>>> Martin Howley >>>
I have just checked the Name of the Rose and discovered that I was barking
up the wrong tree. William of Baskerville is the one who refers to the
skull (not 'head') of the Baptist and is indeed making a joke at the
expense of the more extravagant claims of the cult of relics. Please
ignore my last posting!
<<<
Oops! I should have checked that myself before bringing the subject up in
the first place. The basic question (of how close Eco's fictional example
is to anything that was actually attested) is still more or less valid, I
suppose, but I'd forgotten the nature of the reference in the story ...
apologies.
If there were such ridiculous claims, I suppose I'd mainly expect to find
references to them in the context of a critique or denunciation, so Guibert
of Nogent seems like the right type of source ...
Jonathan Gilbert
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