medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Today (6. March) is the feast day of:
Conon (3rd cent.) Conon was a Greek of Nazareth. In his old age he
settled at Carma (Phrygia), where he managed an imperial estate. He was
martyred rather nastily: the prefect had spikes driven into C's feet and
then had his henchman flog C to make him run to the marketplace, where he
soon died.
Fridolin (6th cent.?) Fridolin was founder of the monastery of Sackingen,
and his cult was important in Austria, southern Germany, and Switzerland.
His rather dubious vita asserts that F. was an Irishman who became a
wandering preacher in Francia, then a monk in Poitiers, and was finally
guided to Sackingen by divine revelation.
Baldred and Billfrith (8th cent.) These two hermits apparently had nothing
to do with each other, except that the relics of both were discovered in
the 11th century and translated to Durham, where they were celebrated
together. Baldred was a very useful-sounding Northumbrian hermit. Legend
tells that his prayers removed a dangerous reef from between the Bass Rock
(where he lived) and the mainland. Billfrith was a hermit/goldsmith, who
is reported to have made a gold, silver, and jewelled cover for the
Lindisfarne Gospels (now lost).
Chrodegang of Metz (d. 766) Chrodegang had a monastic education, after
which he entered the service of Charles Martel. He was appointed bishop of
Metz in 742, in which position he was active as an emissary for King Pepin
III. He found time for religious activities, too: in 758 he founded the
monastery of Gorze, and wrote a rule for canons, as well as founding a
school of church music at Metz.
Colette (d. 1447) Nicolette Boylet was born in Picardy; after her parents
died, she became a recluse near the abbey church of Corbie and became a
Franciscan tertiary. Her reputation for ascetic practices and holiness
brought many visitors, to whom C. reported her visions, calling her to
restore the pure Rule of St. Francis. Antipope Benedict XIII encouraged
her, professing her as a Poor Clare and putting her in charge of all
convents she founded or reformed. Eventually she reformed several convents
and founded 17 new ones. She was canonized in 1807.
Dr. Phyllis G. Jestice
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