medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Okay, really, where is that Pickled Boys story to be found?? And how is it that I never heard of it?
Ever surprised by Phyllis' daily contribution....
Theresa
>>> [log in to unmask] 12/05/05 7:31 PM >>>
medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Today (6. December) is the feast day of:
Nicholas of Myra (Santa Claus) (4th cent.) Nicholas was a Lycian who
became bishop of Myra. He was famous for his piety, was imprisoned
during Diocletian's persecution, and attended the Council of Nicaea.
His relics were stolen in 1087 and can now be found in Bari. The
earliest known account of N's life was written about 400 years after
his death. This was the beginning of the legend that made him
famous---that he heard about three impoverished girls who couldn't
find husbands and were going to be forced into prostitution, so he
threw three bags of gold in the window to use as dowries. The
wonderful story of the Pickled Boys (Benjamin Britten composed a
wonderful version of this story) may have been based on a
misunderstanding of the gold story; it's been suggested that the
purses of gold in older paintings were mistaken for the heads of
children (the tale is that an innkeeper had murdered three kids and
pickled them in brine, but N. resurrected them).
Abraham of Kratia (d. 558) Abraham was a native of Emesa (Syria) and
became a monk there. But his community was broken up by raiding
bedouin and he fled to Constantinople. Soon A. became a bbot of
Kratia (Bithynia). He went away secretly to Palestine after a few
years, but his bishop tracked him down and made him come back. Soon
A. himself became bishop, serving for 13 years. . . and then running
away to be a monk again.
Peter Pascual (blessed) (d. 1300) The Valencian Peter was educated
at Paris, taught theology at Barcelona, and became tutor to an
Aragonese prince. In time he became titular bishop of Granada and
then Jaen (both still ruled by Muslims). P. was active in ransoming
Christian captives and even preaching to the Muslims---for which he
was imprisoned. He received money for his own ransom---but gave it
for some people he thought were in danger of apostasy. So he
occupied himself in prison writing a treatise against Islam. When
his captors found out about it they either killed him in prison or
planned his death, but he beat them by dying of the harsh conditions
in which he was living. P's cult was confirmed in 173.
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