Avenging of the Savior (Vindicta Salvatoris). Also known as the Vengeance of the Saviour. A noncanonical, early medieval Latin text, containing legendary details of the passion of Christ, the character of Veronica, and the death of Pilate (begun in the Acts of Pilate). The Avenging of the Savior belongs to a group of texts called the Pilate Cycle, which includes works like the Death of Pilate and the Narrative by Joseph of Arimathea. This work was never widely authoritative in the early church period, nor could it have been based on its late date.

According to Avenging of the Savior, Pilate came to rest in a Swiss alpine lake after his death (Burke, Secret Scriptures, 83). As in the Death of Pilate, the Avenging narrates the healing of Emperor Tiberius by the veil of Veronica. In this tradition, the image of Jesus was transferred to the veil when Veronica wiped Jesus’ face as he journeyed to the cross (Klauck, Apocryphal Gospels, 98). (Veronica is the name this tradition gives to the hemorrhaging woman.)

The Avenging of the Savior is a much later addition to a larger body of literature that attempts to fill in the gaps left by the canonical Gospels; its contents are useful for the study of medieval Christianity, but not for historical Jesus studies.