medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Today (19. January) is the feast day of:
Macarius the Elder (d. 390) Macarius the Egyptian (or "the Great")
was a native of Upper Egypt. He took to the life of a "village
hermit," but in time moved to the desert of Skete in Lower Egypt. He
was a great spiritual leader. Many sayings are attributed to M., and
also a body of literature.
Wulfstan (d. 1095) Wulfstan was a native of Warwickshire. He
received a monastic education and then joined the bishop of
Worcester's household. Before long, however, W. became a monk of the
monastery attached to Worcester cathedral. W. became bishop of
Worcester in 1062. He was a model bishop. In 1066 he was one of the
first bishops to submit to William the Conqueror; legend tells that
Lanfranc demanded he give up his see, but W responded by ramming his
crozier into the stone of Edward the Confessor's tomb---and nobody
could remove it. W's cult developed soon after his death, and he was
canonized in 1203.
Henry of Uppsala (d. 1156) Henry was an Englishman who may have been
part of the household of Cardinal Nicholas Breakspear (later Pope
Adrian IV). The cardinal went as a papal legate to Scandinavia in
1151 and Henry went with him. H. was made bishop of Uppsala in 1152.
He went crusading against the Finns and, after a Swedish victory,
stayed behind to evangelize. H. had some success, but ran into
trouble: H. excommunicated a converted Finn for murdering a Swedish
soldier; the Finn was irked at this and ambushed the bishop and axed
him to death. H. was early recognized as patron saint of Finland.
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