medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Today (4. December) is the feast day of:
Barbara (?) A saint of doubtful existence. There is no evidence
whatsoever of an ancient cult. Barbara is supposed to have been a virgin
martyr, killed in the persecution of Maximian (c. 303). Her acta weren't
written until the seventh century, and four different regions claimed to be
the place of her death. The Golden Legend reports that B. was shut up in a
tower by her father, despite which princes appeared to woo her. She became
a Christian at a time her father was away and decided to live as a hermit.
Papa was mad and handed over to a judge; as soon as she was condemned to
death, lightning struck her father and killed him (this is the source of
her patronage of miners and gunners). Barbara's feast was suppressed in
1969.
John of Damascus (d. c. 749) John was a monk and theologian who lived
under Muslim rule first in Damascus, then in a monastery near Jerusalem.
He is the other of important hymns and theological works that were very
influential in both the eastern and western churches. John was also an
important anti-iconoclast writer---unlike many others, he was safe from
Byzantine persecution. John was declared a doctor of the Church in 1890.
Osmund (d. 1099) The Norman Osmund followed William the Conqueror to
England, where he became a royal chaplain and chancellor in 1072. In 1078
he was named bishop of Salisbury, while remaining a royal administrator.
The cause of Osmund's canonization began in 1228, and ended up one of the
longest and most expensive processes in medieval England, finally
succeeding in 1456.
Christian of Prussia (d. 1245) The Cistercian Christian was sent as a
missionary to Prussia in c. 1206. In 1215 he became the first bishop of
the area, as a missionary bishop with his see at Oliva (Poland?).
Christian spent most of the rest of his life as a missionary, except for
five years that he spent as a prisoner of the Prussians. But in 1243 the
Teutonic Knights moved into the region and Christian was forced out. He
retired, embittered, to a monastery in Poland.
Dr. Phyllis G. Jestice
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