Legendary Material in Christian Hagiography - Early Medieval Embellishment

Early Medieval Embellishment

Gregory of Tours (d. 594) was acquainted with the apocryphal lives of the Apostles. At the beginning of the 7th century we already find related in Gaul (in the "Passio Tergeminorum" of Warnahar of Langres), as an incident in the local history of Langres, a story of martyrdom originating in Cappadocia.

The 7th century sees the literary form of legend domiciled in the West. Bede's "Martyrology" and Aldhelm of Malmesbury (d. 709) indicate a wide knowledge of this foreign literature.The legends of the "saviour" make their appearance in the Merovingian 7th century up to the middle of the 8th;.

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