St. Eulalia of Merida and the development of her cult in light of medieval poems

Abstract

The aim of the article is to present a Spanish martyr during Diocletianic persecution – Eulalia of Merida, and, more specifically, medieval poems devoted to her that are preserved until now. A set of five primary sources – consisting of certain fragments of poems by Venantius Fortunatus, Aldhelm and Bede the Venerable as well as The Sequence of Saint Eulalia – has been analyzed in terms of demonstrating the development of sacred cult both in geographical as well as time dimensions. Special attention has been paid to the common hagiographic and general religious threads present in the discussed sources. In order to facilitate each text, the author also provides their Polish translations. The entire analysis is preceded by an outline of currently available information concerning the life of St. Eulalia.

Keywords

• Eulalia of Merida
• Venantius Fortunatus
• Aldhelmus
• Beda Venerabilis
• The Sequence of Saint Eulalia
• the cult of martyrs