Life and Martyrdom of Andrew

Vita et martyrium Andreae

Standard abbreviation: Life Mart. Andr.

Other titles: none

Clavis numbers: ECCA 414

Category: Apocryphal Acts

Related literature: Acts of Andrew and Matthias, Story of Andrew, Life of Andrew by Epiphanius the Monk

Compiled by: Tony Burke, York University

Citing this resource (using Chicago Manual of Style): Burke, Tony. “Life and Martyrdom of Andrew.” e-Clavis: Christian Apocrypha. Accessed DAY MONTH YEAR. https://www.nasscal.com/e-clavis-christian-apocrypha/life-and-martyrdom-of-andrew/

Created March 2022. Current as of January 2024.

1. SUMMARY

This relatively late text (ca. 10th/11th cent.) is a combination of stories about Andrew from the New Testament Gospels (chs. 1–6), an apostolic list (7), the Acts of Andrew and Matthias (8–18), the Martyrdom of Andrew (19–25), and an account of the translation of one of Andrew’s relics to Constantinople (26–29).

The stories from the New Testament include Andrew’s beginnings as a disciple of John the Baptist. Here, however, John urges Andrew to seek out Jesus, and Andrew becomes his disciple until Jesus departs to the desert for his Temptation. Then Andrew rejoins John until Jesus’ return. John is said to have thirteen disciples, one of whom is named Mark (which could be the evangelist, or John Mark, but the identification is not made explicit). Following the ascension and Pentecost, the apostles assemble at Mount Mamblich and divide the world for evangelization. Andrew is appointed Nicopolis, Achaea, Hellas, Merna (Myrmidonia), Macedonia, Bulgaria, Thrace, and Byzantium.

Before his mission can begin, Andrew is sent by Jesus to aid Matthias, who has become imprisoned in the City of the Cannibals. Then follows a version of Acts Andr. Mth. Once Andrew defeats the maneaters and establishes a church, he departs to Herakleia of Thrace and establishes a church in that city under the care of the bishop Bachos. Then he moves on to do the same in Macedonia, Beroe, Bulgaria, and Nicopolis, before setting off for Achaea.

In Achaea, Andrew heals a paralyzed leper at the harbor. Then he is brought by Stratocles to heal Maximilla, wife of the proconsul Aegeates. When the emperor Claudius dies, Aegeates journeys to Rome to meet Nero, the new emperor. Upon his return home, Aegeates finds that Maximilla no longer wants to sleep with him. In anger, he calls Andrew before him and demands he convince Maximilla to return to his bed. Andrew refuses and Aegeates orders him to be tortured and killed. After being dragged along the shore, Andrew is brought to the place of crucifixion where he asks to be hung upside down. The soldiers deny his request and hang the apostle on an olive tree; his blood causes the tree to sprout fruit.

The people of Achaea come to Aegeates demanding Andrew’s release but Andrew calms the people with a speech from the cross. Before he dies, the apostle ordains Stratocles bishop of the city. Andrew dies on November 30. Maximilla becomes a renunciant, and Aegeates leaps to his death from a height. One hundred twenty years go by and envoys from Constantine come to Achaea hoping to bring the body of Andrew back to Constantinople. The people wail at the prospect of losing the apostle’s body. They remove Andrew from his tomb and kiss his body; one of the elders pauses in his adoration to bite off one of the apostle’s fingers, which he gives to the envoys. The relic is received in Constantinople with great joy and many healings result from its presence in the city.

Named historical figures and characters: Aegeates (proconsul), Andrew (apostle), Bachos (bishop), Claudius (emperor), Constantine (emperor), devil, Holy Spirit, James (the Righteous), Jesus Christ, John (the Baptist), John (son of Zebedee), Luke (evangelist), Mark (disciple of John the Baptist), Mark (disciple of John the Baptist), Mark (evangelist), Matthias (apostle), Maximilla (wife of Aegeates), Nero, Peter (apostle), Philip (apostle), Simon (the Canaanite/Zealot), Stratocles, Thomas (apostle).

Geographical locations: Abasgia, Achaea, Africa, Alania, Alexandria, Amis, Arabia, Armenia, Asia, Attalia, Barbaria, Beroe, Bethsaida, Bulgaria, Cappadocia, Caspian Gates, Charsianon, City of the Cannibals, Constantinople, Egypt, Elim, Gabadania, Galilee, Hellas, Herakleia, Hierapolis, Iberia, India, Italy, Jordan River, Jericho, Jerusalem, Kipriotis, Lycaonia, Lycantus, Macedonia, Merna (Myrmidonia), Mesopotamia, Mount Mamblich, Nicopolis, Nineveh, Nubia, Palestine, Pamphylia, Patmos, Patras, Persia, Phrygia, Rinokourouron, Rome, Seleucia, Sinope, Spain, Sea of Tiberias, Thrace, Thrakisis, Zechia.

2. RESOURCES

3. BIBLIOGRAPHY

3.1 Manuscripts and Editions

3.1.1 Greek (BHG 99b)

A Athens, Bibliothēke tēs Boulēs, 45, fols. 171^v–185^v (16th cent.)

I Mount Athos, Monē Ibērōn, 356 (Lambros 4476), fols. 262–273 (16th cent.) ~ ending mutilated from the middle of ch. 21; Pinakes

P Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, gr. 1611, fols. 268^v–282^v (1553) ~ ending apparently lost, replaced with Epistle of the Presbyters and Deacons of Achaea beginning in ch. 18

Vind. Vienna, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, theol. gr. 95, fol. 98^r–98^v (15th cent.) ~ apostolic list with parallel to ch. 7 (=BHG 156cb) and excerpt from a Life of Andrew text perhaps based on chs. 1–6

Trikala, Monē Dousikou (Hagiou Bēssariōnos), 50, fols. 340^r–348^v (1574–1575) ~ Pinakes

Vinogradov, Andrey. Греческие предания о св. апостоле Андрее. [Greek Legends about St. Andrew the Apostle]. Библиотека “Христианского Востока” 3. St. Petersburg: St. Petersburg University Press, 2005 (overview, pp. 55–63; manuscript descriptions, 93–94; edition based on AIP and Vind., pp. 251–66; Russian translation, pp. 320–32).

3.2 Modern Translations

3.2.1 Russian

3.3 General Works