medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Dear all,
Another question for the list. (I thank everyone who responded to my
royal literacy question; I am following up, particularly on the
bibliography, though I still haven't managed to secure an answer - when I
do I will share.)
My question is about the relative "status" or "prestige" of martyr-saints
v. confessor-saints around 1300. My impression is that there was more
prestige associated to martyrdom than to mere confessordom. The reason I
say this, and indeed, the reason I am interested in this question, is
because of a debate evidenced around these years, it seems, over whether
Louis IX was a martyr or a confessor. We have all read Joinville's
preface, where he scolds the papacy for not recognizing his martyrdom.
I also get this impression (that martyrdom was somehow better) from what I
understand of the evolution of the understanding of Francis' sanctity in
the 13th century.
So, the quesiton is whether 1) this impression is correct and 2) other
indications of this, particularly in comparative texts. Is there any
theological reasons, for instance, why martyrdom could be considered
better than confessordom. Any other saints or canonization processes which
evidence this tension.
Many thanks, to all, for the generosity of the list-
Cecilia Gaposchkin
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