Virtutes apostolorum
Standard abbreviation: Apost. Hist.
Other titles: Pseudo-Abdias, Miracula/Vitae/Gesta apostolorum
Clavis numbers: ECCA 365; CANT 256
VIAF: 169144782965737622369
Category: Apocryphal Acts
Compiled by Tony Burke, York University ([email protected]) and Brandon W. Hawk, Rhode Island College ([email protected]).
Citing this resource (using Chicago Manual of Style): Burke, Tony, and Brandon W. Hawk. “Apostolic Histories (Virtutes apostolorum).” e-Clavis: Christian Apocrypha. Accessed DAY MONTH YEAR. https://www.nasscal.com/e-clavis-christian-apocrypha/apostolic-histories-virtutes-apostolorum/.
Created January 2021. Current as of April 2023.
1. SUMMARY
The Apostolic Histories is a collection of apocryphal acts of apostles in Latin that was widely popular across medieval Europe. Though the number of extant manuscripts has yet to be measured, a study by Guy Philippart in 1977 records more than 90 but cautions readers that the list is not exhaustive. In addition, individual texts or smaller combinations of texts are also found in other compendia. The various apocryphal acts seem to have been compiled into a coherent collection in the late sixth or seventh century.
Since the edition of Wolfgang Lazius (1552), Apost. Hist. has been associated with “Abdias, Bishop of Babylon,” though the attribution appears only in an epilogue that follows the final text in the collection, the Passion of Simon and Jude, and should not be taken as an indication of authorship for the entire corpus. Indeed, these texts had their own separate origin, some as translations of portions of earlier apocryphal acts in Greek. Abdias also appears as a character in Pass. Sim. Jude, in an episode where the two apostles ordain him as bishop; in this same episode, another man—Craton, a disciple of Simon and Jude—is credited with documenting the journeys of the apostles in ten volumes.
The earliest evidence for the circulation of Apost. Hist. as a coherent collection is Aldhelm (Carmen ecclesiasticum, Carmen de uirginitate, and Prosa de uirginitate; seventh century), and Bede (Retractationes in Acta apostolorum; Northumberland, early eighth century). Venantius Fortunatus (De virginitate; Gaul, end of the sixth century) lists the apostles and their missionary domains but it is not certain that he derives this information from Apost. Hist. as a collection. The earliest manuscripts come from the eighth century and comprise two main branches, from Frankish Gaul and Bavaria, although it is not yet clear where the collection originated. At present, there is no comprehensive critical edition and translation of Apost. Hist. Printed versions based on one or two manuscripts were made available by Mombritius (1477–1479), Nausea (1531), Lazius (1552), and Fabricius (1719); some individual texts—such as the Latin Acts of John (Virtutes Iohannis) and the Miracles of Thomas—have been more recently edited, and others newly translated based on a more careful selection of manuscripts.
Though the collection is somewhat fluid in its selection and order of texts, the core consists of the following (based on O’Leary 2013: 204–205):
Passion of Peter (sometimes substituted with Martyrdom of Blessed Peter the Apostle, by Pseudo-Linus)
Passion of Paul (sometimes substituted with the Martyrdom of the Acts of Paul, or Martyrdom of the Blessed Apostle Paul, by Pseudo-Linus)
Also appearing: Passion of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul (Ps.-Marcellus) or Passion of the Apostles Peter and Paul
Acts of Andrew (=Miracles of Andrew by Gregory of Tours, sometimes combined with the Epistle of the Presbyters and Deacons of Achaea, and either combined or substituted with the Passion of Andrew)
Also appearing: Acts of Andrew and Matthias
Passion of James, Brother of the Lord
Passion of James, Son of Zebedee
Acts of John (Latin) (sometimes substituted with the Passion of John, by Pseudo-Melito)
Passion of Thomas (=Acts of Thomas 159–71; sometimes substituted with the Miracles of Thomas)
In some manuscripts, to the core are added:
Hymn Praelata mundi culmina (ICL 12348) for Peter and Paul
Translation of Bartholomew (BHL 1004) inserted after his Martyrdom
Hymn Fulget coruscans for Philip
Acts of Matthias or Martyrdom of Matthias
2. RESOURCES
2.1 Art and Iconography
Cycle of the Apostles, Basilica of San Marco: two sets of images depicting the martyrdoms of the apostles, one from the 12th century, the other a set of replacements completed in the 17th.
New York, Morgan Library and Museum, M.183: Psalter-hours written and illuminated in Liège, Belgium, ca. 1280s. Features a full-page miniature (fol. 12v) depicting the martyrdoms of the apostles John, Peter, Paul, Bartholomew, and Andrew. Online: https://www.themorgan.org/manuscript/77271.
