medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Today (23. October) is the feast day of:
Boethius (d. 524) Boethius was a noted scholar and philosopher who
dedicated himself to translating the works of the Greek philosophers into
Latin. He also wrote theological works. In his spare time, Boethius was a
statesman in the service of Theodoric the Ostrogoth. But he was suspected
of involvement in a plot to regain Italy for the (eastern) Roman emperor,
was imprisoned, and eventually "martyred" (although I confess that his
execution has always seemed quite reasonable on the part of Theodoric).
Ethelfleda (fl. c. 960) Ethelfleda was a daughter of Ethelwold of Wessex.
He gave her to the nunnery of Romsey (which he had founded) at a young age,
and she eventually became abbess. Farmer mentions that Ethelfleda had the
rather interesting ascetic habit for a medieval nun of bathing in the nude
at night-time; when E. once stayed at court, the queen was so curious where
E. went that she followed---and was stricken by a nervous illness that
could only be cured by E's intercession.
Giovanni Bono (Jambonus) of Mantua (d. 1249) (blessed) Giovanni lived an
active life in the world until the age of 40, when he became a hermit.
Apparently a very charismatic hermit, since he attracted so many followers
that over time he founded more than 20 monasteries in Lombardy and Emilia
Romagna to house them all. This congregation, the Jambonites (which sounds
to me like "the hams" or maybe "ham-ists"), along with other eremitical
congregations, was incorporated into the order of Augustinian hermits in
1256. Jambonus himself was beatified in 1483.
John of Capistrano (d. 1456) John was born at Capistrano (the Abruzzi,
Italy), studied law, married, and became governor of Perugia. But he and
his wife separated and John became a Franciscan at the age of thirty. He
lived a life of extreme asceticism, studied theology, and became a
successful preacher. John was also active in the reform of the Franciscan
Observants. The last years of John's life were spent as a crusade preacher
(after the fall of Constantinople in 1453); he is credited, along with the
Hungarian general, Hunyady, with inspiring the great victory over the Turks
at Belgrade in 1456.
Dr. Phyllis G. Jestice
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