medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Today (22. February) is the feast day of:
1) The Chair of St. Peter the Apostle. This feast is first mentioned in the _Depositio martyrum_ of the Chronographer of 354: _natale Petri de Cathedra_. In the late fifth century Perpetuus of Tours calls it _Natalis S. Petri episcopatus_. When the Cathedra Petri came to be celebrated on 18. January, the two feasts were differentiated by calling that one the feast of of the Chair of Peter at Rome and today's feast that of the Chair of Peter _at Antioch_ (commemorating P.'s elevation to the episcopate in that city). Both feasts are already present in the early eighth-century Calendar of St. Willibrord. With the suppression in 1960 of the 18. January feast the specification "of Antioch" was dropped from today's celebration.
Here's an expandable view of of P. enthroned from Giotto's Stefaneschi Triptych (ca. 1330):
http://tinyurl.com/27lg2o
2) Maximus of Ravenna (d. 556). M. was born at Pola in Istria, today's Pula in Croatia. In 546, at the behest of the emperor Justinian, he was made bishop of Ravenna. According to Agnellus of Ravenna, this appointment was so unpopular within the city (which had wished to name a bishop of its own choosing) that M. was compelled initially to reside outside it as a guest of the Arian bishop of the Goths. M. is sometimes said to have been the first bishop in the west to employ the title of archbishop. He is known for the churches he built or restored, both in Ravenna and in Pula.
One of M.'s churches in Ravenna is San Vitale, where he he is portrayed in a mosaic perhaps more familiar for its portrait of his imperial sponsor:
http://tinyurl.com/3x3vhz
That image comes from a four-page site on San Vitale:
http://tinyurl.com/2vbjpg
A discussion of the latter's mosaics occurs on this page:
http://www.initaly.com/regions/byzant/byzant4.htm
Another of M.'s churches is the much rebuilt St. Mary Formosa at Pula. There's an English-language account of it here:
http://www.mdc.hr/pula/eng/spomenici/spomenici07.htm
One of the treasures of the archdiocese of Ravenna-Cervia is this mid-sixth-century episcopal chair (ivory over wood) known as the Throne of Maximianus:
http://tinyurl.com/286h9u
http://tinyurl.com/yqt5oj
M.'s remains, along with those of the fifth-century bishop St. Exuperantius, are said to repose in this sarcophagus in Ravenna's cathedral:
http://www.heiligenlexikon.de/Fotos/Maximianus_von_Ravenna2.jpg
3) Margaret of Cortona (d. 1297) . The Franciscan tertiary and visionary M. founded at today's Cortona (AR) in Tuscany a community of religious women that survived her and that through her confessor, Giunta Bevegnati, promoted her cause (Giunta is the principal author of the _Legenda de vita et miraculis beatae Margaritae de Cortona_ [BHL 5314]). She was canonized in 1728.
Here's an expandable view of a late thirteenth-century panel painting of M. and of scenes from her Legend:
http://tinyurl.com/26t62r
Best,
John Dillon
**********************************************************************
To join the list, send the message: join medieval-religion YOUR NAME
to: [log in to unmask]
To send a message to the list, address it to:
[log in to unmask]
To leave the list, send the message: leave medieval-religion
to: [log in to unmask]
In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to:
[log in to unmask]
For further information, visit our web site:
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/medieval-religion.html
|