Stavelot Portable Altar: 12th-century reliquary decorated around sides with images of the martyrdoms of the apostles drawn, likely, from the Apostolic Histories.
Vatican, Biblioteca apostolica Vaticana, Vat. lat. 8541 (1320–1342): the famous Anjou Legendarium, featuring illustrations of the careers of several apostles, based ultimately on the Apostolic Histories.
3. BIBLIOGRAPHY
3.1 Manuscripts and Editions
Manuscripts of Apost. Hist. are plentiful. Listed here are the earliest witnesses that feature a full collection with texts about all twelve apostles (derived from Rose 2013: 254–68 and her notes throughout that article).
Angers, Bibliothèque municipale, 281 (11th cent.)
Bamberg, Staatsbibliothek Bamberg, Msc. Hist. 139 (12th cent.) ~ IMAGES
Dublin, Trinity College, 737 (9th and 12th/13th cent.)
Graz, Universitätsbibliothek, 412 (9th cent.)
Montpellier, Bibliothèque de la Faculté de médicine, 55 (ca. 800)
Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Clm. 4554, fols. 12r–14r (8th/9th cent.)
Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Clm 12641 (12th cent.) ~ IMAGES
Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Clm 22020 (12th cent.)
Paris, Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève, 547 (12th cent.)
Paris, Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève, 557 (11th/12th cent.)
Paris, Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève, 558 (13th cent.)
Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, lat. 5273 (13th cent.) ~ IMAGES
Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, lat. 5274 (12th cent.) ~ IMAGES
Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, lat. 5563 (11th cent.) ~ IMAGES
Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, lat. 9737 (12th cent.) ~ IMAGES
Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, lat. 11750 (11th cent.)
Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, lat. 12602 (12th cent.) ~ IMAGES
Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, lat. 12604 (12th cent.)
Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, lat. 18298 (9th/10th cent.) ~ IMAGES
St. Gallen, Stiftsbibiothek, 561 (9th/10th cent.) ~ IMAGES
Vienna, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, cod. 455 (9th cent.)
Vienna, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, lat. 497 (13th cent.) ~ CATALOG
Vienna, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, cod. 534 (9th cent.)
Vienna, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, lat. 560 (12th/13th cent.) ~ CATALOG
Wolfenbüttel, Herzog August Bibliothek Weissenburg, 48 (9th cent.)
Wolfenbüttel, Universitätsbibliothek Helmstedt, 497 (11th cent.) ~ IMAGES
Additional witnesses:
Brussels, Bibliothèque Royale, II. 1069, fols. 59–97 (8th cent.): fragmentary palimpsest, containing Passion of Thomas and Passion of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul (Ps.-Marcellus).
~ CATALOG
Würzburg, Universitätsbibliothek, M.p.th.f. 78 (8th cent.) ~ fragmentary, containing the martyrdoms of John (Pseudo-Melito), James the Great, Thomas, Bartholomew, Matthew, Simon and Jude, and Philip.
Fabricius, Johann Albert. Codex Apocryphus Novi Testamenti. 2 vols. 2nd ed. Hamburg: Schiller, 1719 (a reprint of Lazius’s edition via Lefèvre in vol. 2, pp. 387–742).
Giles, J. A. Codex Apocryphus Novi Testamenti: The Uncanonical Gospels and Other Writings. London: D. Nutt, 1852 (reproduction of Fabricius, pp. 256–456).
Lazius, Wolfgang. Abdiae Babyloniae episcopi et apostolorum discipuli de historia certaminis apostolici libri decem. Bale, 1552 (Repr. Paris: Guillard & Belot, 1566; reprint by Jean Lefèvre in 1560) (based on ONB 455 and 534 but with some editorial glosses added by Lazius at the beginning of the texts).
Mombritius, Boninus. Sanctuarium seu Vitae Sanctorum. 2 vols. Milan: Tip. epónima, 1477–1478; repr. Paris: Fonetmoing et Socii, 1910 (Latin texts dispersed throughout the volumes).
Nausea, Friedrich. Anonymi Pilalethi Eusebiani in vitas, miracula passionesque apostolorum rhapsodiae. Cologne: Peter Quentel, 1531.
3.2 Modern Translations
3.2.1 English
Elliott, J. K. The Apocryphal New Testament. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1993 (introduction and summaries of select texts, pp. 525–31).
