Il nome di Mansueto arcivescovo di Milano (c. 672-681)

Abstract

On each side of the golden altar in the basilica of St Ambrose in Milan four saints are portrayed: on the right side are St Ambrose with the martyrs Gervasius, Protasius, and the bishop Simplicianus; on the left St Martin of Tours with the martyr Nabor, Nazarius, and a bishop of Milan, whose name is abbreviated as MANV. The full form of the name has been read as Maternus, whereas it has to be read as Mansuetus. Mansuetus (fl. 679-80) is the author of a letter sent to the emperor Constantine IV Pogonatus for the Sixth Oecumenical Council of Constantinople, which is transmitted by 19 manuscripts. Eight of these MSS are 9th-Century and almost contemporary with the golden altar. A copy of Mansuetus' letter is included in MS Vat. Lat. 268, the final volume of a 12th-Century comprehensive collection of Ambrose's works, written on the initiative of Martino Corbo, praepositus of the Basilica (fl. 1126-1152). This MS testifies to a lasting tradition, still connecting Mansuetus with St Ambrose.