medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Today (25. May) is also the feast day of:
Canio of Atella (4th cent.?). Today's less well known saint from the
Regno is attested to for this date in the (pseudo-)Hieronymian
Martyrology as follows: _Atellae in Campania Canionis_ ("At Atella in
Campania, Canio"). His inclusion among the saints of the roughly
contemporary mosaics (5th-/6th-cent.; now perished) of the basilica of
San Prisco at Capua indicate a late antique veneration in Campania.
But we have no Acta for him prior to the tenth century, when the
Neapolitan hagiographer Peter the Subdeacon produced his _Passio sancti
Canionis episcopi et martyris_ (BHL 1541d) in which C. is said to have
been an African bishop imprisoned at Carthage ca. 290 CE (under
Maximian and Diocletian), liberated by an angel, and miraculously
transported to Atella, where he evangelized the locals and was
eventually martyred. C. recurs in the even more legendary _Passio
sancti Castrensis_ (BHL 1645; 11th-/12th-cent.?), where he is one of
twelve African bishops said to have been exiled under the Vandals and
to have found found refuge in Campania.
In the latter half of the 11th century Peter's account (or one very
similar to it) formed the basis of a new version of the _Passio sancti
Canionis_ accompanying the translation of C.'s remains from now-
decayed Atella to Acerenza in Basilicata (BHL 1541), a city recently
taken from the Byzantines by the Normans and ruled initially by members
of the Norman family that had established itself at Aversa, the
Campanian fortress town that replaced nearby Atella. In 1080 the
bishop of Acerenza, who was now styled archbishop and had metropolitan
authority over a considerable part of Robert Guiscard's new domains,
conducted a solemn _inventio_ of Canio's remains as part of the opening
phase of his construction of Acerenza's new cathedral, dedicated to
Mary of the Assumption and to St. Canio. This is now the primary locus
of Canio's cult. Atella is no more (though some of its Roman remains
are still visible) and most of it lies under today's Sant'Arpino (CE),
whose patron saint, Elpidio, another of the twelve bishops of the
_Passio sancti Castrensis_, is traditionally celebrated there on 24.
May though his actual _dies natalis_ is 1. September. Canio does get
his due at Sant'Arpino's civic festivals in July and September and his
liturgical feast there is followed by tomorrow's Sagra del Casatiello,
when locals prepare the world's largest (as certified by the Guinness
Book of Records) casatiello, a rich pastry often served at Easter and
including among its delights prosciutto, peppers, and whole eggs. The
venue for this celebration is adjacent to the local church of Santa
Maria delle Grazie, which latter incorporates a late antique structure
(possibly an oratory) now known as the Romitorio San Canione ("St.
Canio's Hermitage") and whose facade is shown here:
http://www.comune.santarpino.ce.it/html_file/romitorio.htm
(I _think_ Canio is the saint on the left).
Peter the Subdeacon's _Passio sancti Canionis episcopi et martyris_ and
the related text from Acerenza are both edited by Antonio Vuolo in his
_Tradizione letteraria e sviluppo culturale: il dossier agiografico di
Canione di Atella (secc. X-XV)_ (Napoli: M. D'Auria, 1995). An Italian-
language history and overview (with photographs) of Acerenza's
cathedral is here:
http://www.acerenza.com/cattedrale/cattedrale1.html
http://www.acerenza.com/cattedrale/catint1.html
http://www.acerenza.com/cattedrale/catint2.html
More and better photographs of the same structure are here:
http://www.basilicata.cc/chiese/acerenza1/index.htm
These are enlargeable and captioned; for "la chiesa" keep clicking
on "continua" or on "avanti" to view all the photo sets; Canio's
remains are of course in "la cripta" but this, in technical terms,
is "all baroqued up" (nicely done, though).
Notice the ancient spolia (inscriptions and sculptural bits) set into
the wall of the cathedral along with arms of donor families of the
sixteenth century. One spolium that has since been removed is this
bust of Julian the Apostate, now in the cathedral museum:
http://www.acerenza.com/cattedrale/giuliano.gif
This is said to have been placed over the peak of the facade (where the
cross is now) and to have been venerated medievally as an image of
Canio. More recent sculptural representations of the saint are here:
http://www.basilicata.cc/paesi_taddeo/t_602/p_f300/01/311925.jpg
TinyURL for this: http://tinyurl.com/cg67f
and here:
http://www.basilicata.cc/paesi_taddeo/t_602/p_fpag/01/318753.htm
TinyURL for this: http://tinyurl.com/a98xt
Thais has an exterior photo showing some of the cathedral's apses:
http://www.thais.it/architettura/romanica/schede/sc_00145.htm
Best,
John Dillon
(last year's post, revised)
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