James, Montague Rhodes. The Apocryphal New Testament: Being the Apocryphal Gospels, Acts, Epistles, and Apocalypses. Oxford: Clarendon, 1924; corrected edition, 1953 (summaries, pp. 462–69).
3.2.2 French
L’Histoire apostolique d’Abdias, premier évêque de Babylon institué par les apostres, tournie d’hebreu en grec par Eutrope, puis en latin par Jule Africain . . . et nouvellement traduite en nostre vulgaire. Paris: G. Guillard, 1564. Second ed. Lyon: B. Rigaud, 1582 (translation of the edition by Lazius).
Migne, Jacques-Paul. Dictionnaire des Apocryphes. 2 vols. 1856. Repr., Turnhout: Brepols, 1989 (vol. 2, introduction, cols. 13–20, and texts dispersed throughout the volume; translated from the edition by Fabricius).
Alibert, Dominique, Gisèle Besson, Michèle Brossard-Dandré, and Simon Claude Mimouni. “Acts latins des apôtres (Collection dite du Pseudo-Abdias).” Pages 735–864 in volume 2 of Écrits apocryphes chrétiens. Edited by Pierre Geoltrain and Jean-Daniel Kaestli. Bibliothèque de la Pléiade 516. Paris: Gallimard, 2005 (introduction, pp. 737–46, and select texts, pp. 750–864, based on Wolfenbüttel 48, Angers 281, Dublin 737, and Paris lat. 12604).
3.3.3 German
Borberg, Karl Friedrich. Bibliothek der neutestamentlichen Apokryphen, gesammelt, übersetzt, und erläutert. Stuttgart: Literatur-Comptoir, 1841 (translated from the edition by Fabricius, vol. 1, pp. 391–721).
3.3.4 Italian
Erbetta, Mario. Gli apocrifi del Nuovo Testamento. 3 vols. Italy: Marietti, 1975–1981 (vol. 2, introduction, pp. 20–24, and texts dispersed throughout the volume; translated from the edition by Fabricius).
Moraldi, Luigi. Apocrifi del Nuovo Testamento. 2 vols. Classici delle religioni, Sezione quarta, La religione cattolica 24. Turin: Unione Tipografico-Editrice Torinese, 1971 (translated from the edition by Fabricius, vol. 2, pp. 1431–1606).
3.3.5 Polish
Starowieyski, Marek, and Edward Nowak. Dwunastu: Pseudo Abdiasza Historie apostolskie. Ojcowie Żwyi 11. Kraków: Wydawnictow WAM, 1995 (translated from the edition by Fabricius).
3.3 General Works
Alibert, Dominique. “Vision du monde et imaginaire dans quelques textes de la collection dite du Pseudo-Abdias.” Apocrypha 11 (2000): 207–26.
Backus, Irena D. Historical Method and Confessional Identity in the Era of Reformation (1378–1615). Studies in Medieval and Reformation Thought 94. Leiden: Brill, 2003 (see pp. 292–325).
Besson, Gisèle “La collection dite du Pseudo-Abdias: un essai de définition à partir de l’histoire de l’étude des manuscrits.” Apocrypha 11 (2000): 181–94.
Brossard-Dandré, Michèle. “La collection dite du Pseudo-Abdias: approche narrative et cohérence interne.” Apocrypha 11 (2000): 195–205.
Duchesne, Louis. “Les anciens recueils dans légendes apostoliques.” Pages 69–79 in Compte rendu du troisième congrés scientifique international des catholiques. Brussels: Société belge de librairie, 1895.
Fairise, Christelle. “Réécriture des Virtutes apostolorum en Islande médiévale. Le cas du Codex Scardensis, SÁM 1 (ca 1360–1375). État des lieux et nouvelles perspectives.” Apocrypha 33 (2022): 265–85.
Hawk, Brandon W. Preaching Apocrypha in Anglo-Saxon England. Toronto Anglo-Saxon Series 30. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2018 (pp. 45–58, 77–80, 83–4, 104, 213–14, 215–16).
Lipsius, Richard A. Die apokryphen Apostelgeschichten und Apostellegenden. 2 vols. in 3 parts. Braunschweig, 1883–1890 (see vol. 1, pp. 117–78).
McNamara, Martin. The Apocrypha in the Irish Church. Dublin: Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 1975 (pp. 89–102, 113–15).
O’Leary, Aideen M. Trials and Translations: The Latin Origins of the Irish Apocryphal Acts of the Apostles. Celtic, Anglo-Saxon and Scandinavian Studies 2. Aberdeen: Centre for Anglo-Saxon Studies and the Centre for Celtic Studies, 2013.
