medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Today (15. January) is the feast day of:
Paul the Hermit (d. 342) Paul is known through a vita written by
Jerome; doubtless some learned listmember will point out that the
work, being hagiographical, should not be taken strictly as
biography, and that in fact scholars doubt the historicity of most of
the thing. The vita does, however, tell us a goodly amount about
Paul as a typos of Christian eremetical holiness. Jerome tells that
Paul was an Egyptian, orphaned at the age of 15. He fled to the
desert as a young man to escape persecution, and decided to stay as a
hermit. He is reputed to have died at the age of 113.
Maurus (6th cent.) Also a figure more of legend than of history,
Maurus is supposed to have become Benedict of Nursia's assistant and
perhaps his successor as abbot of Subiaco. He is also credited with
going to Francia and founding a monastery there, but this is probably
a conflation of the Benedictine figure with somebody else who
happened to be named Maurus.
Macarius the Elder (d. 390) Also an Egyptian, Macarius became a
hermit as a young man and retired to the Skete desert at the age of
30. He was famous for spiritual wisdom and much-visited during his
60 years there.
John Calybites (d. c. 450) Legend tells that John was the son of a
wealthy family of Constantinople. He became a monk and after a time
returned to his home as a beggar. He lived, unrecognized, on his
parents' charity in a shack (calybites) and only revealed his
identity to his mom when dying.
Ita (d. c. 570) One of the great women saints of Ireland, Ita (or
Ite) founded a convent at Killeedy (Limerick). She is supposed to
have operated a school for boys that included Brendan the future
Navigator, and a wide body of rather extravagant miracle stories
exists about her.
Bonitus (d. 706) As seems to have been the case for so many
Merovingian holy men, Bonitus was a Frankish courtier. He served as
chancellor to one king and as governor of Marseilles for another
before becoming bishop of Clermont in 689. When doubts were raised
about his election, though, B. resigned and became a hermit.
Ceowulf (d. c. 764) Ceowulf was a king of Northumbria. He ruled for
eight years but abdicated in 738 to become a monk at Lindisfarne.
Bede dedicated the *Ecclesiastical History* to C.
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