Pontius Pilate Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ===Later legends=== [[File:Pontius Pilatus angebl Grabmal Vienne (IZ 48-1867 S 266 JResch).jpg|thumb|19th-century lithograph of the supposed tomb of Pontius Pilate in [[Vienne, Isère|Vienne]], France. In fact, it is a decorated {{Lang|la|spina|italics=yes}} from a Roman [[circus (building)|circus]].{{sfn|Grüll|2010|p=164}}]] Beginning in the eleventh century, more extensive legendary biographies of Pilate were written in Western Europe, adding details to information provided by the bible and apocrypha.{{sfn|Martin|1973|p=99}} The legend exists in many different versions and was extremely widespread in both Latin and the vernacular, and each version contains significant variation, often relating to local traditions.{{sfn|Martin|1973|p=102}} ====Early "biographies"==== The earliest extant legendary biography is the ''De Pilato'' of {{circa|1050}}, with three further Latin versions appearing in the mid-twelfth century, followed by many vernacular translations.{{sfn|Martin|1973|pp=102–103, 106}} Howard Martin summarizes the general content of these legendary biographies as follows: a king who was skilled in [[astrology]] and named Atus lived in [[Mainz]]. The king reads in the stars that he will bear a son who will rule over many lands, so he has a miller's daughter named Pila brought to him whom he impregnates; Pilate's name thus results from the combination of the names ''Pila'' with ''Atus''. A few years later, Pilate is brought to his father's court where he kills his half-brother. As a result, he is sent as a hostage to Rome, where he kills another hostage. As punishment he is sent to the island of Pontius, whose inhabitants he subjugates, thus acquiring the name Pontius Pilate. King Herod hears of this accomplishment and asks him to come to Palestine to aid his rule there; Pilate comes but soon usurps Herod's power.{{sfn|Martin|1973|pp=101–102}} The trial and judgment of Jesus then happens as in the gospels. The emperor in Rome is suffering from a terrible disease at this time, and hearing of Christ's healing powers, sends for him only to learn from [[Saint Veronica]] that Christ has been crucified, but she possesses a cloth with the image of his face. Pilate is taken as a prisoner with her to Rome to be judged, but every time the emperor sees Pilate to condemn him, his anger dissipates. This is revealed to be because Pilate is wearing Jesus's coat; when the coat is removed, the Emperor condemns him to death, but Pilate commits suicide first. The body is first thrown in the Tiber, but because it causes storms it is then moved to Vienne, and then thrown in a lake in the high Alps.{{sfn|Martin|1973|pp=102–103}} One important version of the Pilate legend is found in the ''[[Golden Legend]]'' by [[Jacobus de Voragine]] (1263–1273 CE), one of the most popular books of the later Middle Ages.{{sfn|Martin|1973|p=109}} In the ''Golden Legend'', Pilate is portrayed as closely associated with [[Judas]], first coveting the fruit in the orchard of Judas's father Ruben, then granting Judas Ruben's property after Judas has killed his own father.{{sfn|Hourihane|2009|p=234}} ====Western Europe==== Several places in Western Europe have traditions associated with Pilate. The cities of [[Lyon]] and [[Vienne, Isère|Vienne]] in modern France claim to be Pilate's birthplace: Vienne has a ''Maison de Pilate'', a ''Prétoire de Pilate'' and a ''Tour de Pilate''.{{sfn|Demandt|2012|p=104}} One tradition states that Pilate was banished to Vienne where a Roman ruin is associated with his tomb; according to another, Pilate took refuge in a mountain (now called [[Mount Pilatus]]) in modern Switzerland, before eventually committing suicide in a lake on its summit.{{sfn|Grüll|2010|p=164}} This connection to Mount Pilatus is attested from 1273 CE onwards, while [[Lake Lucerne]] has been called "Pilatus-See" (Pilate Lake) beginning in the fourteenth century.{{sfn|Demandt|2012|pp=104–105}} A number of traditions also connected Pilate to Germany. In addition to Mainz, [[Bamberg]], [[Hausen, Upper Franconia]] were also claimed to be his place of birth, while some traditions place his death in the [[Saarland]].{{sfn|Demandt|2012|pp=105–106}} The town of [[Tarragona]] in modern Spain possesses a first-century Roman tower, which, since the eighteenth-century, has been called the "Torre del Pilatos," in which Pilate is claimed to have spent his last years.{{sfn|Grüll|2010|p=164}} The tradition may go back to a misread Latin inscription on the tower.{{sfn|Grüll|2010|p=165}} The cities of [[Huesca]] and [[Seville]] are other cities in Spain associated with Pilate.{{sfn|Demandt|2012|p=104}} Per a local legend,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/pontius-pilates-scottish-roots-a-joke-rk0qms770t6 |title=Pontius Pilate's Scottish roots 'a joke' |newspaper=The Times |first=Mark |last=Macaskill |date=2010-01-03 |url-access=limited |access-date=2020-01-17 }}</ref> the village of [[Fortingall]] in Scotland claims to be Pilate's birthplace, but this is almost certainly a 19th-century invention—particularly as the Romans did not invade the British Isles until 43.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.scotsman.com/news-2-15012/mystery-of-the-5-000-year-old-yew-of-fortingall-1-4292618 |newspaper=The Scotsman |title=Mystery of the '5,000-year-old' yew of Fortingall |first=Alison |last=Campsie |date=2016-11-17 |access-date=2020-01-17 }}</ref> ====Eastern Christianity==== Pilate was also the subject of legends in Eastern Christianity. The Byzantine chronicler [[George Kedrenos]] ({{circa|1100}}) wrote that Pilate was condemned by Caligula to die by being left in the sun enclosed in the skin of a freshly slaughtered cow, together with a chicken, a snake, and a monkey.{{sfn|Demandt|2012|pp=102–103}} In a legend from medieval [[Rus' (region)|Rus']], Pilate attempts to save [[Saint Stephen]] from being executed; Pilate, his wife and children have themselves baptized and bury Stephen in a gilded silver coffin. Pilate builds a church in the honor of Stephen, Gamaliel, and Nicodemus, who were martyred with Stephen. Pilate dies seven months later.{{sfn|Demandt|2012|p=106}} In the medieval [[Slavonic Josephus]], an [[Old Church Slavonic]] translation of Josephus, with legendary additions, Pilate kills many of Jesus's followers but finds Jesus innocent. After Jesus heals Pilate's wife of a fatal illness, the Jews bribe Pilate with 30 talents to crucify Jesus.{{sfn|Demandt|1999|pp=69–70}} Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page