The earliest relics of martyrs from roman catacombs in Hungary and their cult

Abstract

This group of relics was brought to Nagyszombat at three different times in the relatively early period of the European cult of catacomb saints. Most of them did not come directly from Rome to the Kingdom of Hungary, but were transported from there to Vilnius, from where they arrived as gifts through Nicolaus Lancicius. The public veneration of nine of these relics began in 1651 with their collective translation. The translation is described in works on the history of the Jesuit university of Nagyszombat (Imre Tolvay, Ferenc Kazy) and on the history of the city as well (Mátyás Bél, Ferenc Ágoston Ocskovszky). A few years later, in 1659, the nine relics were joined by another catacomb saint, Adiodemus, sent from Rome. The history of the Nagyszombat group of relics is unusual in several respects, and this, together with the cult itself, is explained in detail in this study. The collective placement and veneration of the martyrs’ relics served to increase, amplify and enhance the sacral authority (sanctitas loci) of the city and the place of safeguarding, the Jesuit Cathedral of St John the Baptist.