SULPICIO SEVERO. — Ecclesiastical writer of southern Gaul, b. in Aquitania ca. 360, d. at Primillac ca. 420.
Of noble family (Gennadius, De viris ill., 19), he married a woman belonging to a wealthy consular family, after completing his legal studies and acquiring a certain reputation (Paulinus of Nola, Ep., V, 5–6). Around 396 he allowed himself to be drawn to monastic life, more because of the urging of s. Martin of Tours and in order to follow the example of his friend Paulinus of Nola than because of his wife’s premature death (Sulpicio S., Vita s. Martini, 25), and, having abandoned public life, he withdrew to Premuliacum, present-day Primillac, in the Périgord (Paulinus of Nola, Ep., XXXI; 1). According to Gennadius (loc. cit.), S. S. allowed himself to be led into Pelagianism; but, having recanted his error, he is said to have imposed perpetual silence upon himself as a penance. Gennadius further states that S. S. 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), extend from the creation of the world to A.D. 400 (the consulship 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 among his sources (several examples appear in the Chronicle of Eusebius); the style, classical in form, recalls that of Sallust and Tacitus. The Vita Martini (d. in 397), written while the Saint was still alive toward the end of 396, was widely read in the Middle Ages, as is shown by the very numerous preserved manuscripts; in Rome, S. S. himself attests, copies of the Vita were selling like hot cakes (Dial., I, 23). It is supplemented by three letters: ad Eusebium, ad Aurelium diaconum, ad Bassulum parentem. In the Dialogues, published around 404, S. S. recounts the miracles of s. Martin, comparing them with those of the monks of Egypt. The writings concerning s. Martin served as models for medieval hagiographers: Paulinus of Nola, Hilary of Arles, Uranius, Paulinus of Périgueux, Gregory of Tours, Venantius Fortunatus, Gregory the Great—to mention only the most celebrated names—were inspired by them. Although not entirely devoid of criticism, these writings are primarily aimed at edifying the faithful by glorifying the apostle of Gaul. S. S. succeeded in combining a rare talent for narrative with 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 [there 1866], pp. 217–256), nor are the Carmina S. S. attributa authentic (PL 74, 671–74).