———. “Apostolic Passiones in Early Anglo-Saxon England.” Pages 103–19 in Apocryphal Texts and Traditions in Anglo-Saxon England. Edited by Kathryn Powell and Donald G. Scragg. Publications of the Manchester Centre for Anglo-Saxon Studies 2. Cambridge: D. S. Brewer, 2003.
———. “By the Bishop of Babylon? The Alleged Origins of the Collected Latin Apocryphal Acts of the Apostles.” Pages 128–38 in The Legacy of M. R. James: Papers from the 1995 Cambridge Symposium. Edited by Lynda Dennison. Donington: Paul Watkins, 2001.
———. “An orthodox Old English Homiliary? Alfric’s views on the apocryphal Acts of the Apostles.” Neuphilologische Mitteilungen 100 (1999) 15–26.
———. “The Latin origins of the Irish apocryphal Acts of the Apostles.” PhD diss., University of Cambridge, 1997.
Philippart, Guy. Les légendiers latins et autres manuscrits hagiographiques. Typologie des sources du Moyen Age occidental 24–25. Turnhout: Brepols, 1977.
Prot, Maarten. “New Approaches to textual Variants in the Virtutes apostolorum.” Pages 53–67 in The Apocryphal Acts of the Apostles in Latin Christianity. Proceedings of the First International Summer School on Christian Apocryphal Literature (ISCAL), Strasbourg, 24–27 June 2012. Edited by Els Rose. Turnhout: Brepols, 2014.
Rouquette, Maïeul, and Maarten Taveirne. “Fabricius’ edition of the Virtutes apostolorum and MS Vienna ÖNB 455.” Pages 113–16 in The Apocryphal Acts of the Apostles in Latin Christianity. Proceedings of the First International Summer School on Christian Apocryphal Literature (ISCAL), Strasbourg, 24–27 June 2012. Edited by Els Rose. Turnhout: Brepols, 2014.
Rose, Els, ed. The Apocryphal Acts of the Apostles in Latin Christianity. Proceedings of the First International Summer School on Christian Apocryphal Literature (ISCAL), Strasbourg, 24–27 June 2012. Edited by Els Rose. Turnhout: Brepols, 2014.
———. “The Apocryphal Acts of the Apostles in the Latin Middle Ages: Contexts of Transmission and Use.” Pages 31–51 in The Apocryphal Acts of the Apostles in Latin Christianity. Proceedings of the First International Summer School on Christian Apocryphal Literature (ISCAL), Strasbourg, 24–27 June 2012. Edited by Els Rose. Turnhout: Brepols, 2014.
———. “Abdias scriptor vitarum sanctorum apostolorum? The ‘Collection of Pseudo-Abdias’ reconsidered.” Revue d’Histoire des Textes 8 (2013): 227–68.
———. “Virtutes apostolorum: Origin, Aim and Use.” Traditio 68 (2013): 111–50.
———. “La réécriture des Actes apocryphes des Apôtres dans le Moyen-Âge latin.” Apocrypha 22 (2011): 135–66.
———. Ritual Memory: The Apocryphal Acts and Liturgical Commemoration in the Early Medieval West (c. 500–1215). Leiden: Brill, 2009.
———. “Pseudo-Abdias and the Problem of Apostle Apocrypha in the Latin Middle Ages: A Literary and Liturgical Perspective.” Sanctorum 4 (2007): 129–46.
———. “Virtutes Apostolorum: Editorial problems and principles.” Apocrypha 23 (2012): 11–45.
Steinová, Evina. “The Prehistory of the Latin Acts of Peter (BHL 6663) and the Latin Acts of Paul (BHL 6575). Some Observations about the Development of the Virtutes apostolorum.” Pages 69–83 in The Apocryphal Acts of the Apostles in Latin Christianity. Proceedings of the First International Summer School on Christian Apocryphal Literature (ISCAL), Strasbourg, 24–27 June 2012. Edited by Els Rose. Turnhout: Brepols, 2014.
Steinová, Evina, Olivia Adankpo, and Damien Labadie. “Codices and Early Printed Editions Preserved at Strasbourg.” Pages 117–25 in The Apocryphal Acts of the Apostles in Latin Christianity. Proceedings of the First International Summer School on Christian Apocryphal Literature (ISCAL), Strasbourg, 24–27 June 2012. Edited by Els Rose. Turnhout: Brepols, 2014.
Stipčević, Vesna Badurina. “Apocryphal Passions of the Apostles in Croatian Glagolitic Texts.” Studia Philologica Valentina 22, n.s. 19 (2020): 1–11.