01 — Foundations
The world into which Genevieve was born: the town of Nanterre near Paris, in the Gallo-Roman society of fifth-century Gaul as the Western Roman order gave way; her birth and her parents as the Vita names them; and the founding tradition of her life — the child singled out and blessed by St. Germanus of Auxerre as he passed through in 429 on his way to Britain, and marked from that day for God.
Tradition: Western (pre-Schism, Gallo-Roman Gaul)
This section sets Genevieve in her time and place before it follows her into the consecrated life. Two things anchor her beginnings. The first is the world: Nanterre and the Île-de-France of the fifth century, a Christianized but still fragile Gallo-Roman society living through the slow collapse of the Western Empire and the pressure of the peoples beyond the Rhine — the world that would, within her own lifetime, become Frankish. The second is the blessing of Germanus: the Vita Genovefae opens her story with the great bishop of Auxerre, travelling to Britain against the Pelagians in 429, halting at Nanterre and picking out the small girl in the crowd as one already vowed to God. Both the birth-date and the Germanus episode are contested and are given here as the Vita reports them, dated and flagged.
Files in This Section
| File | Description |
|---|---|
| nanterre-and-the-gallo-roman-world.md | Her birth at Nanterre near Paris, c. 419/423; the disputed dates; her parents Severus and Gerontia as the Vita names them; the Gallo-Roman and late-Roman Gaul of the fifth century into which she was born. |
| the-blessing-of-saint-germanus.md | The tradition that St. Germanus of Auxerre, passing through Nanterre in 429 on his way to Britain, singled out the child Genevieve, marked her for God, and set a coin about her neck; the attestation problem (Constantius’ Life of Germanus does not mention her); §3.5. |
See Also
- The Veil and the Ascetic Life — the consecration to which the childhood blessing is said to have pointed
- The Vita Genovefae — the single source for the foundations, and the debate over its date
- St. Martin of Tours — the elder apostle of the same Gallo-Roman Gaul
References
- Vita Genovefae, ed. Krusch, MGH SRM 3 (1896), 204–238.
- McNamara, Halborg, and Whatley, trans., Sainted Women of the Dark Ages (Duke University Press, 1992), “Genovefa, Virgin of Paris.”
- Heinzelmann and Poulin, Les vies anciennes de sainte Geneviève de Paris (Champion, 1986).