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[German Version] I. Religious Studies – II. Christian Secrecy I. Religious Studies…

[German Version] (Thascius Caecilius Cyprianus; after 200 – Sep 14, 258; feast day: in the West orig. Sep 14, now Sep 16; also in the East; in Russia Aug 31) is known for his literary works, distinguished by their clear style and the ubiquitous prose rhythm, for the impact of measures he took as bishop of Carthage in connection with the Decian (Decius) persecution of Christians (I), in the ensuing conflict over whether to accept the …

[German Version] was a Roman martyr (Western feast day Jan 21, Eastern Jul 5). According to 4th-century tradition ( Depositio Martyrum of 354), the Roman martyr – spared from the flames – was stabbed or beheaded under Diocletian (or Valerian?). The name and legend of Agnes, who suffered dual martyrdom for the sake of decency and religion (Ambr., Virg. I 2.9), could have developed in Rome (as well as in Trier) from the Greek virtue ἁγνός ( hagnos). Since late Constantinian times, her cult has been localized in the via Nomentana in the vicinity of the circular basilica (with mausoleum) erected by Constantine. Since the 8th century, this site has been joined by the inner city cult …

[German Version] (papacy Dec 21, 402 – Mar 12, 417; feast day July 28). According to Jerome Ep. 130.60, Innocent became bishop of Rome as the son of his predecessor Anastasius I (399–402); he aspired to a primatial status ( caput et apex episcopatus: Ep. 37.1; right to appoint all bishops: Ep. 25.21) that clearly went beyond canon 3 of the Council of Constantinople (IV, 1) in ¶ 381 and claimed authority for Rome in doctrinal questions. In the West, against the background of contemporary political and military troubles, he partially attained his goal, resol…

[German Version] (feast day Jul 23). According to Peter Chrysologus ( Sermo 128), Apollinaris was the first bishop of Ravenna and …

[German Version] (Feb 22, 1822, Rome – Sep 20, 1894, Castel Gandolfo). The jurist Rossi distinguished himself with many archaeological initiatives and publications on the Early Church, thereby found-…

[German Version] (feast day: Sep 26). As probably the most beloved of the Anargyroi (“those ¶ who heal without payment”), this uncertain eastern hagiological tradition (Syr., Gk, Arab., Georg., Lat.; three versions of the legend are distinguished: Passio Asiatica, BHG 372, 385–393, feast day: Nov 1; Passio Romana, BHG 376, feast day: Jul 1; Passio Arabica, BHG 378f., feast day: Oct 18), which is important for the history of medicine, knows of three pairs of physician brothers by this name in a large geographical area, including Rome, C…

[German Version] episcopate May 254 – 256/257 (Aug 2, 255, according to the Catalogus Liberianu s and the Depositio episcoporum [CPL 2028/2250]). He is venerated as a martyr; his tomb is in the Cripta dei Papi in the catacombs of San Callisto. All we know ¶ of Stephen comes from the statements of Firmilian of Caesarea and Cyprian of Carthage ( Ep. 67–75) protesting against the position taken by the Roman bishop, who wanted to exclude rebaptizing returning schismatics and simply lay hands on them (Rebaptism controversy). The North African opposition to this procedure, which the East also felt was a Roman pretention, culminated at the synod of 87 bishops on Sep 1, 256, in Carthage. How much of Cyprian’s …

[German Version] (feast: Apr 13); Eus. Hist. eccl. IV 15.48 relates that the hypomnemata of the martyrdom of these two clergymen and of Agathonice, the sister of Papylus, were still extant in Pergamon. The rich and divergent hagiological tradition, which includes an epic version, attributes various origins and ecclesial ranks to the martyrs and emphasizes that it was the woman who urged the others to accept martyrdom. According to Eusebius, their martyrdom took place in the reign …

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[German Version] In his new edition of the Martyrologium Romanum (1583–; cf. esp. the appended “De martyrologio Romano praecapitulatio dicendorum”), C. Baronius borrowed the expression acta martyrum from Pontius's Vita Cypriani 11 (cf. Cyprian Epis. 77, 2), understanding the martyr literature handed down in protocol form as original trial transcripts or as protocols recorded by ecclesiastical …

[German Version] The Roman Colonia Arelate was established in 46 bceon the Rhône in southern France. Although its episcopal list begins c. 240 with Trophimus, the first bishop for whom we have clear evidence is Marcianus, a follower of Novatian, in 254. Arles served …

[German Version] The account, in the form of a legal transcript, of a group of Christians in Africa Proconsularis who suffered martyrdom in Carthage on July 17 (their feast day), 180, is probably the earliest evidence of Christianity in North Africa (III); it is also the earliest text of Christian literature in Latin (Literature, History of: V). Although we do not know where Scillium was, how many Christians were condemned, and when the earliest version of our text was written, its indigenous names and very earl…

[German Version] I. Religious Studies We can speak of care for the poor in the sense of public and private relief of poverty only when there has been a certain degree of institutionalization. Religions have treated poor relief with varying degrees emphasis. It is impor…

[German Version] The veneration of martyrs and the related descriptions in the literature of martyrs shaped the figure of the martyr and in some cases even created it. It gave the type of the martyr its characteristic features, which survived even after the confrontations that led to martyrdom had ended. Given differing processes of socialization and acculturation of the various Christian communities in the Roman Empire during the principate and Late Antiquity, the charisma of the martyr became a …

[German Version] I. History of Religion – II. The Early Church – III. Middle Ages, Reformation, Counter-reformation – IV. The Modern Period – V. Martyrs of the Orthodox Church – VI. Judaism – VII. Islam – VIII. Missiology …

[German Version] (feast day Feb 9). A letter of Dionysius of Alexandria concerning Alexandrian martyrs (Eusebius …

[German Version] Milan, the ancient capital of the Gallic Insubres, came under Roman rule in the 2nd century …

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1. History Originally located on the bay of Coressus at the mouth of the Caÿster (Turk. Küçük Menderes) River, the city of Ephesus was refounded by Lysimachus, king of Thrace and Macedonia (306–281 b.c.). When it came under Roman rule in 133 b.c., it was capital of the senatorial province of Asia (29 b.c.-a.d. 297) and, even with competition from Pergamum and Smyrna, the most important and wealthiest city of Asia Minor. The sebasteion, dedicated to Rome (Roman Religion) and Augustus, housed the provincial archives, courts, and treasury. The temple of Artemis, the Ar…