The Life of Hyginus from la Luz in Murcia (South-East Spain): A Possible Imitation of Late Roman Hagiographical models

Abstract

Nineteenth-century Scholar Javier Fuentes y Ponte affirmed he could read in an now dissapeared manuscript the story of an anachorete named Hyginus who was disciple of Saint Genesius (Spanish San Ginés) and came from the monastery of his master placed in San Ginés de la Jara (Cartagena Fields) to South Murcia in the 9th century and founded there the rock monasteries and eremitories in the mountains of La Luz. This Information has been considered just a fake by Fuentes himself and therefore it was regarded as very doubtful by the majority of later historians. Even if the lost manuscript was written in modern times it remains still unclear why the anonymous writer knew that there was a late roman chapel placed in a cementery where Saint Hyginus was supposed to to pray and whose existence was fully unknown by Archaeologists until recent times.

Besides Hyginus’ story has many topics of traditional hagiographies, we hypothesize the Hyginus’ lost Life was written in Saint Genesius Monastery and was part of a some late accounts about Saint Ginés Life and his disciples that they still existed in the 16th century and were read and explained to incoming pilgrims.