The Nicene Age · AD 313–400
Sulpicius Severus
b. c. AD 363 Aquitania; d. c. 420/425 (held at the timeline’s ceiling) · Lawyer · Ascetic · Hagiographer and chronicler · Aquitania, Gaul
The Nicene Age
Who Sulpicius Severus was
A wealthy Aquitanian lawyer who gave it all up after his wife died and settled to an ascetic life near Toulouse. He wrote the Life of Martin of Tours while its subject was still alive — the book that created Western hagiography — and a Sacred History in two books running from creation to his own day, which is the principal source for the British bishops at Ariminum and for the execution of Priscillian at Trier. Gennadius adds that in old age he was taken in by the Pelagians and, repenting of it, kept silence for the rest of his life. Held at the archive’s AD 400 ceiling, as Augustine, Jerome and Chrysostom are.
Also listed in desert fathers & mothers.
Common questions
When did Sulpicius Severus live?
Sulpicius Severus is dated b. c. AD 363 Aquitania; d. c. 420/425 (held at the timeline’s ceiling) in the archive, which places Sulpicius Severus in the Nicene Age (AD 313–400). The dating is traditional and approximate; the archive marks it as uncertain rather than fixing a year the sources do not give.
What did Sulpicius Severus write?
Sulpicius Severus has 3 catalogued writings in the archive: Life of Martin of Tours, Chronica (Sacred History), in two books and Letters.
Which early sources mention Sulpicius Severus?
Sulpicius Severus is named in 2 primary-source passages catalogued here, drawn from Paulinus of Nola and Gennadius of Marseilles. Every passage is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.
Where was Sulpicius Severus from?
The archive associates Sulpicius Severus with Aquitania, Gaul. The sources record more than one location, so the places are listed in the order the record moves through them.
Writings (3)
Life of Martin of Tours
c. AD 397, written in Martin’s lifetime[The founding text of Western hagiography, and the reason Martin’s cult spread as fast as it did.]Read the interlinear source text →
Chronica (Sacred History), in two books
c. AD 403Three only of those from Britain, through want of means of their own, made use of the public bounty, after having refused contributions offered by the rest.Read the interlinear source text →
Letters
c. AD 397–404[Three genuine letters, transmitted with the Life.]Read the interlinear source text →
Primary-source mentions (2)
Every passage below is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.
The letters of Paulinus of Nola to Sulpicius
c. AD 405[Paulinus, his close friend, corresponded with him for two decades.]Paulinus of Nola · Paulinus, Letters
The letters of Paulinus of Nola, which record his friendship with Sulpicius Severus and much of what is known of the western ascetic circle around them. Edited by Wilhelm von Hartel, Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum 29 (1894); English translation by P. G. Walsh, Ancient Christian Writers 35–36 (1966–67).
On Illustrious Men 19
c. AD 490[Gennadius lists his works and adds that, misled by the Pelagians in old age and recognising the fault, he kept silence to the end.]Gennadius of Marseilles · On Illustrious Men 19 · source text
Connected in the archive
People
Events in this lifetime
- AD 339 · The persecution of Shapur II, AD 339
- AD 343 · The Council of Serdica, AD 343
- AD 361 · Julian’s pagan restoration, AD 361
- AD 366 · Damasus and the catacomb epigrams, AD 366
- AD 367 · Athanasius lists the 27 NT books, AD 367
- AD 372 · The martyrdom of Sabbas the Goth, AD 372
- AD 378 · Queen Mavia’s revolt, AD 378
- AD 380 · The Edict of Thessalonica, AD 380
- AD 381 · The Council of Constantinople, AD 381
- AD 381 · The Council of Aquileia, AD 381
- AD 384 · The Altar of Victory petition, AD 384
- AD 390 · Thessalonica and the penance of Theodosius, AD 390
- AD 397 · Carthage confirms the canon, AD 397
Place
Places served
The 2 places the sources put Sulpicius Severus, in the order the record moves through them. This is what the sources attest, not a reconstructed route.