Martyrium Andreae prius
Standard abbreviation: Mart. Andr. (prius)
Other titles: none
Clavis numbers: ECCA 904; CANT 227
VIAF: 300263202
Category: Apocryphal Acts
Related literature: Acts of Andrew, Encomium of Andrew by Nicetas the Paphlagonian
Compiled by: Tony Burke, York University
Citing this resource (using Chicago Manual of Style): Burke, Tony. “Martyrdom of Andrew (Martyrium prius).” e-Clavis: Christian Apocrypha. Accessed DAY MONTH YEAR. https://www.nasscal.com/e-clavis-christian-apocrypha/martyrdom-of-andrew-martyrium-prius/
Created December 2021. Current as of January 2024.
1. SUMMARY
The text opens with the apostles in Jerusalem and Peter leading them in the casting of lots to determine their evangelizing missions: Peter to the circumcised, James and John to the East, Philip to Samaria and Asia, Bartholomew to Albanopolis, Matthew to Parthia and Myrmidonia, Thomas to Armenia and India, Lebbaeus and Thaddaeus to Beronikida, Simon the Canaanite to Barbaria, and finally Andrew to Bithynia, Lacedaemonia, and Achaea.
The story progresses quickly to Patras in Achaea where Andrew performs healings and exorcisms. The proconsul Lesbius hears of his activities and thinking him a wizard and a crook, seeks to kill him. But at night an angel visits Lesbius and tells him he will be paralyzed until he learns the truth from Andrew. Lesbius summons the apostle and begs him to offer him the hand of salvation. Andrew heals Lesbius and he becomes a believer. The city rejoices in the proconsul’s change of heart and tear down their idols and temples. Caesar appoints a successor to Lesbius and the former proconsul leaves everything behind to follow Andrew.
Andrew receives a vision from Christ that he will soon be crucified and must appoint Lesbius as his successor. Then he learns that there is a new proconsul in Patras: Aegeates. The proconsul sends soldiers after Andrew. They come to the house of Antiphanes, where Andrew is staying, and demand to see the apostle but a crowd of supporters come to his defense. Andrew calms them down and surrenders to the soldiers. Then he appears before Aegeates and is accused of destroying the worship of the gods. For this crime, he is sentenced to crucifixion. As Andrew approaches the crucifixion site, he utters a discourse to the cross and is then tied to it in order to prolong his suffering. To Aegeates’ amazement, Andrew remains alive after four days and four nights. He comes to the apostle and hears him deliver a final prayer of thanksgiving before giving up his spirit. Aegeates’ wife takes the body, prepares it, and places it in a tomb outside the city. Then she leaves Aegeates to join Andrew’s disciples. Remorseful, Aegeates throws himself from a great height and dies. His brother Stratocles donates his estate to the poor. The text concludes with the date of Andrew’s death: November 30.
Named Historical Figures and Characters: Aegeates (proconsul), Andrew (apostle), Antiphanes, Bartholomew (apostle), James (son of Zebedee), Jesus Christ, John (son of Zebedee), Lebbaeus (apostle), Lesbius (proconsul), Matthew (apostle), Maximilla (wife of Aegeates), Peter (apostle), Philip (apostle), Simon (the Canaanite/Zealot), Stratocles, Thaddaeus (apostle), Thomas (apostle).
Geographical Locations: Achaea, Albanopolis, Armenia, Asia, Barbaria, Beronikida, Bithynia, India, Lacedaemon, Myrmidonia, Parthia, Patras, Samaria.
2. RESOURCES
3. BIBLIOGRAPHY
3.1 Manuscripts and Editions
3.1.1 Greek (BHG 95c, 96)
V Vatican, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Vat. gr. 807, fols. 312v–315v (9th/10th cent.)
