!!!Severin, Heiliger

b. Jan. 8, 482 in  Favianis (Favianae, today Mautern); referred 
to as the apostle of the Noricum ripense (the north-eastern part of 
Noricum province), which is not entirely correct. It is not known 
where S. came from, he is supposed to have been a descendant of the 
educated nobility from the Latin-speaking western part of the Roman 
empire. Came to Noricum ripense from the east some time after Attila's 
death in 453 and possibly held political office in this region for 
some time. After a short stay at Asturis (possibly Zwentendorf) and in 
 Comagena (Tulln), he made Favianis the centre of his activities, 
where he also founded a monastery. His activities were concentrated in 
Noricum ripense but also extended from Kuenzing in Bavaria up to 
Cucullis (Kuchl) on the River Salzach; He also had relations to  
Teurnia in the centre of Noricum. S. tried to maintain public order, 
organised supplies of food and clothes, liberated deportees and 
introduced the tithe (mainly in kind) to raise the necessary means; he 
also took an active interest in the religious life of the Romans, and 
took on military and diplomatic functions. S. slowly managed to clear 
the towns along the upper Danube from Roman occupation, so that the 
Romans ultimately lived in the area around Favianis, which was 
controlled by the Rugi. He maintained close relations with the House 
of the  Rugi and at the same time with the family of the last Western 
Roman emperor; during a visit to  Odoaker he prophesied that his host 
was to ascend to the throne. S. led an ascetic life, again and again 
retreated to pray in solitude and refused honours of the church. When 
the Romans were forced to leave in 488, the congregation of monks 
founded by S. took his mortal remains along. They were buried in 
Lucullanum near Naples, the residence of the deposed last emperor of 
the Western Roman empire. Today S.'s relics rest in the church of 
Frattamaggiore. The description of his life, written by his pupil  
Eugippius, the  Vita Severini, constitutes a unique source of 
information on the time of the declining Roman empire in Austria.

!Literature
F. Lotter, Severinus von Noricum, 1976; Eugippius, Das 
Leben des hl. Severin, introduction, translation and explanations by 
R. Noll, 1981; S. zw. Roemerzeit und Voelkerwanderung, exhibition 
catalogue, Enns 1982.


%%language
[Back to the Austrian Version|AEIOU/Severin,_Heiliger|class='wikipage austrian']
%%

[{FreezeArticle author='AEIOU' template='Lexikon_1995_englisch'}]
[{ALLOW view All}][{ALLOW comment All}][{ALLOW edit FreezeAdmin}]