medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Yesterday (7. February) was also the feast day of yet another less well
known saint from the Regno:
Lawrence of Siponto (d. ca. 550, supposedly).
Siponto is in northern Puglia and its diocese or successors thereof have
always had responsibility for the famous sanctuary of Michael the
Archangel on the nearby Gargano peninsula. The sanctuary's principal
foundation account, the late eighth- or ninth-century _Liber de
apparitione sancti Michaelis in monte Gargano_, describes the
archangel's choice of the bishop of Siponto (whom he had previously
assisted in dream visions) to be present at the dedication of the
sanctuary, which latter had been miraculously erected by the archangel
himself. In this document of Beneventan origin the bishop is unnamed,
appropriately enough for a time when the diocese of Siponto had, thanks
to its late eighth-century Lombard conquest from the empire of the
Romans, been incorporated into that of Benevento.
In the early 1020s Siponto, now part of the resurgent Byzantine
katepanate, had its diocese restored and elevated to the status of an
archdiocese. At some point between then and either the diocese's
re-incorporation into that of Benevento in 1053 (it was restored again
in 1066) or the Norman conquest of the area in about 1060 someone wrote
a rather philobyzantine Life of its early bishop who had been aided by
Michael; in this document (BHL 4791) the bishop is named Laurentius
(Lawrence). This is really our only evidence for L.: a later eleventh-
or perhaps very early twelfth-century Life (BHL 4790), possibly of
Cassinese authorship, adds details reflecting changed political
realities in the region and brings L.'s episcopate into conformity with
eleventh-century ecclesiastical reforms but is clearly only an
elaboration based on its predecessor. Later versions, including one in
verse for L.'s Office, are even less authoritative.
Opinions differ as to whether there ever really was such a bishop of
Siponto and, if so, whether his name were really Laurentius. Both,
after all, could easily be hagiographic inventions: the first by the
author of the _Apparitio_ and the second by the author of BHL 4791. The
likelihood that he transmitted to the Sipontines
Michael's supposedly successful advice as how they could defeat an
attack by the Neapolitans (in the early sixth century!!) is nil; the
likelihood that he much earlier persuaded Totila to spare Siponto from a
Gothic attack may not be nil but it is certainly very close to it.
In 1099 L.'s relics were found during excavations in a chapel in
Siponto; in 1117 they were solemnly transferred to that city's new
cathedral of Santa Maria and reinterred there under the high altar.
Photographs and Italian-language descriptions of that now abandoned
building are here:
http://www.garganonline.net/Siponto/SMaria.htm
http://www.mondimedievali.net/Edifici/Puglia/Foggia/Manfredonia.htm
TinyURL for this: http://tinyurl.com/46wu5
http://www.manfredoniaonline.com/SantaMariaMaggiore.htm
http://www.sangiovannirotondo.biz/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=86
TinyURL for this: http://tinyurl.com/4ggw9
A whole page of expandable .jpgs of it is here:
http://www.manfredoniaeventi.it/cultura/s_siponto/siponto/index.htm
TinyURL for this: http://tinyurl.com/6d8zx
And an illustrated Italian-lanugage account of its crypt is here:
http://www.enec.it/Cripte/Siponto/Costruzione.htm
with plan:
http://www.enec.it/Cripte/Siponto/Planimetria.htm
In addition to L.'s remains, this church used to contain an early
medieval wooden statue of the Virgin, known since its transfer to
Manfredonia as "La Sipontina" ("She of Siponto"), shown (sort of) in the
bottom illustration on this page:
http://www2.chiesacattolica.it/cci/diocesi/id_108/manfredonia.htm
TinyURL for this: http://tinyurl.com/6vqmo
In the later thirteenth century L.'s remains were transferred to the
cathedral of Manfredonia, the city founded by king Manfred in 1256 to
replace the by then no longer very inhabitable Siponto. They were lost
in 1620 when a raiding party of Turks destroyed the building. Its
successor, the present cathedral, is dedicated to L.
In addition to being the patron of the archdiocese of
Manfredonia-Vieste, L. is also patron of the city of Manfredonia. An
Italian-language description of the archdiocesan festivities is here:
http://www.manfredoniaonline.com/festepatronali.htm
And photographs of L. in procession and on a boat tour during the civic
festival of Sant'Andrea (1. September) are here:
http://www.manfredoniaeventi.it/festapatronale04/sandrea/index.htm
TinyURL for this: http://tinyurl.com/4ngbn
Best,
John Dillon
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