thumb|Illuminated miniature of St Luke beneath the inscription Iura sacerdotii Lucas tenet ore iuuenci from Sedulius' Carmen paschale. [[St Augustine Gospels, Parker Library MS 286, late 6th century]]

Sedulius (sometimes with the nomen Coelius or Caelius, both of doubtful authenticity)

One medieval commentary states that he resided in Italy. Isidore of Seville ( 560 – 636) and the Gelasian decree refer to him as a presbyter.

Works

His fame rests mainly upon a long poem, Carmen paschale, based on the four gospels. In style a bombastic imitator of Virgil, he shows, nevertheless, a certain freedom in the handling of the Biblical story, and the poem soon became a quarry for the minor poets. His description of the Four Evangelists in Carmen Paschale became well-known; the English translation below is from .

His other writings include an Abecedarian hymn in honour of Christ, A solis ortus cardine, consisting of twenty-three quatrains of iambic dimeters. This poem has partly passed into the Roman Rite liturgy, the first seven quatrains forming the Christmas carol "A solis ortus cardine", which has been translated into vernacular languages by, among many others, Martin Luther and Allan MacDonald. The Epiphany hymn, "Hostis Herodes impie"and "Veteris et novi Testamenti collatio" in elegiac couplets have also come down.

Editions

  • Faustino Arévalo (Rome, 1794), reprinted in Jacques Paul Migne's Patrologia Latina vol. xix.
  • Johann Huemer (Vienna, 1885).
  • Victoria Panagl (Bearb.), Sedulius, Opera Omnia, Ex Recensione Iohannis Huemer (Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum, 10), Wien, 2007, XLVII, 532 S.

References

Sources

  • This work in turn cites:
  • Johann Huemer, De Sedulii poetae vita et scriptis commentatio (Vienna, 1878)
  • Max Manitius, Geschichte der christlich-lateinischen Poesie (Stuttgart, 1891)
  • Teuffel-Schwabe, History of Roman Literature (Eng. trans.), 473
  • Herzog-Hauck, Realencyklopädie für protestantische Theologie, xviii. (Leipzig, 1906)
  • Smith and Wace, Dictionary of Christian Biography (1887)

Further reading

  • Roger P H Green, Latin Epics of the New Testament: Juvencus, Sedulius, Arator, Oxford UP 2008 (reviewed by Teresa Morgan in the article "Poets for Jesus", Times Literary Supplement 4 April 2008 p 31).
  • McBrine, P. Biblical Epics in Late Antiquity and Anglo-Saxon England (UTP, 2017).
  • McBrine, P. Sedulius' Carmen paschale: Verse Translation, Notes and Other Poems (Routledge, 2026).
  • Biography of Sedulius (5th century poet) at Christian Classics Ethereal Library
  • Opera Omnia by Migne Patrologia Latina
  • Latin text of Sedulius at the Latin Library
  • Translation of Sedulius' Works at Routledge by Patrick McBrine