Research Assignment 1.1: Searching for Saints

Finding the Saint(s)

When I started thinking about this assignment, I had no idea what saint I wanted to research. So, I starting by googling lists of martyrs organized by their dates of death. I went through the Wikipedia pages for saints who had interesting names or bios and eventually settled on a pair of saints: Chrysanthus and Daria.

14th century image of the martyrdom of Chrysanthus and Daria. Image from Wikipedia.

Since I was already on the Wikipedia page for Chrysanthus and Daria, I started there for my online research into these two saints. As far as basic information goes, this tells me that they lived during the 3rd century, died c. 283 AD in Rome, and that their feast days are October 25th (western) and March 19 (eastern).

What originally attracted my attention to these saints are the legends mentioned on the page. Chrysanthus was well-educated and well-situated in society, but he converted to Christianity after reading the book of Acts. His father, Polemius, was unhappy with his conversion and tried to convince Chrysanthus to renounce Christianity and his vow of celibacy by arranging for his marriage to Daria, who was either a priestess of Minerva or a Vestal virgin. However, his father’s plan failed and instead Chrysanthus converted Daria to Christianity. They remained married, but decided to do so celibately.

The legend goes on to talk about how they were tortured for their faith and their steadfastness under this torture led to the conversion of a Roman tribune, Claudius, and his family, who were martyred. Daria was sent to a brothel, but she was able to remain chaste because a lioness defended her. She and Chrysanthus were killed (accounts vary as to how) and were entombed near the catacombs. Some early venerators were martyred there while observing Eucharist when Romans shut them up inside the crypt.

The Wikipedia page mentions Greek and Latin versions of these legends in the Acta Sanctorum, as well as some of the history surrounding the translations of their relics. I’m excited to dive into some of the source texts for these saints, but first I needed to fill out my online knowledge . . .

Depiction of Chrysanthus and Daria being buried alive in sandpits, one of the more common accounts of how they were martyred.

Online Research, cont’d.

Following Dr. Wielfaert’s example, I tried a simple Google search of my saints’ names. “Chrysanthus and Daria” produces about 41,000 search results, the first two pages of which I’m pasting here:

I’ve grouped these online sources into the following categories:

Encyclopedia Resources

The Wikipedia page where I started my research serves as a helpful starting point. The Catholic Encyclopedia provides more details, particularly about the posthumous cult of Chrysanthus and Daria, which will be helpful for further research. It also provides references to a few source texts, such as Gregory of Tours’s De gloria martyrum. The OrthodoxWiki page agrees with most of the other encyclopedic information, though it adds the detail that Chrysanthus’s father tried (and failed) to tempt him with prostitutes before arranging his marriage to Daria. It also provides a more definite cause of martyrdom (being crushed with stones in a pit) and two hymns related to the martyrs.

Church Websites

Eleven of my eighteen resources are from church-related websites with bios for saints. They generally agree with the details presented in the encyclopedic sources and occasionally add a few extra details (such as the name of the presbyter who baptized Chrysanthus, Carpophoros).

Resources from Recent News

The 2011 National Geographic article discusses a pair of skeletons discovered at Reggio Emilia, presenting the DNA evidence that leads scholars to believe that the bones could possibly belong to Chrysanthus and Daria. While the article doesn’t provide much additional information relevant to the medieval cult of these saints, its claims have bearing on the historicity of the martyrs and their legends. The Catholicism.org page is merely a very brief summary of the National Geographic article. Similarly, the Templar Knight page is a combination of National Geographic summary and legends in common with the other online resources.

Other Resources

The YouTube video is (expectedly) unhelpful; it’s simply a robotic reading of the Wikipedia page.

Next Steps

Based on my online research, I feel as though I have a pretty good grasp on some of the basics about Chrysanthus and Daria. I’ve learned that they died c. 283 AD, but that there are various accounts of how they were martyred; they’re officially commemorated on October 25 in the west and Gregory of Tours talks about venerators being martyred while observing Eucharist at their tombs. Skeletons believed to be their relics attest to their historicity, while accounts of translatio explain the presence of other relics in Germany.

In my future research, I want to find more about the medieval cult and the translatio of relics. I believe that source texts will tell me much more about how medieval Christians venerated these saints, especially in regard to what parts of their legends the authors focus on.

Now, on to the Acta Sanctorum to further my research . . .

Icon of Saint Chrysanthus and Saint Daria.