Vita et martyrium Stephani
Standard abbreviation: Life Mart. Steph.
Other titles: none
Clavis numbers: ECCA 734
Category: Apocryphal Acts
Related literature: Golden Legend 8
Compiled by: Tony Burke, York University
Citing this resource (using Chicago Manual of Style): Burke, Tony. “Life and Martyrdom of Stephen.” e-Clavis: Christian Apocrypha. Accessed DAY MONTH YEAR. https://www.nasscal.com/e-clavis-christian-apocrypha/life-and-martyrdom-of-stephen/
Created April 2024.
1. SUMMARY
Life Mart. Steph. is extant in at least three recensions. The following summary is based largely on recension C. It begins with an introduction to Antiochus and Perpetua, the wealthy parents of Stephen, who live in Galilee (B: Cana). They are aged and childless, but because of their piety, God grants them a son. After his birth, an angel announces his name to his parents (B explains the etymology of the name, which is crown in Greek and norm or rule in Hebrew). During the night, Satan enters their home in the form of a man and takes Stephen, leaving a demon in his place. He takes the child across the sea and leaves him with bishop Julian (B: in Troy).
In the night, Stephen begins to cry, but Julian dismisses the noise, believing it to be a phantom. But God sends a deer to nurse the child. Julian rises and see the deer, who tells the bishop that God has sent the child to him. Julian praises God for sending him a child without sin and gives Stephen over to the care of a nurse (B: a Jewish nurse, and Julian names the boy Nathanael).
As Stephen grows, he is educated in the Jewish law and performs signs and miracles among the people. An angel comes to him at night and tells him to preach in Cyrene, Cilicia, Alexandria, and Asia (these four locations are mentioned in Golden Legend 8 as the homelands of people who come forth to debate with Stephen). There he raises a dead man to life, leading to many becoming believers (in B this preaching journey is placed more appropriately later in the narrative).
Then one night, an angel appears to Stephen again and tells him to go to his father’s house in Galilee. Once he arrives, he casts out the demon and reveals his identity to his parents (in B this episode is expanded). The next day, Stephen goes to the “city of the Jews” (i.e., Jerusalem) and preaches. Caiaphas wonders who he is and conspires to have him killed. The text then presents the account of Stephen’s stoning as presented in Acts 7. In recension B, Stephen encounters Gamaliel in Jerusalem and debates with Paul. The scene then changes to the story of Jesus meeting Nathanael from John 1:43–51. After his conversion, Stephen is sent by an angel to preach in Cyrene, Cilicia, Alexandria, and Asia (here presenting the story from earlier in recension A). This version of the story ends with a brief epilogue mentioning Stephen’s return to Jerusalem, his ordination as a minister and deacon, and his death by stoning.
Named historical figures and characters: Abel, Annas (scribe/high priest), Antiochus (father of Stephen), Augustus (emperor) Caiaphas, Gamaliel, Julian (bishop), Moses (patriarch), Noah (patriarch), Paul (apostle), Perpetua (mother of Stephen), Philip (apostle), Pontius Pilate, Satan, Stephen (martyr).
Geographical locations: Alexandria, Asia, Bethsaida, Cana, Cilicia, Cyrene, Galilee, Nazareth, Troy.
2. RESOURCES
2.1 Web Sites and Other Online Resources
“Saint Stephen.” Wikipedia.
“Stephen, the First Martyr.” The Cult of Saints in Late Antiquity.
2.2 Art and Iconography
Cycle of Stephen, Chapel of St. Nicolas (Martignacco): 14th-century frescoes depicting episodes from the Life and Martyrdom of Stephen.
Cycle of Stephen, Chiesa di Santo Stefano (Soleto): 14th/15th century frescoes combining episodes from the Life and Martyrdom of Stephen, and the Martyrdom of Stephen.
Cycle of Stephen by Martino di Bartolomeo: seven panels from a fifteenth-century altarpiece depicting episodes from the Life and Martyrdom of Stephen.
Cycle of Stephen, Oratory of Santo Stefano (Lentate sul Seveso). See Baudouin de Gaiffier, “La nativité de Saint Etienne: à propos des fresques de Tivoli.” Atti e memorie della Società Tiburtina di Storia d’Arte 41 (1968): 105–12, tav. I. And Wikipedia.
Cycle of Stephen, Basilica of San Lucchese (Poggibonsi). Painted by Cennino Cennini in 1388. Commune di Poggibonsi. Two images. Colour. See also Kaftal, Saints, I, cols. 953–54, figs. 1066, 1067; Miklos Boskovits, “Cennino Cennini – pittore non conformista,” in: Flor. Mitt., 17, 1973, pp. 201–22, figs. 4–6.
Cycle of Stephen, Prato Cathedral. Painted by Filippo Lippi. Wikipedia. Web Gallery of Art. Images. Images. Video. See also Van Marle, The Development of the Italian Schools of Painting X, pp. 444–47, fig. 268 (Archive).
3. BIBLIOGRAPHY
3.1 Manuscripts and Editions
3.1.1 Latin
3.1.1.1 Latin A (BHL 7848d; shorter text that follows the order of recension B but finishes after the defeat of the demon with a brief notice of preaching and baptizing many people in Galilee)
Florence, Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, Ashburnham 870 (14th/15th cent.)
