The Vita Germani is a hagiographic text written by Constantius of Lyon in the 5th century AD. It is one of the first hagiographic texts written in Western Europe, and is an important resource for historians studying the origins of saintly veneration and the "cult of saints." It recounts the life and acts of bishop Germanus of Auxerre, who travelled to Britain c. 429 AD, and is the principal source of details about his life. It is one of the few surviving texts from the 5th century with information about Britain and the Pelagian controversy, and is also one of the first texts to identify and promote the cult of Saint Alban.
Date of Composition Historians disagree on the date of composition of the Vita Germani. Some historians argue that the most probable date of composition is 480 AD, while others place it earlier than c.470. The only evidence available to indicate an exact date of authorship is the surviving letter of dedication, showing that the Vita was dedicated to Patiens, bishop of Lyon. The Vita was most probably dedicated to him while he was still living and serving as bishop, most probably between his ascendancy to the bishopric in 450, and his death in 494.
Content of The Vita The Vita opens with Germanus' early life: He was born and raised in Auxerre, and received a liberal education. He went on to study law in Rome, and became a notable lawyer, eventually being promoted to the office of dux, and rulership of more than one province. After his ascension to the bishopric of Auxerre (Vita Germani 2), he built a large monastery on the river Yonne near Auxerre (Vita Germani 6). Following this he and a fellow bishop, Lupus of Troyes, were elected by the synod to travel to Britain and preach against the Pelagian heresy. During the first trip (Vita Germani 12-18) – in 429, according to Prosper of AquitaineProsper of Aquitaine: Prosperi Tironis Epitoma Chronicon, in Monumenta Germaniae Historica (MGH), Chronica Minora vol 1, 1892, Mommsen, Theodore, ed., Berlin: Weidemann pp. 385-485; Migne, Patrologia Latina vol.51 ; English trans. in "From Roman to Merovingian Gaul: A Reader" ed. & trans. A. C Murray (Ontario, 2003) pp. 62–76; – Germanus' ship was beset by a demonic storm while crossing the English Channel. Once in Britain, he debated the Pelagian leaders, and performed the miracle of healing the blind 10-year-old daughter of a man with the traditional Roman rank of Tribune. Having soundly beaten the Pelagians in debate Germanus visited the tomb of Saint Alban (see below) to give thanks. Subsequently, he injured his foot and then miraculously survived an accidental fire. Following on this comes perhaps the most notable episode of the whole trip when Germanus led an outnumbered troop of British soldiers against an attacking army of Saxons and Picts on Easter day. Germanus ordered his troops to give the battle cry of "Alleluia", and the cries were so terrifying to the Saxons that they fled or were drowned in the river, and the British won the battle without striking a blow.
Germanus then returns to Gaul and we are told that there he made a trip to Arles in order to successfully negotiate a reduction in taxes (Vita Germani 19-24). Subsequent to this Germanus made a second voyage to Britain to combat the Pelagian heresy, this time healing the son of Elafius, one of the leading men of the country. After Germanus healed the boy, the whole country was converted to the Catholic faith and gave up the Pelagian heresy completely (Vita Germani 25-27). Having returned to Gaul the next important episode in the Vita concerns Germanus's attempt to mediate on behalf of the Armoricans who had revolted against Roman rule (Vita Germani 28-42). Flavius Aetius, the Roman commander, had enlisted Goar the king of the barbarian Alans to put down the rebellion and Germanus personally confronts this formidable warlord. It is finally while visiting Ravenna to plead on behalf of the Armoricans that Germanus dies.
