Vita Severini#

Vita Severini, chronology of the life of St. Severinus titled "Gedenkschrift" (Commemoratorium), completed by his companion Eugippius at the monastery of Lucullanum near Naples in 511. The work centres around the person of the saint and his work. Vita Severini was written at the close of Roman rule in Austria and is a unique source of information about life in those days: The Roman people lived in castellets turned into fortified settlements in which they were safe from raiding and looting Germanic groups. Outside the walls stretched corn fields, meadows, orchards and vineyards. According to the Roman Mediterranean tradition, the inhabitants of Lauriacum used olive oil for cooking and lighting, which had to be imported from far. The Romans shopped at the weekly markets held by the Rugi who lived on the northern Danube shore opposite Favianis (Mautern). Religious life found many expressions: prayer, fasting, almsgiving, nocturnal deathwatches and memorial services for the dead, rogation and communion services. The religious communities founded by Severinus observed fixed times of prayer; bishops, presbyters, deacons, door keepers, church singers, monks and a virgin dedicated to God are reported. The oldest reference to a Vita Severini text in the Austrian-Bavarian area is a document from the year 903 mentioning a Vita Severini among the manuscripts in the possession of the suffragan bishop of Passau, Madalwin.

Literature#