Kraków, Biblioteca Jagiellionska, 1389, fols. 172v–174v (1432)
Kaftal, George. “The Fabulous Life of a Saint.” Mitteilungen des Kunsthistorischen Institutes in Florenz 17 (1973): 295–300 (edition based on Florence 870, pp. 299–300).
3.1.1.2 Latin B (BHL 7848g)
Venice, Biblioteca Marciana, VI.51 (158), fols. 327r–328v (14th/15th cent.)
Gaiffier, Baudouin de, and Guy de Tervarent. “Le diable voleur d’enfants. À propos de la naissance des saints Étienne, Laurent et Barthélemy.” Pages 169–93 in Baudouin de Gaiffier, Études critiques d’hagiographie et d’iconologie. Subsidia Hagiographica 43. Bruxelles, Société des Bollandistes, 1967 (Repr. from Analecta sacra tarraconensia 12 [1936]) (edition, pp. 181–84).
Sawyer, Rose A. The Medieval Changeling: Health, Childcare, and the Family Unit. Cambridge: D. S. Brewer, 2023 (Latin text of Venice VI.51 reproduced from Gaiffier with English translation by Charles Roe, pp. 204–209).
3.1.1.3 Latin C (BHL 7849)
Milan, Biblioteca Ambrosiana, B 049 inf., fols. 26r–26v (12th cent.)
Spoleto, Archivio Capitolare del Duomo di San Lorenzo, Leggendario di San Felice di Narco, t. 1, fols. 59v–60v (12th cent.)
Montecassino, Archivio di Montecassino, 117, pp. 126–130 (10th/11th cent.)
Monachorum ordinis S. Benediciti. Bibliotheca Casinensis seu codicum manuscriptorum qui in tabulario Casinensi asservantur series, III, Florilegium. Abbaye du mont Cassin: Ex typographia Casinensi, 1877 (edition based on Montecassino 117, pp. 36–38).
Sawyer, Rose A. The Medieval Changeling: Health, Childcare, and the Family Unit. Cambridge: D. S. Brewer, 2023 (Latin text of Montecassino 117 reproduced from Bibliotheca Casinensis with English translation by Charles Roe, pp. 198–203).
3.1.1.4 Unedited (BHL 7848f)
Wolfenbüttel, Herzog August Bibliothek Weissenburg, Cod. Guelf. 116.4 Extrav., fols. 17r–17v (15th cent.) ~ description
3.1.1.5 BHL 7856m
Milan, Biblioteca Ambrosiana, H 82 suss., fols. 84r–85r (1389–1393) ~ IMAGES
Sawyer, Rose A. The Medieval Changeling: Health, Childcare, and the Family Unit. Cambridge: D. S. Brewer, 2023 (Latin text of Milan H 82 suss. with English translation by Charles Roe, pp. 212–15).
Bianchi, Marcella. “Proposte iconografiche per il ciclo pittorico di Santo Stefano nell’oratorio di Leniate sul Seveso.” Arte Lombarda 17.36 (1972): 27–32, 45–49, 65–70 (excerpts, pp. 65–70).
3.1.1.6 Unidentified
Copenhagen, Det Kongelige Bibliotek, Inc. Hafn. 2510 (Inc. haun. 2179), fols. 7r–8r (15th cent.)
Engelberg, Stiftsbibliothek, 2, fols. 23r–26v (12th cent.)
Perugia, Biblioteca Comunale Augusta, D25, fols 1r–1v
Venice, Biblioteca Marciana, IX 16, fols. 332–336 = Petrus Calo (1340)
Gaiffier, Baudouin de. “La nativité de Saint Étienne. A propos des freques de Tivoli.” Atti e memoire della Società Tiburtina di Storia e d’Arte 41 (1968): 105–112 (text of Venice IX 16, pp. 111–12).
Sawyer, Rose A. The Medieval Changeling: Health, Childcare, and the Family Unit. Cambridge: D. S. Brewer, 2023 (Latin text of Venice IX 16 reproduced from de Gaiffier with English translation by Rose A. Sawyer, pp. 210–11).
3.1.2 Middle Irish (brief mention)
Dublin, Royal Irish Academy, 23 P 16 (the Leabhar Breac), pp. 34a–34b (1408–1411)
Atkinson, Robert, ed. and trans. The Passions and the Homilies from Leabhar Breac. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy, 1887 (text, pp. 81–82; English translation, pp. 324–25).
3.1.4.5 Old English (brief mention)
Rauer, Christine. The Old English Martyrology. Edition, Translation and Commentary. Anglo-Saxon Texts 10. Cambridge: D. S. Brewer, 2013 (text and facing translation, pp. 38–39).
Herzfeld, George. An Old English Martyrology. London: P. Kegan, Trench, Trübner & Co., 1900 (text and facing translation, pp. 136–37).
3.2 Modern Translations
3.3 General Works
Bovon, François. “The Dossier on Stephen, the First Martyr.” HTR 96.3 (2003): 302–304.
Labadie, Damien. L’invention du protomartyr Étienne: sainteté, pouvoir et controverse dans l’antiquité (Ier-VIe s.). Judaïsme ancien et origines du christianisme 21. Turnhout: Brepols, 2021 (pp. 290, 497–98).
Sawyer, Rose A. The Medieval Changeling: Health, Childcare, and the Family Unit. Cambridge: D. S. Brewer, 2023.