medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
On Monday, April 4, 2005, at 8:38 pm, Phyllis wrote:
> Today (5. April) is the feast day of:
> Albert of Montecorvino (d. 1127) Albert was bishop of Montecorvino
> (Apulia) and ruled very successfully, despite his blindness. He was
> famous for both visions and miracles.
Albert's Life (BHL 0231) happens to have been written by a fairly well
known humanist, Alessandro Geraldini (1455-1524), who in 1496 became
bishop of Montecorvino and Volturara and who went on in 1516 to become
bishop of Santo Domingo (an interesting translation), taking up
residence there in 1519. His entry, by Francesco D'Esposito, in the
_Dizionario Biografico degliItaliani_ (vol. 53, pp. 312-16) repays
reading. A brief sketch, in not altogether perfect English, is here:
http://www.argoweb.it/amelia/geraldini.uk.html
Geraldini's brief Life of A. was designed for the latter's Office (for
which Geraldini also wrote several hymns in the sapphic strophe). It
presents itself as a rewriting of a twelfth-century Life and Miracles
by A.'s immediate successor, Richard, bp. of Montecorvino. For the
most part, the data in it do appear to come from the eleventh and early
twelfth centuries. But there is some lily-gilding as well and when
Geraldini says that A. came from the "noble race of Normans" (_e genere
nobili Normandorum_) he is transmitting a valuation that's unlikely to
have been in the original. So it is difficult to know whether the
Life's ascription of A.'s blindness to his ascetic behaviors (_Et
postremo, cum orationibus, jejuniis, assiduo fletu & magna ante Deum
meditatione corpus attenuaret; lumen oculorum amisit._) actually
derives from the testimony of bishop Richard.
Montecorvino was a strong point frequently battled over in the central
Middle Ages; severely damaged in 1137, it was not finally abandoned
until 1456. A tiny remanant of it may be seen here:
http://www.garganonline.net/images/Montecorvino.jpg
Other views, and some sculptural remnants, are here:
http://www.mondimedievali.net/Castelli/Puglia/foggia/montecorvino.htm
Well before 1456, though, Montecorvino's bishops, when they were were
in residence, had resided in nearby Volturara (Vulturaria). The two
dioceses were merged in 1433. Volturara in turn was merged into the
diocese of Lucera early in the nineteenth century; though there are
bishops of Montecorvino and of Volturara today, in both cases these are
titular.
Montecorvino's modern successor is Pietra Montecorvino (FG), whose
partly restored medieval castle is the subject of this webpage:
http://tinyurl.com/6le24
A couple of Italian-language accounts of the town are here:
http://www.vivicapitanata.it/comuni/pietramonte_.htm
http://www.turismo.provincia.foggia.it/comune.php?
action=view&nome_comune=Pietra%20Montecorvino
TinyURL for this: http://tinyurl.com/3k45f
A. is Pietra Montecorvino's patron saint, celebrated here both
liturgically and civically. A view of his cult statue being carried in
procession from the church of Santa Maria Assunta in the town's medieval
quarter ("Terra Vecchia") is here:
http://www.garganonline.net/images/Pietra.jpg
There is also a contemporary Italian singer who goes by the name of
Pietra Montecorvino. A website devoted to her is here:
http://www.pietramontecorvino.com/
Best,
John Dillon
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