medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Today (1. March) is the feast day of:
David (Dewi) (5th-6th cents.) David is the patron saint of Wales; I
hear that good Welsh folk are supposed to wear a leek today in the
saint's honor. Almost all that is "known" of David comes from an
unreliable eleventh-century vita. It tells that David was a son of
the king of South Wales and St. Non. He became a priest and very
active missionary, founding a dozen monasteries in the process. He
was supposedly consecrated archbishop of the Cambrian church by the
patriarch of Jerusalem while on pilgrimage to the Holy Land. His
cult was supposedly approved by Callistus II in c. 1120. D's birth-
and death-dates are even more uncertain than Patrick's ranging from
c. 454 to 520 for his birth and 560 to 601 for his death.
Felix II (III) (d. 492) Felix was the scion of a Roman senatorial
family. After his wife died he became a priest and was elected pope
in 483. He spent a lot of his pontificate arguing with the eastern
emperor and the patriarch of Constantinople over the Acacian schism.
The confusion over his numbering comes from the fact that there was
an anti-pope Felix II.
Albinus of Angers (d. c. 550) Albinus (Aubin) was born at Vannes
(Brittany) and became a monk at a young age. He went on to become
abbot and then bishop of Angers in 529. He did all the good stuff
that bishops are supposed to do, caring for the poor, widows, and
orphans, ransoming slaves, etc. He is said to have performed many
miracles.
Swithbert (d. 713) The Northumbrian Swithbert became a monk and was
one of the missionaries who went with Willibrord to convert the
Frisians in 690. Swithbert was a successful evangelist in southern
Holland and northern Brabant. He was made a regionary (?) bishop in
693 and extended his missionary activities to the Rhine. When Saxons
invaded the area, S. withdrew to Frankish territory and built a
monastery on a Rhine island near Dusseldorf (the town of Kaiserwerth)
grew up around the place).
Rudesind (d. 977) Rudesind was a noble Galician, made bishop of
Dumium (Mondonedo) at the age of 18. He was also put in charge of
the see of Compostela while its bishop was imprisoned. R. led an
army that drove viking raiders from Galicia and when on to force
raiding Moors to leave Portugal. When the imprisoned bishop of
Compostela won his freedom and threatened to kill R. if he didn't
give up the see, R. retired to a monastery he had founded, going on
to found several other communities. He was canonized in 1195.
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