medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Today (21. February) is the feast day of:
Eustathius (d. c. 338) Eustathius was a Pamphylian who became bishop
of Beroea (Syria) and in c. 324 was promoted to the see of Antioch.
He was a vigorous opponent of the Arians, which got him deposed in
330 and banished to Thrace.
Germanus of Grandval (d. c. 667) Germanus became a monk at
Remiremont and then at Luxeuil. Some years later, the abbot sent G
on to serve as first abbot of Grandval. He got into a disagreement
with the local duke, who liked to plunder the three monasteries under
G's care---one of the duke's soldiers ran G. through with a lance.
George of Amastris (d. c. 825) George was born near Amastris (on the
Black Sea). He trained as a hermit, went on to a monastery, and was
elected bishop of Amastris. G. refused the job, but was carried off
by force.
Peter Damian (d. 1072) My source calls PD "This prophetic figure of
the medieval Church"; I confess that I've always found him more than
a little judgmental and annoying. Peter Damian studied law, then
went and became a monk at Fonte Avellana, where he soon became prior
and founded several other communities. He got involved in papal
politics and the reform movement, becoming cardinal-bishop of Ostia
in 1057. PD worked to suppress local liturgies, organized the
Camaldolese order, reacted against secular learning (grammar, by the
way, is the work of the devil), advocated a desert spirituality, etc.
He is perhaps the most accessible figure of the eleventh century,
since we have (in the modern editions) four large volumes of his
letters and treatises, a volume of sermons, and several
hagiographical works. PD was never canonized but was declared a
doctor of the church in 1828.
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