medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
But what evidence do we have that they were
> also widely used in this fashion in Greek and Roman antiquity? And when and
> where do we begin to hear of their use as ex votos medievally?
Difficult questions, John. The problem with answering them is that what has been
done falls into so many different -- and seemingly non-intersecting --
specializations. I've only just begun to look for evidence of this nature from ancient
religions. Here is a representative tantalizing snippet from Matthew Dillon, Pilgrims
and Pilgrimage in Ancient Greece (London & New York, Routledge, 1997), p. 75:
large numbers of terracotta body parts have been discovered at Corinth. As
references, he cites [no first name given] van Straten, "Gifts for the Gods," in H.S.
Versnel, ed., Faith, Hope and Worship. Aspects of Religious Mentality in the
Ancient World (Leiden, 1981), pp. 65-15, esp. 149-501, and John Ferguson, Among
the Gods: An Archaeological Exploration of Ancient Greek Religion (London, 1989),
p. 101. I'm sure that a more systematic survey could easily (time permitting) be
compiled.
As for when they begin to crop up in the Middle Ages, there seems to be a general
dearth of evidence for pilgrim badges, ex votos, etc. between the 7th or 8th
centuries and the 11th or 12th century, and so far as I am aware, nobody has even
hazarded guesses as to why this is the case. To my knowledge, there is little
evidence for votive body parts, etc. before the 13th century.
Cheers,
Jim Bugslag
**********************************************************************
To join the list, send the message: join medieval-religion YOUR NAME
to: [log in to unmask]
To send a message to the list, address it to:
[log in to unmask]
To leave the list, send the message: leave medieval-religion
to: [log in to unmask]
In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to:
[log in to unmask]
For further information, visit our web site:
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/medieval-religion.html
|