Evidence ID
E05208Saint Name
Martyrs, unnamed or name lost : S00060Type of Evidence
Literary - Sermons/HomiliesEvidence not before
386Evidence not after
387Activity not before
386Activity not after
387Place of Evidence - Region
Italy north of Rome with Corsica and SardiniaPlace of Evidence - City, village, etc
MilanPlace of evidence - City name in other Language(s)
Milan
Sardinia
Sardinia
Sardegna
SardiniaMajor author/Major anonymous work
Ambrose of MilanCult activities - Places
Martyr shrine (martyrion, bet sāhedwātā, etc.)Cult activities - Non Liturgical Practices and Customs
Visiting graves and shrinesCult Activities - Protagonists in Cult and Narratives
Ecclesiastics - bishopsCult Activities - Relics
Unspecified relicSource
This sermon was preached in the midst of a conflict with the imperial court – presided over by the empress Justina - over the court's use of churches in Milan. In 385 Ambrose was asked to hand over a Milanese basilica, the Basilica Portiana, for for the emperor's use. Since the imperial family subscribed to the Arian/Homoian creed, Ambrose refused. His church was surrounded by soldiers and he came under pressure to leave Milan. This conflict bubbled on into the following year. A law, which allowed freedom of assembly for Homoians, was passed and Ambrose was summoned to debate with Auxentius, Ambrose's Homoian predecessor as bishop of Milan. Ambrose refused and preached Contra Auxentium, which described the conflict of the previous year.
This conflict continued into the following year as the imperial court demanded the use of two Milanese basilicas - the Basilica Nova and the Basilica Portiana - to celebrate Easter in 386. Again, Ambrose refused and received support from the people of Milan who occupied the Portiana and kidnapped an Homoian priest at the start of Holy Week. A tense week followed as Nicene Christians loyal to Ambrose occupied the besieged Basilica Nova. Troops surrounded both this church and the Basilica Vetus, in which Ambrose celebrated mass. Punitive measures were enacted against Ambrose’s prominent supporters, many of whom were fined and imprisoned. By the end of Holy Week, the imperial court rescinded their claim on the basilicas and withdrew all troops. The discovery of the relics of the martyrs *Gervasius and Protasius (martyrs of Milan, S00313) in June 386 – and the triumphant ceremony which accompanied their translation and deposition in the newly built Basilica Ambrosiana in Milan – is often seen as the closing act of this conflict which finally secured Ambrose’s victory (see E05211.).Discussion
The martyrs referred to here may well be *Nabor and Felix (soldiers and martyrs, buried in Milan, S00609). Ambrose referred to these martyrs in other writings (for example in his Commentary on the Gospel of Luke, 7.1952) and it was near this shrine that he discovered the relics of Gervasius and Protasius in June 386 (E05211).Bibliography
Edition:
Zelzer, M., Sancti Ambrosii Opera: Epistulae et Acta (Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum 82.3; Vienna: Hoelder-Pichler-Tempsky, 1982).
Translation:
Liebeschuetz, J. H. W. G., Ambrose of Milan: Political Letters and Speeches (Translated Texts for Historians 43; Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 2005).
Further Reading:
Kaufman, P.I., "Diehard Homoians and the Election of Ambrose," Journal of Early Christian Studies 5:3 (1997), 421-440, with responses from Daniel Williams and Neil McLynn, ibid. 441-450.
McLynn, N., Ambrose of Milan: Church and Court in a Christian Capital (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1994).
Williams, D., Ambrose of Milan and the End of the Arian-Nicene Conflicts (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1995).
