De la Vitae Patrum la Acta Sanctorum. Un curriculum vitae bollandist
From Vitae Patrum to Acta Sanctorum. A Curriculum Vitae of the Bollandist Society

Summary/Abstract: Anyone who was interested in the knowledge of monasticism that flourished in the first centuries of Christianity could not avoid the great collection of texts gathered by Héribert Rosweyde, published in Utrecht in 1569 and in Antwerp in 1629 under the title Vitae Patrum, published in the end of 1615-1616, exactly more than 407 years ago. This Jesuit monk played an essential role in the development of hagiographical studies, as well as the literature on monastic life and spirituality, as specialist studies note.Rosweyde's contribution consists of two essential points: the compilation of a large corpus of lives and words of the first monks, but also the composition - above all - of a scientific edition, taking into account the philological methods of the time, of these texts. This involved researching manuscripts and older editions, compiling introductions to texts, notes and marginalia to commentaries, compiling indexes, etc.The story of the Vitae Patrum was not to end with Rosweyde's edition. Not only did he give birth to the Bollandist Society - named after J. Bollandus - but he also supported the resumption of research undertaken by Rosweyde, after the latter's death, with the success we know. Nevertheless, the working tools have been developed on a large scale and have now come to allow the research begun by Rosweyde 407 years ago to be deepened.As an initial information and general observation, based on the information discovered and researched, we can say that the Acta Sanctorum (Acts of the Saints) is an encyclopedic text, made up of 68 folio volumes of documents, in which the lives of Christian saints are presented - and studied . In essence, we are dealing with a critical hagiography, organized according to the feast day of each saint.The project was conceived and started by the Jesuit Heribert Rosweyde. After his death in 1629, the Jesuit scholar Jean Bolland continued the work, which was gradually completed over the centuries by the Bollandist monks, who continued to edit and publish the Acta Sanctorum. The Bollandists elaborated and worked on this project, first in Antwerp and then in Brussels. The Acta Sanctorum began with two volumes dedicated to the saints of January, which were published in 1643.In addition to the extraordinary amount of biographical material, extensively researched, the Acta Sanctorum broke new ground in the use of historical criticism, as we shall point out below. The Acta Sanctorum is constructed in the form of a series of three hundred and sixty-five volumes, which correspond to the dates of the calendar; each part of the volume divided into a series of monographs dedicated to the saints honored on that day.Today, we would have to resort to different journals for the publication of all these additional materials. But we must be aware of the fact that the Bollandists at the beginning could not, simply, free themselves from some pretensions; but neither could they overcome the possibilities offered to them in that era. In order to diminish a certain impact found in certain dissertations - such as those of Father Pien on the deaconesses and those of Stiltinf on the conversion of the Russians - it is well not to ignore this aspect.What is important not to lose sight of is that we were dealing - in most of them - with works that are closely related to hagiography; the inclusion of these comments that the meeting is and can be justified. For this reason we may say that it cannot be denied that these commentaries and ancillary works on the lives and passions of the saints have helped to form a series of volumes in which the critical presentation predominates, even if it sometimes proves to be an unduly heavy one.

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