medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Today (19. June) is the feast day of:
Gervasius and Protasius (2nd cent.?) It is hard to resist the
temptation that Ambrose of Milan "invented" these saints in the
modern rather than the medieval sense of the word. While preparing
for the dedication of Milan's new cathedral, A. had a "presentiment"
that there were relics of Christian martyrs buried in a nearby
church. Sure enough, they dug up the remains of two very tall men
with severed heads. They were labeled as Gervasius and Protasius,
who were only names on a list of early martyrs, with no details
known. Certainly A. believed they were martyrs---after all, he
ordered that he be buried with them when he died. Tantalizing,
though, is the report that the bones still had traces of "blood,"
which at least one modern scholar has argued was actually ochre, and
evidence that these burials were actually from the neolithic era.
Deodatus of Nevers (d. 679?) Deodatus became bishop of Never in c.
655. After 3 years he went off to be a hermit, settling in time on
an island near Strassburg, where he built the monastery later called
Ebersheim. D. then went further away to try eremitical life some
more, but again had to deal with zealous disciples, for whom he
founded the monastery of Jointures.
Bruno (Boniface) of Querfurt (d. 1009) Bruno (who took the name
Boniface later)was a noble Saxon who became chaplain at the court of
Otto III. But when he went to Italy with the emperor, B. met Romuald
and entered his community. He wrote a fascinating life of St.
Adalbert of Prague, and increasingly felt called to enter the mission
field himself---we know this from B's semi-autobiographical Vita
quinque fratrum. A group of monks won permission to go to Slavic
lands, but B hadn't caught up with them yet before they were murdered
by robbers. B. himself finally made it to Slavic lands, preaching in
Kiev, and then along the Polish border. He and eighteen companions
were killed by Prussians on 14. March 1009. His patron Boleslas
bought back the saint's body for veneration.
Romuald of Ravenna (d. 1027) Romuald's conversion came when his
father killed a relative. R. went off to be a monk at S. Apollinare
in Classe, but proved to be so devout that he antagonized many of the
monks. So he left and became a hermit. From there, he became, as
Peter Damian termed it, "the father of rational hermits who live by
law," founding a number of hermitages in northern Italy, staffed with
communities of well-regulated hermits. He is the father of the
Camaldolese order.
Juliana Falconieri (d. 1341) Juliana's uncle was one of the seven
founders of the Servite Order. When she was 15, J. became a Servite
tertiary. She collected a group of Florentine ladies into a communal
life, creating a rule for them that was later approved for all
Servite nuns. And it's very nice to find an Italian female saint who
didn't starve herself to death at a young age---J. lived to the ripe
age of 71.
--
Dr. Phyllis G. Jestice
Associate Professor & Chair
History Department
University of Southern Mississippi
118 College Dr. #5047
Hattiesburg, MS 39406
(601) 266-5844
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