medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Today (12. March) is the feast day of:
Pionius (d. c. 250) The priest Pionius of Smyrna took in a woman who
had fled from her non-Christian family. This brought him to the
attention of the authorities, and, sure enough, P. was soon arrested.
He was tortured and still proved unwilling to sacrifice to the state
gods, so he was burned at the stake.
Peter, Dorotheus, and Migdon (d. 303) Diocletian heard that there
were Christians in his own household, and ordered public sacrifices
to uncover them. Three refused to sacrifice---Diocletian's
majordomo, the guy in charge of the imperial bedchamber, and another
high official. They were tortured rather disgustingly and killed in
nasty ways.
Paul Aurelian (d. 573) Paul Aurelian was born in Wales and, at least
according to legend, educated along with St David. On reaching
adulthood, PA became a hermit, then eventually a priest, and finally
set out for Brittany with the requisite twelve companions. The group
lived several places, finally settling on the island of Batz. PA was
forced to become bishop, but managed to resign after some years.
Theophanes the Chronicler (d. 817) Theophanes was born to a very
wealthy Greek family and a marriage was arranged for him at a young
age, but he and his bride decided to live as siblings together and
then separated when the girl's father died. Theo became a monk, then
build a monastery on his own estate. He was an ascetic and a
historian, producing a major chronicle. Emperor Leo the Armenian,
though, decided that a monk so well-born and highly regarded would
make a good defender of iconoclasm. He summoned Theo to court, Theo
refused to denounce icons, and was flogged and imprisoned for two
years, before being banished to Samothrace, where he soon died.
Symeon the New Theologian (d. 1022) Symeon was a noble Paphlagonian
who became a monk at Studium in Constantinople. He soon became
deeply engaged in mysticism. and took to writing
sometimes-controversial theological and ethical treatises.
**********************************************************************
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
|