medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Today (18. May) is the feast day of:
Venantius (d. c. 257) Legend tells that Venantius was a 17-year-old
of Camerino (Italy). He was arrested as a Christian, tortured,
miraculously saved from lions, miraculously survived being thrown off
a cliff, and was finally beheaded.
Theodotus, Thecusa, and companions (d. c. 304?) A rather cute pious
fiction tells that Theodotus was an innkeeper at Ancyra (Galatia); he
had been raised by the Christian woman Thecusa. Theodotus promised
the relics of a martyr for a planned chapel. He was able to keep his
promise in this way: Thecusa and 6 other Christian women were paraded
naked in an open chariot during a feast to Artemis and Athena because
they refused to put on the priestess's robes they were offered to
wear. They were then drowned. Theodotus recovered their bodies.
But he was betwrayed by an apostate, tortured, and beheaded. Then a
local priest came and got Theo's body by tricking the guards---and
sent it off to hallow the new chapel.
John I (d. 526) John was a Tuscan who became archdeacon in Rome and
was elected pope in 523. King Theodoric shipped him off on a mission
to Constantinople, which occupied most of his pontificate. J.
returned to find that the king had decided he was a traitor,
apparently implicated in the same (perhaps) plot as had led to
Boethius' arrest and execution. Whether the charges were true or
not, J. was arrested as soon as he landed and imprisoned at Ravenna;
he died of ill treatment.
Eric of Sweden (d. 1160) Never formally canonized, but for a long
time considered the patron saint of Sweden, Eric IX was king of
Sweden 1150-1160. He codified the laws, furthered Christianity,
attacked Finns and saw to their evangelization. Rebelling Swedish
nobles killed him.
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