medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
> medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
> Today (25. November) is the feast day of:
>
> Mercurius of Caesarea (d. c. 250) Legend tells that Mercurius was a Scythian, an officer in the
> Roman army. He is one of the popular soldier-martyrs of the eastern church.
Christopher Walter's new book on The Warrior Saints in Byzantine Art and Tradition
(Ashgate, 2003) gives a fuller account of Mercurius, with an excellent bibliography.
He is one of the more war-like of the Byzantine warrior saints, far more so than
most comparable saints venerated in the Latin west. According to his Passio, he
lived under Emperors Decius and Valerian. As a soldier in the imperial army, he
saw an angel in a vision, who gave him a sword, promised him victory, and told him
not to forget his God. Mercurius was thus victorious over the barbarians, and killed
their king. As a reward, the Emperor awarded him the title of Stratelates, a title
borne by a number of the major warrior saints. After having been visited by the
angel again, he recalled that his father had been a Christian, and he subsequently
converted. But then, as is tediously typical of warrior saints, the Emperor invited
him to offer cult to Artemis, and being a Christian, he refused. His angel visited him
again in prison. By order of the Emperor, he was taken to Caesaria in Cappadocia
and executed. A shrine was built which flourished in miracles. The Emperor
Theodosius is known to have visited this shrine in 518. Among his more colourful
posthumous exploits, the real corker, sometimes represented in Byzantine art, was
dispatching the Emperor Julian the Apostate with a spear.
Cheers,
Jim Bugslag
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