Vida de Sant Honorat Arquebisbe de Arles

Vida de Sant Honorat Arquebisbe de Arles

Saint Honoratus (ca. 350-429) was an early Archbishop of Arles as well as Abbot of Lérins Abbey, which he founded ca. 410 after being a disciple of a hermit living on the island named Caprasius of Lérins (d. 430). The Abbey became famous for producing notable theologians and bishops during the 5th and 6th centuries, including St. Patrick, who missionized the Irish. He travelled throughout the Holy Land and visited Rome before pursuing a hermit’s life. The tomb of Honoratus in Arles continues to be a place of pilgrimage today.

A Printed Spanish Hagiography

Although his writings have not survived to the present, Raymond Féraud (ca. 1245 – ca. 1324) wrote a hagiography about Honoratus ca. 1300. This authoritative source presumably served as the inspiration for the anonymous Spanish poet who composed the work at hand, which was published on October 31st, 1513 in the Valencian printing house of Joan Joffre. The seven splendid woodcuts adorning the text are factotum, multipurpose engravings. Their clear yet detailed compositions perfectly compliment the neatly printed and elegant Gothic script, as do the engraved initials and borders filled with flowers and drolleries – small grotesques appearing as mixed creatures. The title page inter alia feature script that is printed in a deep red color. This is the only surviving copy of the codex and is in excellent shape with only one mutilated page (p. 38). A truly unique and beautiful Vita Honoratus!