Petroco'riusor PETRICO'RDIUS (PAULINUS). Among the various Paulini who flourished in the Western Empire
in the fifth century, was Paulinus, called in the MSS. Petricordius, which modern critics
correct to Petrocorius. and suppose to be given him from the place of his birth, inferred to
be Petrocorii, the modern Perigueux. Some moderns have erroneously given to him the praenomen
Benedictus; an error which has arisen from their having regarded as a name the epithet
"benedictus," "blessed," given to him by some who have confounded him with his more celebrated
namesake, Paulinus of Nola [PAULIXNS. p. 144]. Sidonius Apollinaris
(Epistol. 8.11) mentions a Paulinus, an eminent rhetorician of
Perigueux, whom Sirmond supposed to be the subject of the present article, but whom the
authors of the
Histoire Littéraire de la France consider, but with
little reason, to be his father. Our Paulinus was intimate with Perpetuus, who was bishop of
Tours from
A. D. 461 to 491, and whom he calls his patron. It was at
the desire of Perpetuus that he put into verse the life of St. Martin of Tours; and in an
epistle addressed to that prelate, he humbly tells him, with an amusing reference to the
history of Balaam, that, in giving him confidence to speak, he had repeated the miracle of
opening the mouth of the ass. He afterwards supplied, at the desire of the bishop, some verses
to be inscribed on the walls of the new church which Perpetuus finished about
A. D. 473 (or according to Oudin,
A. D. 482), and
to which the body of St. Martin was transferred. He sent with them some verses
De Visitatione Nepotuli sui, on occasion of the cure, supposed to be miraculous, which
his grandson and the young lady to whom he was married or betrothed, had experienced through
the efficacy of a document, apparently the account of the miracles of St. Martin, written by
the hand of the bishop. We gather that this poem was written when the author was old, from the
circumstance of his having a grandson of marriageable age. Of the death of Paulinus we have no
account.
Works
The works of Paulinus Petrocorius are :--
1.
De Vita S. Martinia poem in hexameter verse, divided into six books. It has little poetical or other merit.
The first three books are little else than a versified abridgement of the
De Beati
Martini Vita Liber of Sulpicius Severus; and the fourth and fifth comprehend the
incidents mentioned in the
Dialogi II. et III. de Virtutibus Beati Martini of
the same author. The sixth book comprises a description of the miracles which had been
wrought at the tomb of St. Martin, under the eyes of Perpetuus, who had sent an account of
them to Paulinus.
2.
De Visitatione Nepotuli suia description of the miraculous cure of his grandson already mentioned; also written in
hexameter verse.
3.
De Orantibus (an inappropriate title, which should rather be
Orantibus
simply, or
Ad Orantes,) apparently a portion of the hexameter
verses designed to be inscribed on the walls of the new church built by Perpetuus.
4.
Perpetuo Episcopo Eistola.This letter was sent to Perpetuus, with the verses
De
Visitatione and
De Orantibus.Editions
The works of Paulinus Petrocorius were first printed by Franciscus Juretus, Paris,
1585. Some writers have spoken, but without foundation, of an earlier edition printed
at Dijon : Juretus ascribed the works to Paulinus of Nola, an error which is as ancient as
the time of Gregory of Tours and Fortunatus of Poictiers, by whom it was shared.
After the first publication of the works they were inserted in several collections of
the Christian poets, and in some editions (e. g. Paris, 1575, 1589, and Cologne, 1618) of
the Bibliotheca Patrum, generally, however, under the name of Paulinus of
Nola.In the Lyon edition of the Bibliotheca Patrum, fol. 1677, vol. vi. p.
297, &c., they are ascribed to their right author.
They were again published by Christianus Daumius, 8vo. Leipzig, 1686, with ample
notes of Juretus, Barthius, Gronovius, and Daumius. To the works of our Paulinus were
subjoined in this edition, the
Eucharisticon of Paulinus the Penitent, or
Paulinus of Pella [
PAULINUS, and the poem on Jonah and the
Ninevites, ascribed to Tertullian.
Further Information
Histoire Littéraire de la France, vol. ii. p. 469, &c.;
Cave, Hist. Litt. ad ann. 461, vol. i. p. 449, fol. Oxon. 1740-1743;
Fabric. Biblioth. Mediae et Infimae Latinitat. vol. v. p. 206, ed.
Mansi; Tillemont, Mémoires, vol. xvi. p. 404 ; Oudin, De Scriptoribus et Scriptis Eccles. vol. i. col. 1288-1289.
[J.C.M](author.J.C.M)]