SULPICIUS SEVERUS. - Ecclesiastical writer of southern Gaul, b. in Aquitania ca. 360, d. at Primillac ca. 420.
Of a noble family (Gennadius, De viris ill., 19), he married a woman belonging to a wealthy consular family, after having completed his legal studies and acquired a certain renown (Paulinus of Nola, Ep., V, 5-6). Around 396 he allowed himself to be drawn to the monastic life, more through the urgings of St. Martin of Tours and to follow the example of his friend Paulinus of Nola, than through the premature death of his wife (Sulpicius S., Vita s. Martini, 25), and having abandoned public life he withdrew to Premuliacum, present-day Primillac, in Périgord (Paulinus of Nola, Ep., XXXI; 1). According to Gennadius (loc. cit.) S. S. allowed himself to be dragged into Pelagianism; but, having been brought back from error, he is said to have imposed upon himself, as a penance, a perpetual silence. Gennadius further states that S. S. is said to have held the priesthood; but these last two assertions cannot be verified.
Works: Chronicorum libri duo, published after 403 (J. Bernays, Gesammelte Abhandlungen, II, Berlin 1885, p. 85) run from the creation of the world up to 400 A.D. (the consulate of Stilicho). Important above all for the history of Priscillianism in Gaul, they are also commendable for the critical spirit and the selection that the author was able to make of his sources (several examples in the Chronicle of Eusebius); the style, classical in form, recalls that of Sallust and Tacitus. The Vita Martini (d. in 397), written during the Saint's lifetime toward the end of 396, was widely read in the Middle Ages, as is evident from the very many manuscripts preserved; at Rome, as S. S. himself attests, copies of the Vita were snapped up (Dial., I, 23). It is completed by three letters: ad Eusebium, ad Aurelium diaconum, ad Bassulum parentem. In the Dialogues, published around 404, S. S. recounts the miracles of St. Martin, comparing them with those of the monks of Egypt. The writings concerning St. Martin served as a model for medieval hagiographers: Paulinus of Nola, Hilary of Arles, Uranius, Paulinus of Périgueux, Gregory of Tours, Venantius Fortunatus, Gregory the Great, to recall only the most celebrated names, drew inspiration from them. Although not entirely devoid of criticism, these writings aim principally at edifying the faithful by glorifying the apostle of Gaul. S. S. was able to combine together a rare talent as a narrator and a style more popular and picturesque than that employed in the Chronicles; and this is the principal reason for their success. On the correspondence with his friend Paulinus of Nola, v. G. de Hartel, CSEL, 29-30 (Vienna 1894). The letters of S. S., cited by Gennadius, are not authentic (v. C. Halm, CSEL, 1 [ibid. 1866], pp. 217-256), just as the Carmina S. S. attributa are likewise not authentic (PL 74, 671-74).
Bibliography5 works
Cirillo Vogel