medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Theresa Gross-Diaz <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>One of my favorite Rome souvenirs (not a relic, I hasten to add) is a bottle
opener with JP2s image... we called it "the Popener".
}:-)
catchie.
i like it.
>On a more scholarly note, in the Middle Ages the line between relics and
souvenirs could become just a bit fudged. Chips of stone from a tomb - - or
even stones randomly picked up in the vicinity of a tomb - - were clearly
considered contact relics,
my favorite is the little bits of mirrors which were built into the Aachen
badges, apparently for the purpose of "catching" a glimpse of the major relic
of the place (a chemise of the Virgin) on a day when it was being monstrated
so that it could be taken home.
almost as good as a "real" relic, apparently.
a most ingenious idea, when you come to think about it.
a precursor to "virtual reality."
>and there were rituals for blessing purchased pilgrim badges. PIlgrims were
instructed to make sure their souvenirs were duly blessed by the priest at the
saint's shrine in order to insure efficacy - so apparently the badges were
being seen (and used) as quasi relics.
yes, and the "method" of their disposal was, apparently, also indicative of
the powerful ju-ju which they were thought to contain (they have been found in
the tens --hundreds?-- of thousands in river and stream beds all over Europe,
apparently deliberately thrown off bridges, frequently after being bent).
>Diane Webb has some interesting material on this in "European Pilgrimage".
?
her _Pilgrims and pilgrimage in the medieval West_ (I.B. Tauris, 1999) ?
just sold my copy of that a few weeks ago.
i put a bit of it up on my site, to facilitate an on-going discussion of the
Chartres badges which we were having on my Chartres discussion list :
http://www.ariadne.org/centrechartraine/badges/webb/webb124-133.htm
>Then again, my popener is unblessed ...
that might severly limit the number and quality of things which it can open, i
should think.
best from here,
christopher
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