Medieval Hagiography and Marulić\u27s Lives of the Apostles and Church Fathers

Part of Marulić’s poetic legacy in Latin is the cycle De duodecim apostolis. Apart from the twelve apostles, Marulić also sang of Paul and his assistant St Barnabas, and Simon and Jude, who were treated in a single poem. Thus a cycle of 13 poems was created. In these Marulić continues the tradition of medieval prose and poems about the cults of the saints. From the abundant literature of this kind, his main models were probably the Legenda aurea of Jacobus de Voragine and Church History of Eusebius of Caesarea. The writer first of all gives a short review of prose and poetical works about the apostles created in the Middle Ages, and then recounts some of the characteristics of Marulić’s procedures. On the whole Marulić relies on the legendary tales of apostolic missionary travels and acts, but where he has any more reliable sources (for SS. Peter and Paul for example) he ignores the legendary sources, and frames his poetical account according to the more canonical data that he draws from the Acts of the Apostles