medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Phyllis Jestice wrote:
> Today (21. September) is the feast day of:
>
> Matthew (1st cent.) Matthew---or Levi---or Matthew the Levite---was
> a tax collector at Caphernaum when Jesus collected him. He has
> traditionally been credited as author of the first gospel (which
> seems unlikely, unless he lived a *very* long time). Legend says
> that Matt preached in Judea and then further east, eventually being
> martyred in either Persia or Ethiopia.
According to his Passion (BHL 5690), today's well known saint from the
Regno, the apostle Matthew, was martyred in Ethiopia. His Translation
(BHL 5694b) tells us that Breton sailors brought his remains to Armorica
in the time of Valentinian III (so in the fifth century) during the
reign there of a fictive king Solomon. Solomon was murdered, whereupon
Valentinian sent a mighty fleet to destroy the Breton kingdom. When ,
having achieved its ends, the Roman invasion force sailed home it
brought with it Matthew's remains. These, however, were stolen and
wound up in Lucania, where they were given a pious burial in a newly
constructed church; over time the latter become ruinous. In 954 the
remains were discovered here, near Paestum in what was now Salernitan
territory. Housed briefly in the cathedral of Capaccio, they were soon
moved to Salerno itself on the order of its prince, Gisulf I, and
reinterred in that city's cathedral. As all _regnicoli_ know, Matthew
has been in Salerno ever since.
Unless, of course, they've been in Kyrgyzstan all along. See
http://www.mirabilis.ca/archives/000157.html
http://english.pravda.ru/main/2002/08/29/35577.html
and especially
http://www.ipvnews.com/apostle.html
In 1076 Robert Guiscard conquered the principality; in the years that
followed Salerno became in effect the capital of his now enlarged duchy
of Apulia. In 1085, under the auspices of archbishop Alfanus I and with
Guiscard's active assistance, Salerno got a new cathedral (its present
one), dedicated to Matthew, and consecrated by the exiled Gregory VII.
Matthew of course is buried here; so are Gregory, Alfanus, and Robert
Guiscard.
Photographs of various details of this famous monument, including its
mosaic of Matthew displaying his gospel, are here:
http://www.dartmouth.edu/~classics/rome2003/updates/week3_4/oct16.html
and here:
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Ithaca/4893/cattedra.htm
and here:
http://www.cattedraledisalerno.it/storia/Fondazione_bassup.htm
There's another shot of the belltower from inside the atrium (forecourt)
here:
http://www.davidgreer.ca/cruise/diary/djg/2002/jul/20020704.html
and an aerial view of the entire complex here:
http://www.scuolamedicasalernitana.it/salerno_oggi/salerno_oggi.htm
In Salerno, at least, 6. May is celebrated as the feast of M.'s
translation. The aforementioned archbishop Alfanus I is better known in
literary contexts as Alfanus of Salerno; various of his poems for this
feast survive among his _carmina_ (ed. Lentini and Avagliano, nos.
58-62). The tenth-century Translation of St. Matthew is discussed by
Baudouin de Gaiffier, "Hagiographie salernitaine: la Translation de S.
Matthieu," _Analecta Bollandiana_ 80 (1962), 82-110.
Best,
John Dillon
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