Acta Sanctorum
Encyclopedia
Acta Sanctorum is an encyclopedic text in 68 folio volumes of documents examining the lives of Christian saints, in essence a critical hagiography
, which is organised according to each saint's feast day. It begins with two January volumes, published in 1643, and ended with the Propylaeum to December published in 1940. The Acta Sanctorum have from the start been at the forefront of the critical method of scholarship.
The Bollandist
s, named for the Jesuit scholar Jean Bolland
('Bollandus', 1596–1665), has overseen this mammoth undertaking, first in Antwerp and then in Brussels
. When the Jesuits were suppressed by the Habsburg
governor of the Low Countries in 1788, the 'Bollandist
s' continued their work, in the Tongerlo Abbey
. From 1643 to 1794, 53 folio volumes of Acta Sanctorum had been published, covering the saints from January 1 to October 14.
After the creation of the Kingdom of Belgium
, the Bollandists were permitted to reassemble, working from the Royal Library of Belgium
in Brussels.
The many 'Lives of the saints' are essential sources in our knowledge of societies, cultures and civilizations of the Christian world, even secular aspects not directly related to cult or doctrine. A saint is a person of note. The saint exercises an influence on society in civil as well as ecclesiastical affairs. After the saint's death, the communities which the saint has created, institutions he or she has founded, rules drawn up, and even the nature of the cult rendered to the saint, are the raw material of history. As the Society states in defending the usefulness of hagiography in wider contexts,
Hagiography
Hagiography is the study of saints.From the Greek and , it refers literally to writings on the subject of such holy people, and specifically to the biographies of saints and ecclesiastical leaders. The term hagiology, the study of hagiography, is also current in English, though less common...
, which is organised according to each saint's feast day. It begins with two January volumes, published in 1643, and ended with the Propylaeum to December published in 1940. The Acta Sanctorum have from the start been at the forefront of the critical method of scholarship.
The Bollandist
Bollandist
The Bollandists are an association of scholars, philologists, and historians who since the early seventeenth century have studied hagiography and the cult of the saints in Christianity. Their most important publication has been the Acta Sanctorum...
s, named for the Jesuit scholar Jean Bolland
Jean Bolland
Jean Bolland was a Jesuit priest and prominent Southern Netherlandish hagiographer....
('Bollandus', 1596–1665), has overseen this mammoth undertaking, first in Antwerp and then in Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
. When the Jesuits were suppressed by the Habsburg
Habsburg
The House of Habsburg , also found as Hapsburg, and also known as House of Austria is one of the most important royal houses of Europe and is best known for being an origin of all of the formally elected Holy Roman Emperors between 1438 and 1740, as well as rulers of the Austrian Empire and...
governor of the Low Countries in 1788, the 'Bollandist
Bollandist
The Bollandists are an association of scholars, philologists, and historians who since the early seventeenth century have studied hagiography and the cult of the saints in Christianity. Their most important publication has been the Acta Sanctorum...
s' continued their work, in the Tongerlo Abbey
Tongerlo Abbey
Tongerlo Abbey is a Premonstratensian monastery at Tongerlo in Westerlo near Antwerp, Belgium.-History:It was founded in 1128 in honour of the Blessed Virgin Mary, by Giselbert of Kasterlee, who not only gave the land, but also himself became a lay brother in the new community. The first monks were...
. From 1643 to 1794, 53 folio volumes of Acta Sanctorum had been published, covering the saints from January 1 to October 14.
After the creation of the Kingdom of Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
, the Bollandists were permitted to reassemble, working from the Royal Library of Belgium
Royal Library of Belgium
The Royal Library of Belgium is one of the most important cultural institutions in Belgium. The library has a history that goes back to the age of the Dukes of Burgundy...
in Brussels.
The many 'Lives of the saints' are essential sources in our knowledge of societies, cultures and civilizations of the Christian world, even secular aspects not directly related to cult or doctrine. A saint is a person of note. The saint exercises an influence on society in civil as well as ecclesiastical affairs. After the saint's death, the communities which the saint has created, institutions he or she has founded, rules drawn up, and even the nature of the cult rendered to the saint, are the raw material of history. As the Society states in defending the usefulness of hagiography in wider contexts,
- "It is also the case that much of what we know as history from the beginnings of Christianity to the Middle AgesMiddle AgesThe Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
is known only thanks to hagiographical texts. Even in the modern period it is impossible to speak of history, archaeology, architecture, sculpture, painting, music, literature, folklore, or ethnology, without calling to mind the life and cult of some saint. Even in the study of law, are not some of the most ancient documents found in the Acts of the martyrs? Almost all the fairs of the Middle Ages, international, national, and regional, were attached to the memory of a saint. Every detail of domestic and public life is found in the Acts of the saints. And they show us as much about the lives of every-day folk as about prominent people.
- "This is why the Acta Sanctorum embrace general history (civil as well as ecclesiastical); the particular history of different countries, towns, and monasteries; the chronology, geography, and topography of a large part of the globe: and all of this from the beginning of the Christian era up to the 16th century.'