07 — Martyrdom at Patras
The tradition of Andrew’s martyrdom by crucifixion at Patras in Achaea, and the famous but late development of the X-shaped cross (the crux decussata or saltire) on which he is said to have died. These files set out the martyrdom tradition and its sources and then trace, honestly, how the distinctive transverse cross is a medieval iconographic development absent from the earliest accounts.
Tradition: Pan-Orthodox (Apostle)
The Church holds that Andrew ended his apostolic course as a martyr, crucified at Patras on the northern coast of the Peloponnese, and his feast and his iconography are bound to that death. The narrative descends from the Martyrdom of Andrew, a portion of the apocryphal Acts tradition, in which the apostle is bound to a cross and preaches from it for days before dying. The most recognizable feature of the modern Andrew — the X-shaped saltire cross — is not, however, found in the early martyrdom accounts, which speak simply of crucifixion; the diagonal cross is a late-medieval development in Western art that became standard only in the later middle ages. These files keep the two apart: the ancient core of a crucifixion at Patras, and the much later attestation of its distinctive shape, each pinned to its source under METHODOLOGY §3.5.
Files in This Section
| File | Description |
|---|---|
| The Cross of Patras | The tradition of Andrew’s crucifixion at Patras under the proconsul Aegeates; the Martyrdom of Andrew and the apostle’s preaching from the cross; the encratite framing of the passion in the apocryphal source; what the early accounts do and do not say about the manner of his death. |
| The Saltire and Its History | The X-shaped cross (crux decussata, the saltire): the honest attestation that it is a late-medieval development, absent from the early accounts; the iconographic history; the Scottish flag and the legends of the white saltire; the [Disputed: ...] state of the transverse-cross tradition. |
See Also
- The Acts of Andrew — the apocryphal source of the martyrdom narrative
- The Relics — what became of the body after Patras
- Veneration and Patronages — the saltire as the badge of Scotland and other lands
- The Pre-Schism Church — the world of the martyr-acts
References
- Prieur, Jean-Marc, ed. Acta Andreae. CCSA 5–6. Turnhout: Brepols, 1989. (The Passio Andreae / Martyrdom of Andrew.)
- MacDonald, Dennis R. The Acts of Andrew. Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1990.
- Elliott, J. K. The Apocryphal New Testament. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1993.