Viktor von Xanten

Statue of St. Victor on the side of the Church of St. Viktor in Birten

Depiction of Viktor at St. Viktor's Cathedral in Xanten , created in 1468 by Master Blankenbyl

Viktor von Xanten ( St. Viktor ) is a martyr of the Catholic and Orthodox Churches . The presumed bones of the holy Victor have been kept in a shrine since the 12th century , which is now embedded in the high altar of the Xanten Cathedral of St. Viktor . His feast day is October 10th .

The legend of St. Viktor

According to the legend written for the first time in the text " Passio sanctorum Gereonis, Victoris, Cassi et Florentii Thebaeorum martyrum " by an unknown author from the 11th century, the Christian Viktor Praefectus cohortis was a cohort of the Thebaic Legion , which at the end of the 3rd century initially had two was decimated and ultimately executed without exception for refusing to sacrifice to the Roman gods . The cohort led by Viktor is said to have escaped the bloodbath at St. Maurice d'Agaume at first, but was then picked up in Vetera near Xanten and also suffered martyrdom. Viktor's body is said to have been thrown into a nearby swamp.

Similar to the legend of Gereon of Cologne , the legend of Viktor also includes the Empress Helena of Constantinople , who is said to have recovered the bones of St. Viktor and his companions and built a chapel in their honor.

Victor von Solothurn has come down to us as another martyr of the Theban Legion . Although not as a member of the Legion, but closely linked to its fate, this is also the martyr Victor von Agaunum . Since the name Viktor is used for several martyrs in the context of the Theban Legion, it was suspected that they could be different versions of the same veneration. More obvious, however, is the use of the word Victor (Latin for victor ) not as a name, but as a title given to the martyrs as “victor of Christ”.

Historical core

Historical lore

Although the martyrdom of Viktor is said to have already taken place in the 3rd century, a veneration of St. Viktor in Xanten can be documented for the first time in the 9th century. In the year 863, Viktor's bones are said to have been transferred to Cologne for a short time in order to protect them from the Normans , who at that time plundered the lower course of the Rhine and also devastated Xanten and the church there in honor of Viktor.

The veneration of saints in Xanten was in full bloom when it was first mentioned - however, when the bones of Viktor were recovered and when a church was built in his honor is not known. As early as 590, however, Gregor von Tours wrote in his work " Liber in gloria Martyrum " about the expansion of a memorial to a chapel by the Cologne Bishop Everigisil at " Bertuna ". This “ Bertuna ” can be equated with today's Xanten district of Birten , which means that the construction of the chapel in today's Xanten town center seems likely, where the construction of several burial chapels in the 4th century has been archaeologically proven (see Section 2.2 ). Gregory of Tours expressly mentions the erection in honor of St. Mallosus , whose bones had not yet been recovered, but were said to have been revealed by an apparition soon after the chapel was built. Regarding Viktor, Gregor von Tours remarks rather casually that his bones would also be suspected to be near " Bertuna ". Another interpretation, however, interprets " Bertuna " as the earlier Verdun in today's France, where the martyrdom of Mallosus appears more likely because of today's local saint Saint Maur than in Xanten, where the veneration of Mallosus was gradually replaced by the veneration of Viktor until Mallosus was even counted among the companions of the Bonn martyrs Cassius and Florentius in the 12th century . Whether Gregor von Tours speaks of Xanten in his description is therefore at least questionable.

Archaeological research

During the excavation by Walter Bader under the Xanten Cathedral in the 1930s , the existence of several grave chapels on the Roman burial ground of the former Colonia Ulpia Traiana and thus in today's city center of Xanten was proven. A double grave from the 4th century was discovered within one of these grave chapels and the bones contained therein were buried in the cathedral's newly built crypt . Since the presumed bones of Viktor have been in the possession of the monastery since 863 at the latest and have been embedded in the reliquary of the cathedral since the 12th century, it was initially suggested that they were two of Viktor's 330 companions. Bader even suspected that these were the real bones of Viktor - the relics embedded in the shrine of the high altar were only mistaken for them. However, recent investigations by Thomas Otten , Clive Bridger and Frank Siegmund connect the double grave with the Frankish raids on the Roman settlement Tricensimae around the year 352. In this context, the discovery of a decapitated corpse from the 4th century within the burial chapels is worth mentioning. who was identified as a high Roman official. It is conceivable that the find is about Flavius ​​Victor , the son of the usurper Magnus Maximus , executed in Rome in 388 , who is said to have been stationed by his father with a few troops on the Rhine and killed by Arbogast . Despite the fact that they have the same name, it is unlikely that today's Victor worship could have arisen from a possible worship of Flavius ​​Victor.

