medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Today (23. February) is the feast day of:
Polycarp of Smyrna and companions (d. c. 155) Polycarp had been a disciple
of John the Evangelist (according to Irenaeus) before becoming bishop of
Smyrna in c. 96. He and twelve other Christians were burned alive in the
amphitheater in the reign of Marcus Aurelius. The account of this is the
earliest surviving acta of any Christian martyr.
Doritheus of Gaza (d. c. 640) Dorotheus was abbot of a monastery near
Gaza, and a popular ascetic writer.
Milburga (d. 715) Daughter of a family of multiple saints, Milburga became
the second abbess of Wenlock (Shropshire, England), founded by her father
(a king of Mercia). The nunnery flourished in her time, only to be
destroyed in the viking period; her relics were rediscovered when the house
was refounded after the Norman conquest.
Lazarus Zographus (d. c. 867) The Armenian Lazarus became a monk in
Constantinople, famed as a painter (his nickname means "the painter") who
restored defaced icons in the reign of the iconoclast emperor Theophilus.
Legend says that he was tortured for this. But he survived, and ended his
life while on an embassy to Rome.
Willigis of Mainz (d. 1011) Willigis was the son of a wheelwright and one
of the great success stories of this era of German history (in which it was
extremely rare for anyone but a noble to rise in the church). W. became a
canon at Hildesheim, then imperial chaplain, and chancellor in 971. On top
of this, he was made archbishop of Mainz in 975. A key political player,
whose support was decisive in allowing the child Otto III to keep his
throne and in the election of Henry II, I confess that I have no idea why
he's regarded as a saint.
Ordonius (d. 1066) Ordonius was a Cluniac monk of Sahagun (near Leon,
Spain). He became bishop of Astorga in 1062.
Dr. Phyllis G. Jestice
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