The Martyrdom and Relics

Tradition predominantly remembers Matthew as a martyr, killed in the land of his mission, though an early and quieter strand may imply a peaceful death; the manner of the martyrdom varies from source to source. His relics have been venerated since the eleventh century at Salerno in southern Italy, where he is the patron of the city. This file reports the martyrdom traditions and the counter-strand, pinned to attestation, and traces the relics to Salerno.

Tradition: Pan-Orthodox (Apostle and Evangelist)

The Martyrdom Traditions

The prevailing tradition, carried by the apocryphal Martyrdom of Matthew, the Byzantine synaxaria, and the Western martyrologies, is that Matthew died a martyr in the country of his mission — most often located in “Ethiopia” — put to death for the faith, in many tellings by fire, in others by the sword or spear, in others by being pinned to the ground (see The Apocryphal Acts). The variety in the manner of death is significant: the recensions disagree among themselves, and the synaxaria and martyrologies do not transmit a single fixed account but several incompatible ones. This is the mark of a tradition that grew to honor a martyr whose actual death was not precisely remembered, rather than the residue of a firmly preserved historical event. The Orthodox menaia for November 16 commemorate Matthew as a martyr, and the iconography sometimes shows the instrument of his death, but the specifics belong to the legendary stratum and are reported as such (methodology §3.5).

A quieter and earlier strand cuts against the martyrdom tradition, or at least sits uneasily with it. Clement of Alexandria, in a passage preserved by Eusebius, names apostles who lived to a natural old age and did not die by martyrdom, and elsewhere (in the Stromateis) discusses Matthew’s ascetic manner of life — that he “partook of seeds and nuts and vegetables, without flesh” — in a way that some have read as implying a peaceful end (Clement of Alexandria, Stromateis 2.20; cf. the list of apostles who were married, Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History 3.30; NPNF II/1). Heracleon, as cited by Clement, included Matthew among those apostles who did not die a martyr’s death but ended their lives naturally (Clement, Stromateis 4.9; ANF 2). [Disputed: whether Matthew died a martyr. The dominant later tradition (the apocryphal *Martyrdom of Matthew*; the Byzantine synaxaria; the Western martyrologies) reports a martyrdom, though it disagrees on the manner (fire, sword, spear). An early counter-strand — Heracleon as cited by Clement of Alexandria, *Stromateis* 4.9, listing apostles who did not die by martyrdom — may place Matthew among those who died naturally. The early evidence does not settle the question; the martyrdom is the prevailing memory but not securely attested.]

The Relics and Salerno

The relics associated with Matthew have their firm historical home in Salerno, on the Tyrrhenian coast of southern Italy, where they rest in the crypt of the cathedral and Matthew is honored as the city’s patron. According to the local tradition the body was brought to the region in the early Christian centuries and, after various translations, was deposited at Salerno; the relics were solemnly enshrined there in 1080, when the Norman prince Robert Guiscard, who had taken Salerno, built the great cathedral and dedicated it to Saint Matthew, translating the relics into the new crypt. The cathedral of Salerno (San Matteo) has been the center of Matthew’s Western cult ever since, and his feast there (in the Western calendar, September 21) draws the city’s devotion. The provenance of the relics before Salerno — the route from the land of his mission to southern Italy — is carried only by the local and medieval traditions and cannot be established as history; what is firm is that since the eleventh century Salerno has been the recognized resting-place and that Matthew is the city’s patron saint. [Disputed: the pre-Salerno history of the relics. That the relics of the Apostle Matthew rest at Salerno and were enshrined in the cathedral built by Robert Guiscard (dedicated 1080) is the settled Western tradition; the earlier translations by which the body is said to have reached southern Italy are carried by medieval local tradition and are not independently verifiable.]

The Two Calendars and the One Memory

The Western feast at Salerno (September 21) and the Orthodox feast (November 16) commemorate the same apostle and evangelist; the difference of date reflects the different calendars and martyrologies of East and West rather than any disagreement about the man. In both, Matthew is venerated as one of the Twelve, an evangelist, and (in the dominant tradition) a martyr. The relics at Salerno belong to the period after the schism and to the Western Church’s keeping; the Orthodox veneration of Matthew rests, as it always has, on his Gospel, his apostleship, and the Church’s commemoration, and does not depend on access to the relics. The honest position holds together the firm and the uncertain: firm that Matthew is venerated across the Church as apostle and evangelist and that Salerno has kept relics under his name for nearly a thousand years; uncertain on the manner of his death and the route of the relics, where the traditions are late, plural, and unverifiable.

See Also

References

  • Clement of Alexandria. Stromateis 2.20 (Matthew’s abstinence); 4.9 (Heracleon on apostles who did not die by martyrdom). Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. 2.
  • Eusebius of Caesarea. The Ecclesiastical History 3.30 (married apostles); 3.25 (apocryphal acts). Trans. McGiffert. NPNF II/1.
  • The Martyrdom of the Holy Apostle and Evangelist Matthew. In Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. 8.
  • The Great Synaxaristes of the Orthodox Church, November 16. Trans. Holy Apostles Convent, Buena Vista, CO.
  • On Salerno: the cathedral of San Matteo and the 1080 dedication under Robert Guiscard (local and standard hagiographical tradition).