Further investigations in the town center of Xanten revealed the expansion of a burial chapel during the 6th century and thus in the period specified by Gregor von Tours. In a second construction phase before 752, the crypt covered by the chapel was divided by a partition into two chambers of equal size, of which the northern one was excavated in a third construction phase and filled with earth. For the construction of what is now the third church built here, the southern crypt was also excavated and the area was finally covered with screed. Only a few remains of a human skeleton were discovered during the excavations in the southern part of the crypt. The crypt is nevertheless remarkable because of its size, which clearly surpasses all other graves found in Xanten with a circumference of 3.6 × 2.6 meters and at least 1.6 meters deep and is placed on a level with Merovingian princely graves . It is therefore likely that the chapel was originally built for Mallosus and was divided in the second construction phase in order to also accommodate the remains of Viktor, which must have been recovered before 752. When the northern half was excavated, Mallosu's bones were removed, while Viktor's bones remained in the burial chapel until the new construction of the Xanten church. The construction of the crypt can only be dated back to the end of the 4th century through a coin find (minting year 347/350), so that the year numbers in the legend do not match the archaeological findings. Rather, the tomb is dated to the time of Julian's office , for which there is no evidence of persecution of Christians in the western provinces of the Roman Empire, so that martyrdom is unlikely during this period.

According to another interpretation, based on the legendary elevation of the bones of Viktor by the Empress Helena of Constantinople, the Xanten town center is excluded as the place where the bones were found. Rather, the place of discovery is to be found in the swamps that existed in the city in antiquity, into which the body of Viktor is said to have been thrown and where Helena is said to have built a chapel in his honor. In fact, there is evidence of a chapel that was built in dry swampy terrain and, after the construction of the city fortifications, was outside the city walls at the end of the 14th century, so that it was demolished and replaced by a new chapel built in 1401 in the city center. Although this chapel was not consecrated to Viktor, but to Gereon of Cologne , it can be concluded from calculations for the demolition of the chapel outside the walls that its foundation consisted of Drachenfels trachyte , which only existed before the 5th century and again from the 12th century was dismantled. The chapel was either built in antiquity and thus in the time of Helena, or, what seems more likely, it was built with building material from the ruins of the nearby Roman Colonia Ulpia Traiana. Based on the tradition that Helena had a cross-shaped chapel built over a water-bearing vault, Clive Bridger suspects a connection to the Ulpia Traiana aqueduct , also because the conversion of a water distributor ( castellum divisorum ) into a church has already been proven elsewhere.

Ultimately, despite the most varied of approaches, no conclusive proof of the martyrdom of Viktor and a consistent veneration of martyrs in Xanten could be provided. On the contrary, there is much to suggest that the veneration of martyrs only began with the expansion of the chapel by Bishop Everigisil as Mallosus veneration and gradually developed into a veneration of Viktor, which subsequently with the graves and chapels under the Xanten Cathedral and the legend of Theban Legion has been linked.

Others

Meaning for Xanten

In the second half of the 8th century a monastery was built around the Merovingian church in Xanten , which was called ad Sanctos ( by the saints ) in the belief that it would be erected over the tombs of Victor and his companions . The name was transferred to the resulting settlement and developed into the current place name Xanten, where a procession called " Viktortracht " is still part of the traditional customs of the parish of St. Viktor, although the pilgrimage to Xanten has been since the emergence of the nearby pilgrimage sites Marienbaum and Kevelaer almost came to a standstill in the 15th and 17th centuries. Recognition as a place of martyrs was twice refused by the Vatican due to a lack of evidence, but in 1966 the crypt of the Xanten Cathedral became a memorial for modern martyrs with the burial of several victims of National Socialism.

More patronage

See also: St. Viktor Church , Xanten

In addition to Xanten, St. Viktor is also the church patron in Birten , Damme , Merfeld near Dülmen , Guntersblum , Hochkirchen , Schwerte and Oberbreisig in the diocese of Trier. Most of these patronages arose as subsidiary churches of the Xanten monastery.

