medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Today (21. February) is the feast day of:
Severian (d. 453) Severian was bishop of Scythopolis. An adamant
defender of Nicaean and Chalcedonian orthodoxy, he was seized and
murdered by imperial troops, who were going around persecuting
everyone who supported the decrees of the Council of Chalcedon (which
denounced the Eutychian heresy, which had imperial support).
Germanus of Granfel (d. c. 677) Germanus was a native of Trier who
gave his goods to the poor and went to be a hermit, but then became a
monk at Remiremont. After a bit more moving around he became abbot
of the new monastery of Granfel (and later on of two more
monasteries). The local noble failed to keep his armed entourage in
order, and they went around looting. Germanus and a companion tried
to stop them from robbing from the poor, and the annoyed warriors
murdered both of them.
George of Amastris (d. c. 825) George was born near Amastris (on the
Black Sea) and became a hermit on Mt. Sirik, then a monk. He finally
proved to be a very good bishop of Amastris, leading the successful
defense against a Muslim attack.
Peter Damian (d. 1072) A figure both appealing and repugnantly
"holier than thou," Peter Damian is one of our best sources for
eleventh-century religion, especially in Italy. His letters and
treatises fill four large MGH volumes, and he also wrote a large
number of sermons and some hagiography (his life of Romuald of
Ravenna is very detailed and fascinating). Peter was a native of
Ravenna who got a good education and then started a career as a
teacher, but gave it up to become a monk at Fonte Avellana, where he
was soon elected abbot. Much to his dismay, in 1057 he was named
cardinal-bishop of Ostia, a position he tried to resign several
times. PD was devoted to withdrawal from the world, but was
extremely active in the church reform movement. In 1828 his cult was
extended to the Universal Church (it sounds very impressive when
capitalized) and he was named a doctor of the church.
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