medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Today (16. September) is the feast day of:
Priscus of Nocera (3d/4th cent.). This less well known saint from the
Regno is an early bishop (legendarily, the first bishop) of Nuceria
Alfaterna, the Campanian town whose medieval successor was Nocera
(later Nocera de' Pagani) and whose modern successors are Nocera
Superiore (SA) and Nocera Inferiore (SA). Paulinus of Nola (_Carmina_,
18. 515-18) tells us that P., though bishop of another city, was also
venerated at Nola. Otherwise we know virtually nothing about him. His
Acta (BHL 6931) are so late and unreliable that Papebroch elected not
to have them printed in the _Acta Sanctorum_ [this is from Domenico
Ambrasi's article on P. in the _Bibliotheca Sanctorum_, vol. 10, cols.
1118-20; a supplement or correction from anyone associated with the
Papebroch papers project would be welcome].
P. was buried in the necropolis of Nuceria. Much later, a Benedictine
abbey arose on the site and in the 1380s its originally tenth-century(?)
church of St. Mark became Nocera's cathedral. In the last century P.'s
remains were found behind his altar here; in 1964 these were subjected
to scientific evaluation and pronounced to be those of an elderly man
who had lived in the third or fourth century. After various earthquake-
induced restorations there isn't much medieval left in Nocera's
cathedral (located in Nocera Inferiore and now dedicated to P.), though
in its present form it is still a harmonious early seventeenth-century
building.
Suviving witnesses to medieval religious culture in Nocera Inferiore
include frescoes in the much-rebuilt thirteenth-century church of St.
Anne:
http://www.lodis.org/monocinf3.htm
and this "gothic" portal at the church and convent of St. Anthony:
http://www.lodis.org/ni1961.htm
In nearby Nocera Superiore is the early Christian baptistery of St.
Mary Major, incorporating spolia from ancient buildings. The Swedish
Institute in Rome held a conference there in 2004, providing us
with some very nice views of both the exterior and the interior. These
are no longer available at the original URL:
http://www.svenska-institutet-rom.org/svenska/nocera%20bilder.html
but they were archived and the Wayback Machine
http://www.archive.org/web/web.php
will get one to them here (after the obligatory photos of conferees):
http://web.archive.org/web/20040614163548/http://www.svenska-institutet-
rom.org/svenska/nocera+bilder.html
TinyURL for this: http://tinyurl.com/94wer
A page of expandable views is here:
http://www.lodis.org/monocsup1.htm
And an engraved drawing of the interior is reproduced here:
http://www.mcah.columbia.edu/dbcourses/murray/large/nocera_stalley99_029
.jpg
TinyURL for this: http://tinyurl.com/9m2lx
Illustrated Italian-language discussions of the baptistery are here:
http://web.tiscali.it/archemail/1snuce.htm
and here (with thumbnail views of mosaic pavements):
http://utenti.lycos.it/cammino/battistero.htm
A plan showing dimensions in feet is here:
http://www.clipartreview.com/_gallery/_LG/776947.jpg
Best,
John Dillon
(last year's post, revised)
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