I have seen the word "bajulus" used in two ways in eleventh- and
twelfth-century miracle collections. First, as a servant or companion who
carries a crippled person to a shrine to seek healing. In some stories
there is no comment; in the miracles of St. Audoen, the bajulus was a
lifelong servant-companion to a young crippled man, responsible for nursing
him in every way, but also for carrying him from one place to another.
Second, to mean someone who carries a saint's reliquary during a
relic-procession (delatio). In one case, from the miracles of St. Lewinna
(Berg-St.-Winnoc), a man healed by the saint during such a procession then
becomes her "bajulus," i.e., helps carry her reliquary, for a while. I
assume that there were four or so of these, each carrying a corner of a
platform, or something more elaborate, on which the reliquary was mounted.
(Can anybody correct that assumption?)
These are a little off the mark for what Brenda (was it?) was looking for,
but I hope they help fill out the connotations of the word.
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Patrick J. Nugent
Earlham College
Richmond, Indiana 47374 USA
(765) 983-1413
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