medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
> I guess I still haven't been clear enough: in the questions quoted
> below, by "they"/"their" I mean crutches, braces, and similar aids,
> NOT body-part ex votos (which latter, to repeat, are well known from
> Greek and Roman antiquity).
John,
Yes, I see what you're getting at now. This is a distinction that has occasionally
been made. Edmond-René Labande, “ ‘Ad limina’: le pèlerin médiéval au terme de sa
démarche,” in Pierre Gallais and Yves-Jean Riou, eds, Mélanges offerts à René Crozet à
l’occasion de son soixante-dixième anniversaire, 2 vols (Poitiers: Société d’Etudes
Médiévales, 1966), I, p. 286, distinguishes between an ex-voto, which is a donation made in
recognition of prayers answered, and an oblatio, which is a donation made in order to fulfil
a vow. In practical terms, it is often very difficult to tell whether an object left at a shrine is
one or the other, or simply even a more general mark of devotion (e.g. a heart or a candle,
both of which could also occasionally be ex votos or oblationes). Crutches, as you say, can
be understood quite straightforwardly as ex votos rather than obliationes, and another quite
common sort of object in that category are the many sets of chains and manicles of freed
prisoners, which can still occasionally be seen displayed at churches, e.g. Orcival and
Rocamadour.
On the other hand, Jean Le Marchant in Les Miracles de Notre-Dame de
Chartres, from the mid-thirteenth century, mentions 260 wax images placed on
the altar of the cathedral by sufferers of “holy fire” who were subsequently
cured. These were clearly oblationes rather than ex votos, since the miracle
account states that, to be effective, each image had to be worth at least three deniers.
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
|