medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
> Sequanus (Seine) (d. c. 580) Sequanus sounds suspiciously like a
> pre-Christian river god, reduced to human status.
As you say, Phyllis, undoubtedly a case of euhemerization. Although studies of holy
wells and springs have been made, they were so ubiquitous that I can't help thinking
that their presence in medieval religion has been greatly underestimated. There
were lots of local saints' shrines that featured miraculous water sources, and
hundreds of such Marian shrines. I am currently becoming more au fait with
Byzantine pilgrimage sites, and the same phenomenon is widely disseminated in
the eastern Mediterranean, as well. And as Peter Opie, past president of the
Folklore Society, has observed, one cannot observe any contained body of water --
e.g. a fountain in any suburban shopping mall -- without seeing votive sacrifices, in
terms of smallish coins, made in plenty, even though, I am sure, the people that
made them do not consider themselves adherents of ancient, pre-Christian
religions. This is a phenomenon that deserves far more serious study.
Cheers,
Jim Bugslag
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