proconsularis or somewhere in southern Italy during the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 410. Also known as the Apostle to Noricum, Severinus is credited as philosophizing that Odoacer would later rule the Western Roman Empire.
Did you know?
Severinus founded several monasteries during the reign of Attila to help preserve both learning and the Christian faith. He accepted anyone displaced from the Huns, and used these monasteries as a type of refugee center.
Pictured Left: Severinus illustrated in the 18th century by Anonymous (Hampel Auctions) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
In Edward Gibbons History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, it is noted that "the disciples of Saint Severinus were invited by a "Neapolitan lady" to bring his body to the villa in 488, "in the place of Augustulus, who was probably no more." The villa was converted into a monastery before 500 to hold the saint's remains."
Found within point number 29 of Martin Luther's Theses, a reference to St. Severinus is found: "Who knows whether all souls in purgatory wish to be redeemed, since we have exceptions in St. Severinus and St. Paschal, as related in a legend."
Opinion
Welcome to my daily opinion. Today seemed like somewhat of a stretch for Roman history. It felt a little bit more like Christian history, but the fact remains that this man was still born in Roman territory. He also lived with the problem his contemporary Roman statesmen were dealing with - the fall of the Western Roman Empire. Attila was displacing hundreds of thousands of people in Severinus' later life, and he was experiencing it first hand. This would not have been a pretty time to live in Italy, and if I myself were born in the Roman colony Africa Proconsularis, I would have probably stayed right there in northern Africa. Today's discussed topic was subject matter I had breifly glanced over in Gibbons' work, and Severinus was only mentioned once within it. Also, I had to look up what Gibbons meant by a "Neapolitan lady", which was simply a person native to Naples. I may have over thought that one, and this video didn't help my research: Neapolitan Lady - Youtube
Sources
Martin Luther's 95 Theses. (2011, February 15). Retrieved January 08, 2017, from http://www.luther.de/en/95thesen.html
Gibbon, E., & Low, D. M. (1960). The decline and fall of the Roman Empire. New York: Harcourt, Brace.
E., & Robinson, G. W. (1914). The life of Saint Severinus. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Further Reading:
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