medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture

Today (2. January) is the feast day of:

Basil the Great (d. 379)  Basil was a native of Caesarea; both his 
parents, one grandmother, and three siblings are also venerated as 
saints.  Basil studied at Athens and taught rhetoric before getting 
religion, being baptized, and setting out on a tour of monasteries. 
He soon gathered disciples and founded the first monastery in Asia 
Minor.  B. became bishop of Caesarea in 370, a position that made him 
metropolitan of 50 dioceses.  He played a major role in the 
anti-Arian conflicts of the fourth century, was a dominant Christian 
writer, and preached twice a day to enormous crowds (in that pre-TV 
age; my church this morning had an attendance of 24).  B. died at the 
age of 49 after a long stomach ailment

Gregory of Nazianzus (d. 390)  Gregory also came from a well-sainted 
family (both parents and two siblings are saints).  He met Basil (see 
above) when they were students, and joined Basil's new monastery. 
But Greg was called home to assist his elderly father, Bishop Gregory 
(the Elder) of Nazianzus, and seems to have discovered quickly that 
he had no taste for ecclesiastical administration.  But Greg let 
Basil appoint him bishop of Sasima, which caused a rift between them 
because G. refused to go and argue with Arians for his diocese.  For 
the rest of his life, G escaped to the solitary life as often as 
possible, but was frequently called to take a part in church 
controversies.

Munchin of Limerick (7th cent.)  The early Irish martyrologies call 
him Munchin "the Wise"; other than that, there is little historical 
evidence of this saint.  He was apparently given the island of Sirban 
by a prince and is honored as patron and first bishop of Limerick.

Adelard (d. 827)  Adelard was a Carolingian; his father was a son of 
Charles Martel.  He became a monk at Corbie in 773.  Charlemagne 
forced A. out of the monastery (where he soon became abbot) to serve 
as an advisor.  This got A. into trouble, as he was accused of 
supporting Bernard (whom he had tutored) in his revolt against Louis 
the Pious, and was banished to a monastery in Aquitaine, only 
returning to Corbie in 821.  A. completed the foundation of Corvey 
(or "New Corbie").  When he died, miracles were soon reported at his 
tomb and a cult developed; there was a solemn translatio in 1040.

Stephana Quinzani (blessed) (d. 1530)  Stephana was a middle-class 
woman from the area of Brescia.  She became a Dominican tertiary and 
worked for the poor and sick through her life, eventually founding a 
convent in Soncino.  She was an ecstatic stigmatic.  S's cult was 
confirmed in 1740. 

**********************************************************************
To join the list, send the message: join medieval-religion YOUR NAME
to: [log in to unmask]
To send a message to the list, address it to:
[log in to unmask]
To leave the list, send the message: leave medieval-religion
to: [log in to unmask]
In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to:
[log in to unmask]
For further information, visit our web site:
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/medieval-religion.html