C St. Petersburg, Russian National Library/Rossijskaja Nacional’naja biblioteka (RNB), Ф. № 906 (Gr.) 094 (Granstrem 334) , fols. 58v–63v (12th cent.) ~ Pinakes
E Escorial, Real Biblioteca, Σ III. 09 (11th cent.) ~ portion of text on a single fourteenth-century folio added to the end of the codex; Pinakes
A Athens, Ethnikē Bibliothēkē tēs Hellados, gr. 1027, fols. 114r–118v (12th cent.) ~ Pinakes
K Mount Athos, Monē Koutloumousiou, 176, fols. 30r–37r (1438/1439) ~ Pinakes
M Athens, Ethnikē Bibliothēkē tēs Hellados, Metochion tou Panagiou Taphou 245, fols. 1r–8r (10th cent.) ~ Pinakes
S Mount Sinai, Monē tēs Hagias Aikaterinēs, gr. 535, fols. 52r–60r (16th cent.) ~ Pinakes; IMAGES
Brescia, Biblioteca Queriniana, A. III. 03, fols. 81r–83v (16th cent.) ~ Pinakes
Meteora, Monē Metamorphōseōs, 513, fols. 24r–31v (17th cent.) ~ Pinakes
Bonnet, Maximilien. Acta apostolorum apocrypha. 2 vols. in 3 parts. Edited by Richard A. Lipsius and Maximilien Bonnet. Leipzig: Mendelssohn, 1889–1903; reprinted Hildesheim: Georg Olms, 1959 (edition based on V and C, vol. 2.1, pp. xv–xix, 46–57).
Prieur, Jean-Marc. Acta Andreae. 2 vols. CCSA 5–6. Turnhout: Brepols, 1989 (discussion, vol. 1, pp. 14–17, vol. 2, pp. 675–83; Greek edition based on VEACKS, vol. 2, pp. 684–703; parallel passages from the text and Encom. Andr. in Greek with facing French translation, vol. 2, pp. 708–27; synoptic chart of witnesses to the discourse on the cross, vol. 2, pp. 738–45).
Piñero, Antonio, and Gonzalo del Cerro. Hechos apócrifos de los Apóstoles. 3 vols. Madrid: Biblioteca de Autores Cristianos, 2011 (Greek edition based on VCEAK with facing Spanish translation, vol. 3, pp. 931–57).
3.2 Modern Translations
3.2.1 French
Prieur, Jean-Marc. Acta Andreae. 2 vols. CCSA 5–6. Turnhout: Brepols, 1989 (discussion, vol. 1, pp. 14–17, vol. 2, pp. 675–83; Greek edition based on VEACKS, vol. 2, pp. 684–703; parallel passages from the text and Encom. Andr. in Greek with facing French translation, vol. 2, pp. 708–27; synoptic chart of witnesses to the discourse on the cross, vol. 2, pp. 738–45).
3.2.2 Italian
Moraldi, Luigi, ed. and trans. Apocrifi del Nuovo Testamento. 2 vols. Classici delle religioni, Sezione quarta, La religione cattolica 24. Turin: Unione Tipografico-Editrice Torinese, 1971 (Italian trans. based on Bonnet, pp. 1406–13).
3.2.3 Spanish
Piñero, Antonio, and Gonzalo del Cerro. Hechos apócrifos de los Apóstoles. 3 vols. Madrid: Biblioteca de Autores Cristianos, 2011 (Greek edition based on Bonnet with facing Spanish translation, vol. 3, pp. 931–57).
3.3 General Works
Flamion, Joseph. Les Actes apocryphes de l’apôtre André: Les Actes d’André et de Matthias, de Pierre et d’André et les textes apparentés. Leuven: Bureau du recueil, 1911 (pp. 57–62).
Lanzillota, Fernando Lautero Roig. “The Apocryphal Acts of Andrew: A New Approach to the Character, Thought, and Meaning of the Primitive Text.” PhD. diss, Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, 2004 (see pp. 77, 97–104).
Lipsius, Richard A. Die apokryphen Apostelgeschichten und Apostellegenden. 2 vols. in 3. Braunschweig, 1883–1890 (Ergängzungsheft pp. 30–31).