medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
i also seem to recall that the cross at St. Paul's was particularly
famous--there are some surviving sermons preached there.
At 09:20 AM 3/5/2003 -0500, you wrote:
>medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
>
>Regarding the "putrid stumps" of the cross at St. Paul's, this is a somewhat
>more elaborate form of what becomes the standard Lollard objection to
>images, that they were "nisi ligna et lapides" (only wood and stones,
>"stocks and stonys" in the vernacular) rather than the real image of God,
>which is the person (the same sentiments repeated in Lollard writings and in
>the records of prosecution into the sixteenth century). Thus I would guess
>that the putridity and worms refer quite prosaically to a insect-ridden
>wooden cross, the Lollards trying to make their point in colourful language
>that it was not a thing to be venerated or worshipped. (Similarly colourful
>-- or over-the-top -- was a later reference to a statue of the Virgin as a
>"brent-arse poppet," i.e. a prostitute infected with venereal disease.)
>Paul's Cross and other religious landmarks were objects of public
>veneration, which Lollards would have termed idolatry. The best work on
>Lollards and images is Margaret Aston's: her essay collection *Lollards and
>Images* and the two-volume *England's Iconoclasts* are places to start.
>
>Shannon McSheffrey
>Associate Professor of History
>Concordia University
>LB-601, 1455 de Maisonneuve Blvd. W.
>Montreal, QC Canada H3G 1M8
>
>[log in to unmask]
>http://alcor.concordia.ca/~shannon
>
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