L'agiografia di Romedio tra reminiscenze cristiane ed echi classici

Romedius (or Remedius), descendant of a noble family from Thaur, in the Inn Valley, near Innsbruck, gave all his properties to the Episcopal Churches of Trento and Augsburg after the death of his parents, before retreating in prayer and meditation in the Non Valley, in the woods near Sanzeno, where he spent the rest of his life. A sanctuary was built over his grave, which is still an important pilgrimage destination. According to all his five Vitae, written between the 13th and the 14th centuries in the Trentino-Tyrolean area, Romedius lived in the 4th century: in fact, he is constantly depicted in good terms with saint Vigilius, bishop of Trento between 385 and 405. However, this chronology seems to be contradicted by several other details contained in these Vitae, which lead us to place Romedius around the 11th century. In particular, a Christian memory from the Vita Antonii and a classical echo from the Metamorphoses of Apuleius may testify on behalf of the literary construction of the legend of Romedius in some of its parts.