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The saint as envoy: bishops’ Lives

ix (Voyage 5). In order to confirm the settlement reached with
Goar, Germanus journeys to the imperial court of
Valentinian III at Ravenna. 29–40
x Death of Germanus in Ravenna; preparations for the funeral
cort` ege; return of the body to Auxerre. 41–6
xi Epilogue.
Constantius’ narrative has several prominent features to which atten-
tion should be drawn. First, the greater part of the Vita, recounting the
bishop’s five journeys, is striking for its flowing narrative sequence, very
different from the thematically structured forms of earlier hagiography,
in which narrative is largely episodic. A range of techniques achieves this
flow. The journeys are not timeless; the sequence of one after the other
is made plain. There are causal relationships between individual voyages:
Germanus’ success during the first trip to Britain prompts his selection to
undertake the second; the embassy to the Alan leader Goar necessitates
14
the journey to the imperial court. Situations and characters recur from
one journey to another, and contrasts between the different journeys
are drawn. 15 Journeys are described, however briefly, from inception to
return; the bishop’s routes from Auxerre to Arles and from Auxerre to
Ravenna can be mapped, because of the many localised incidents which
16
occur en route. Most of these incidents – which, indeed, constitute the
bulk of the embassy narratives – consist of miracles and other deeds of
piety performed by Germanus en route. Many of the miracles are modelled
directly on Sulpicius Severus’ Vita of Martin of Tours; but, unlike the
incidents there or in earlier fourth- or early fifth-century hagiography,
the miracle accounts are not presented timelessly or linked to each other
17
thematically. They are firmly made part of the embassy narratives, oc-
curring at particular stages during Germanus’ travel. Some are incidents
specific to travelling, such as the miraculous return of the bishop’s stolen
horse, or his humble assistance to an old man at a river crossing in the
18
Italian Alps. Others are directly related to the outcome of the missions.
A recurring motif, derived from the Gospels, is Germanus’ healing of

14
Constantius, Vita Germani, 25, 28.
15
Recurrences: the two debates with the British Pelagians; Germanus’ friend Senator; Constantius,
Vita Germani, 14, 27; 22, 29. Contrasts: Constantius, Vita Germani, 30: Erat iter illius comitatu
proprio solitarium, a reference back to his companions on the trips to Britain, Lupus and Severus.
16
Borius, Appendices to Vie de Germain, 212.
17
Earlier hagiography: alongside Latin compositions such as Sulpicius’ Vita Martini and Paulinus’
Vita Ambrosii, a large number of Latin translations of earlier eastern saintly biographies and
sententia circulated in the West, which should be understood as forming the generic context
for new western works; many of these translations were assembled together and augmented in
the sixth-century collection known as Vitae patrum; PL 73; Lexikon des Mittelalters viii (Munich,
1997), 1765–6.
18
Constantius, Vita Germani, 20, 31.
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