Germanus and Saint Alban in the Vita What the Vita says about the cult of Saint Alban is the following. After Germanus has confounded the Pelagians we are told: “When this damnable heresy had thus been stamped out, its authors refuted, and the minds of all re-established in the true faith, the bishops visited the shrine of the blessed martyr Alban, to give thanks to God through him.” (Vita Germani 12) The martyr Alban is also mentioned, one more time, in the context of Germanus's return journey, by sea: “Their own merits and the intercession of Alban the Martyr secured for them a calm voyage; and a good ship brought them back in peace to their expectant people.” (Vita Germani 13)
Some more information about Germanus's visit to the tomb of the martyr Alban actually comes from some lines added to the official story of the saint's martyrdom, the Passio Albani. Here we are told that he collected some of the martyr's blood from the ground where he had been killed. One version also says that Alban came to Germanus in a dream and revealed the story of his martyrdom to him. Germanus then had this written down in tituli, either in Britain, or as some have argued, back in Auxerre (the Gaulish town of which Germanus was the bishop). Some scholars Wood, Ian (2009). "Germanus, Alban and Auxerre". Bulletin du centre d’études médiévales d’Auxerre (BUCEMA). 13. Retrieved 19 November 2014; Garcia op.cit have argued that Albanus's name was unknown before it was revealed to Germanus, but this is disputed by others.Higham, Nicholas J (2014) “Constantius, Germanus and fifth century Britain” in 'Early Medieval Europe' 22 (2), pp. 113-37; cf Thornhill, Philip "Saint Alban and the end of Roman Britain" (Revised Version)
Historical Value With regard to the historical reliability of the Vita Germani Nora K. ChadwickChadwick, Nora (1955) Poetry and Letters in Early Christian Gaul, London quoted Constantius himself : “So many years have passed it is difficult to recover the facts from the silence in which they are buried”. Edward Arthur ThompsonThompson, E.A. 1984 St Germanus of Auxerre and the End of Roman Britain, Woodbridge: Boydell Press emphasised how poorly informed Constantius seems to have been about Germanus's British visit compared to his activities in Gaul and Italy. There are apparent discrepancies between Constantius's account of Germanus's British expeditions and the more reliable near contemporary one of Prosper of Aquitaine. The former relates that Germanus was sent by a council of Gaulish bishops, while Prosper states that he was sent by Pope Celestinus on the advice of the deacon, Palladius. It is possible to reconcile the two on the basis that, say, Palladius was acting at the urging of the Gaulish bishops but some uncertainty remains. Meanwhile, Professor Ian N. WoodWood, Ian (1984), "The End of Roman Britain: Continental Evidence and Parallels" in "Gildas: New Approaches", Lapidge, Michael; Dumville, David N., eds., Woodbridge: Boydell. pp. 1–25;cf. Garcia op.cit. p. 65 has interpreted Constantius' account of Germanus's two British expeditions as in large part 'allegorical' rather than factual.
It is possible, for instance, to suggest that Germanus's 'Allelieua' victory was simply a story made up in Gaul, based on a biblical parallel and no more than a generalised knowledge of the barbarian incursions that Britain was facing at the time. This might well be an excessively skeptical view but we are not in a position to be certain. Likewise the account of Germanus's confrontation with the Pelagians looks arguably too stereotypical to represent any accurate memory of what actually happened. What we can regard as more or less certain is that he visited Britain with the purpose of extinguishing the Pelagian "heresy" there, that the situation there was at least stable enough to make the visit feasible and that bringing the cult of Saint Alban within the fold of orthodoxy was an important part of the strategy by which he hoped to achieve his goal. A further deduction – based on Gildas's description of Saint Alban as Verolamiensem and the presence of that saint's cult centre there by the eighth century at least, according to Bede – might be that he very likely visited Verulamium, the modern Saint Albans.Gildas, De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae 10; Bede Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum I,7
Controversy over Germanus's second visit to Britain A particular controversy attaches to Germanus's second visit as described by Constantius, which has been suspected as representing merely a ‘doublet’, of the first: a version that was so badly remembered that it appeared to Constantius or his source as representing an entirely different, 'second', visit. As Norah Chadwick Chadwick, Nora op.cit. pp. 255-61 noted, in both visits the object is the same, Germanus is accompanied by another bishop and the incident of the cured boy of the second visit is matched by an incident in which Germanus cures a blind girl in the first. Then there is the fact that on both visits, as Germanus sets out, there are ‘demons’, active against him (in the first they provoke bad weather: in the second we are told they are unable to do this, but instead spread news of his approach). Professor Ian Wood Wood, Ian 1984 op.cit p. 14; cf. Garcia op.cit. p.63, note 105 argued for the authenticity of the second visit: he quoted the Vita Genovefa (Life of St Genevieve) but this (perhaps 6th c. work) is one of many sources written after Constantius's Vita Germani which are likely to have been influenced by it. The allocation to Germanus of a different, named, companion - Severus instead of Lupus - remains hard to explain but it might be that it was details like this (originating perhaps with the oral transmission of one version of the tale) that persuaded Constantius that Germanus must actually have made two separate visits.