My sense is that the idea of "patrons" developed only very slowly,
beginning in about the twelfth century and reaching the fullness of
expression only in the mid-twentieth century. I would hypothesize that one
important impetus toward the sense of particular saints having particular
responsibilites lies in healing shrines, where, beginning in the twelfth
century in earnest, some shrines became well known for certain kinds of
cures -- for instance, the water from the Hand of St. James at REading,
about which we've had some discussion here, had a reputation for being
helpful for maladies of the eyes. As saints grew more differentiated from
one another in the way they were understood posthumously, such
specializations in healing opened way for other kinds of specializations.
(It is my sense also -- and I'd be happy to be corrected here -- that this
specialization in healing may have occurred substantially earlier at the
shrines of Welsh, Irish, and Breton saints.)
Even deeper roots, though, come from the more general idea of
patronage--the sense that persons and institutions entered into personal
[posthumous] relationships with the saints, who would reliably come to
their aid in time of trouble. Of course Peter Brown and Tom Head have both
written eloquently about this kind of general patronage.
I recall vaguely that Vauchez in his book on sanctity has a little
discussion about patronage in the later sense.
Patrick Nugent
>> From: [log in to unmask] [SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
>>
>> The story of St. Sithney is great. It made me wonder, oh learned
>> listmembers: when did it become common to attribute special patronage for
>> particular saints---e.g., of young girls, of dogs, of eye diseases, of
>> lost
>> causes, etc.? The vitae I've read (admittedly none later than the early
>> twelfth century) have most saints curing all sorts of odd ailments. Is
>> there a time that there is a shift from multi-purpose to specialized?
>>
> Considering the large number of saints who were apparently
>euhemerized gods or at least took over the functions of erstwhile deities, I
>rather doubt that there was a specific date at which saints started becoming
>"specialized." In many cases, they were taking over pre-established
>functions.
>
> Francine Nicholson
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Patrick J. Nugent
Earlham College
Richmond, Indiana 47374 USA
(765) 983-1413
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