medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Mitre : martyr in Aix en Provence, IVth cent.. Nom grec "Mitrias" ou
"Demetrios". his attributes are " grappe de raison, aumone faite à un pauvre
ou parce qu'il gardait les vignes de celui qui le tua, sous prétexte
d'infidélité; tête coupée, qu'il portait dans ses mains" (from
http://perso.wanadoo.fr/jean-claude.brenac/Saints.htm, and L. Barbier de
Montault, traité d'iconographie chrétienne).
Saint-Mitre is the name of a district in various provencal towns. There is a
quartier saint Mitre in Marseille, and I think there is one in Aix (the
Zola's Plassans). You'll find a "legende de Saint Mitre" in the Aix
Cathedral
Anyway, the "aire" is just a plane place; in the french rural tradition, it
was the clear place where the wheat was threshed.
Nowadays, it is the resting place bordering the highways.
In old french, the "aire" is just a place non cultivated. I figure myself
the aire saint Mitre as a sort of "terrain vague", where Miette and Silvere
meet and love each other -- and die
***********************
N'en sai plus dire
***********************
Denis Hüe,
responsable du Master Lettres Langues Communication
Centre d'Etude des Textes Médiévaux, (CETM-CELAM)
Université de Haute Bretagne
http://www.uhb.fr/alc/medieval
----- Original Message -----
From: Marjorie Greene <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Sunday, June 12, 2005 12:50 AM
Subject: [M-R] Saint Mittre
medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Doctissimi,
In the opening tome of Zola's _Les Rougon-Macquart_, there is a former
cemetery located in the "aire Saint-Mittre." I'm wondering if this is a name
Zola invented or if there is some obscure saint whose name could possibly be
rendered "Mittre" in French. A search of the Cath. En. turned up nothing but
"mitre" and a search of saints' names was equally fruitless. I'm currently
writing a review of a book on Zola and any assistance on this would be
helpful.
Here is a description of how Saint-Mittre figures in the novel:
"Zola donne pour cadre [du roman] la campagne de Plassans et l'aire
Saint-Mittre, extraordinaire cimetière désaffecté."
As you see, the name is applied to a former cemetery. As an aside (and
linking this query somewhat to medieval religion), I'll note that in the
opening scene, youngsters are stealing pears from trees that grow "over the
bones." I do wonder if Zola was in any way acquainted with Augustine's
writings or if this element was completely fortuitous.
MG
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