medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Rob Durk wrote:
> Bishops (or their deputies) were, and still are,
> required periodically to visit and pray at the tombs
> of St Peter and St Paul, and then to present
> personally to the Pope an account of their diocese.
>
> These visits are officially referred to as "ad limina
> apostolorum", that is, "to the thresholds of the
> apostles".
Bill East echoed this and labeled Hall's quote as a "howler of
the first magnitude." Indeed!
Rob and Bill are quite correct, and in retrospect it looks
obvious: Hall, an anti-papist Tudor chronicler writing in the
late 1530s/early 1540s, lazily misread the Latin "limina" as
"lumina" and invented "lightes of the Apostles." We can't blame
the typesetters for this one.
Once identified correctly, it's easy enough for a google
answer--e.g., from the old Catholic Encyclopedia:
Ad Limina Apostolorum
An ecclesiastical term meaning a pilgrimage to the
sepulchres of St. Peter and St. Paul at Rome, i.e.,
to the Basilica of the Prince of the Apostles and to
the Basilica of St. Paul "outside the walls".
This alone is much closer to a good annotation for the quote in
Hall, so I thank Rob and Bill very much.
Cheers,
Al Magary
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