Martyrs crown
The martyr's crown ( Latin martyrii corona , also corona fidei "crown of faith") is an iconographic attribute of saints .
Antiquity
In antiquity, the corona , the wreath woven from flowers and leaves or its replica made of metal, was almost omnipresent in cultic, public and private life. Wreaths were wreathed at sacrifices, sporting events, celebrations, feasts, weddings and funerals. Specialized professions and industries were dedicated to the production of wreaths, and the corona also played an important role in the Roman army in various forms as an award and on certain occasions, for example when receiving a gift of money from the emperor.
Christianity
Even in the oldest writings of the New Testament , the metaphor of the wreath is used in a competition. In the first letter to the Corinthians of the Apostle Paul it says:
“Don't you know that the runners in the stadium are all running, but that only one person wins the prize? Run so that you win it. Every competitor lives completely celibate; those do this to win an imperishable, but we do so to win an imperishable wreath. That's why I don't run like someone who runs aimlessly and I don't fight with my fist like someone who hits the air; rather I chastise and subjugate my body so that I do not preach to others and myself be rejected. 1 Cor 9,24-27 EU "
Above all, the ever-present connection of the wreath with the ancient gods and their cults aroused concern with the church writer Tertullian . He wrote a pamphlet in which he initially opposed the use of wreaths in the military, then discussed the wearing of wreaths in general and came to the conclusion that Christians should not wear wreaths, for the following reasons:
- Wearing wreaths of flowers is against nature, because flowers are there to be looked at and smelled, but neither is possible with flowers worn on the head.
- The wreath is a specifically pagan custom, the wreaths are sacred to the gods (e.g. Dionysus), so wearing a wreath is idolatry.
- In the Holy Scriptures there is no prohibition on wearing a wreath, but after all everything is forbidden that is not expressly permitted. In conclusion, Tertullian says: "If you cannot be crowned with thorns, at least you should not wreath yourself with flowers, because that is not your concern." He is referring to Christ's crown of thorns . In Joh 19.2 EU (and similarly in Mt 27.29 EU and Mk 15.17 EU ) it says that the soldiers of Pilate Jesus put a wreath of thorns ( στέφανον ἐξ ἀκανθῶν stephanon ex akanthon ) on his head. The word Stephanos is the exact Greek equivalent of Corona .
In the second letter of Clement , presumably from the 2nd century, the metaphor of the victory wreath is again taken up and expanded:
“Even if we cannot all be crowned, we want to get as close as possible to the crown. We need to know that whoever takes part in a fleeting competition and is caught on a fraud will be scourged, eliminated and thrown out of the battlefield. What do you think happens to him who cheats in the imperishable struggle? "
Martyrs crown
In the third century, under the influence of the persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire under Decius and his successors, the metaphor took on a new direction. Previously, the crown was the prize that waved to those who achieved their goal in following Christ, but now it was a very concrete victory, namely overcoming the persecutors of Christians. Those who remained firm in their faith until the end and did not renounce even in the face of torture and death had conquered the world and the martyr's crown , the Corona martyrii, beckoned to them .
In his letter to the martyrs and confessors , St. Cyprian of Carthage to:
“She [the church] wore white for the works of the brothers, now her dress is purple with the blood of the martyrs: neither the lily is missing nor the rose among her flowers. Now let each one contend for the highest price. White wreaths as the price of labor, and purple wreaths as the price of suffering. In the heavenly camp, both peace and strife have their own blossoms, from which Christ's soldiers are made to wind wreaths. "
Some of the persecuted Christians were downright envied or insisted that no one should wrest the martyr's wreath from them, for example through an unwanted escape aid. An early example of this attitude is given in the letter of Ignatius of Antioch to the Romans:
“For I will not find such an opportunity to come to God again, nor will you, if you remain silent, be able to place your name on better works. For if you keep silent about me, I am God's word; but if you love my (life in) flesh, I will again be just a (empty) sound. Do me the greatest favor by being offered to God while the altar is still ready. "
And again below:
“Pray for me to get there. I did not write to you according to the flesh, but according to the will of God. If I suffer, you have been kind to me; if I am rejected, you have hated me. "
Finally, with Prudentius in the fourth century, Christian wreath metaphors were fully developed. His Liber Peristephanon is a collection of 14 poems which, with the exception of the eighth, are dedicated to urban Roman and Spanish martyrs. The work was well received, influenced the design of the (mostly legendary) martyrs and was widely read into the Middle Ages.
iconography
Originally the representation of the Corona martyrii corresponded to the ancient Corona , as it was known from the representation of the imperial era. One example are the late antique mosaics from Sant'Apollinare Nuovo in Ravenna . The wreaths worn by the martyrs can hardly be distinguished from a corona civica , as is known from some of the busts of Augustus, for example.
In the Middle Ages, after the ancient Corona was transformed into the ruler's crown, iconography followed this change. The martyrs were now depicted with crowns, for example in the illustrations in Schedel's world chronicle . The wreath also appeared occasionally, but not on the martyr's head, but in the form that it was brought to the martyr by an angel floating down from heaven at the moment when the martyrdom was completed.
Perhaps because in later times, when the crown was only a symbol of rule, the depiction of a saint with a crown led to the erroneous assumption that a holy king was depicted, perhaps also because of collisions with other headgear, for example with martyrs who were also bishops and as such are depicted with a miter , the martyr's crown has been replaced more and more by the martyr's palm as an attribute in modern iconography .
Individual evidence
- ^ 6th century mosaic in the church of Sant'Apollinare Nuovo in Ravenna .
- ^ Tertullian's De corona militis 1
- ^ Tertullian De corona militis "From the soldier's wreath" Latin text BKV
- ^ Tertullian De corona 2: "Sed quod non prohibetur ultro permissum est." - "Immo prohibetur quod non ultro est permissum."
- ^ Tertullian De corona 14: aut nec floribus coroneris si spinis non potes, quia floribus non potes.
- ↑ 2. Clem. 7th
- ^ Painting by Francesco di Giovanni Botticini; about 1505; Metropolitan Museum of Art , New York
- ↑ Cyprian epistolae VII (X.5 Oxford ed.): Erat ante in operibus fratrum candida, nunc facta est in martyrum cruore purpurea: floribus ejus nec lilia nec rosae desunt. Certent nunc singuli ad utriusque honoris amplissimam dignitatem. Accipiant coronas vel de opere candidas, vel de passione purpureas. In coelestibus castris et pax et acies habent flores suos, quibus miles Christi ob gloriam coronetur. See BKV .
- ^ Ignatius of Antioch epistula ad romanos 2
- ↑ Ignatius of Antioch epistula ad romanos 8
- ↑ From Greek περὶ στεφάνων About the (martyr) wreath. The work is written in Latin.