Church intercession

The Catholic prayer and hymn book from 1975 has two intercessions in the diocesan appendix as Praise to God No. 809, which Viktor addresses. The "Intercession of St. Viktor and Companions" and "To St. Viktor and His Companions" read:

“ Almighty, Eternal God, you gave St. Victor and his companions the strength to profess their faith in Christ by dying. Come to the rescue of our weaknesses so that we may bear witness to your truth throughout our lives. Therefore, we ask through Christ, our Lord. Amen ”.

“ Saint Viktor, your name means 'victory' in the Spirit of Jesus Christ. Until the surrender of life, you and your companions remained faithful to the Lord. So you gave yourselves as an offering (victima) and were crowned as victor (victor) for the wedding of the Lamb. Pray for us that we too will overcome the fear of man, that the probation of life may exist in the power of faith and love, and so in our time we may become witnesses of Jesus Christ and his kingdom. Amen ”.

literature

• Walter Bader: The collegiate church of St. Viktor zu Xanten. Volume 1, part 1: Sanctos: grave field, martyr's grave and buildings from the 4th century to around or after AD 752 - 68 (= publications of the Association for the Preservation of Xanten Cathedral 8). Butzon & Bercker, Kevelaer 1960, 1985 (2nd edition). ISBN 3-7666-9228-3
• Stephan Beissel: The Martyrdom of St. Victor and his comrades . In: The building management of the Middle Ages. Study of the Church of St. Victor to Xanten . 2nd Edition. Herder, Freiburg 1889, pp. 7-21
• Hugo Borger: Xanten. Development and history of a medieval town Series: Contributions to the history and folklore of the Dinslaken district on the Lower Rhine, Supplement 2. Th. Gesthuysen, Xanten 1960
• Clive Bridger, Frank Siegmund: The Xantener Stiftsimmunität. Excavation history and considerations on the topography of the settlement . Published in: Gerhard Bauchhenß (Hrsg.): Contributions to the archeology of the Rhineland (= Rheinische Ausgrabungen 27), pp. 63–133. Habelt, Cologne 1987. ISBN 3-7927-0931-7
• Clive Bridger: To the so-called martyrs grave under the Xanten Cathedral . Published in: Dieter Geuenich (Ed.): Xantener lectures on the history of the Lower Rhine 1996-1998 , pp. 217–243. Duisburg 1998
• Gustav Ferbers: St. Viktor and St. Viktorskirche in Xanten . Xanten, Gesthuysen, 1886 ( digitized version )
• Hans Hermann Henrix: What justifies speaking of a martyr memoria in Xanten? . Published in: Trier Theologische Zeitschrift 84 , pp. 216–235. 1976. ISSN  0041-2945
• Thomas Otten : The excavations under St. Viktor zu Xanten: Cathedral and immunity (= Rhenish excavations 53). Zabern, Mainz 2003. ISBN 3-8053-3148-7
• Felix Rütten : The worship of Victor in Christian antiquity. A cult-historical and hagiographic study series: Studies on the history and culture of antiquity 20, booklet 1. Schöningh, Paderborn 1936; Johnson, New York 1968
• Ingo Runde: A legendary Xanten. Heroes and saints in medieval sagas and legends: St. Mallosus, St. Viktor, Siegfried von Xanten and Hagen von Tronje , in: Dieter Geuenich (Ed.): Xanten lectures on the history of the Lower Rhine . Duisburg 2004, pp. 91–119
• Ingo Runde: Xanten in the early and high Middle Ages. Tradition of sagas - history of the monastery - becoming a town . Böhlau, Cologne 2003 ISBN 3-412-15402-4
• Frank Siegmund: Xanten in the early Middle Ages , in: Genendolf Precht, Hans-Joachim Schalles (ed.): Trace reading. Contributions to the history of the Xanten area , pp. 191–208. Habelt, Cologne 1989; and Rheinland-Verlag, Bonn 1989 ISBN 3-7927-1162-1
• Ekkart Sauser:  Viktor von Xanten. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 21, Bautz, Nordhausen 2003, ISBN 3-88309-110-3 , Sp. 1511.
• Paul Therstappen : Viktorstracht and Viktorslegende , in Die Heimat , 15, Krefeld 1936, pp. 140–147