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Susanna of Rome

Christian saint martyed in 295

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionMay 16, 2026
Entity authorityQ272987
Source-derived summary

Susanna of Rome (fl. 3rd century) was a Christian martyr of the Diocletianic Persecution. Her existing hagiography, written between about 450 and 500 AD, is of no historical value and the relations it attributes to Susanna are entirely fictitious. It is probable that a real martyr named Susanna lies behind the literary invention.

Her feast day is on 11 August in the Roman Martyrology, but since 1969 her veneration has been limited to the Church of Santa Susanna in Rome. She has no connection to Saint Tiburtius, who is commemorated on the same day. The Church of Santa Susanna was originally that of Gaius, but by 595 it was named after Susanna, possibly because of the popularity of her hagiography.

In addition to her main shrine in Rome, a church exists in Santiago de Compostela dedicated to her; it was first built in the early twelfth century after her relics were translated from Braga to Compostela by Diego Gelmírez according to the Historia Compostelana. Susanna is the co-patron of the city along with St. James.

Editorial summary

“Susanna of Rome” enters the record as christian saint martyed in 295. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Susanna, Rome and Christian can confirm, complicate or overturn.

Editorial reviewA practical starting point whose main value is the path it opens into stronger specialist and primary sources. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1969—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 0280-01-01. Its strongest next move is a source search built around Susanna, Rome and Christian.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

“Susanna of Rome” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Susanna, Rome and Christian provides the most credible route into that argument.

Evidence profile

The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 16, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q272987. VIAF identifies the subject as 10642202. 2 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1969.

Critical limits

Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

Best used for
  • Subject orientation
  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
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The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Susanna of Rome”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Susanna of Rome primary sources, Susanna of Rome archive and Susanna research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Susanna of Rome”?
  2. Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
  3. Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Susanna of Rome” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.