medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Today (13. June) is also the feast day of:
Fortunatus of Naples (d. ca. 345??). Today's less well known saint of
the Regno was, according to the _Chronicon episcoporum s. Neapolitanae
ecclesiae_, Naples' ninth bishop, the immediate successor of St.
Ephebus/Euphebius (23. May) and the immediate predecessor of St. Maximus
(11. June). Readers of the _Chronicon_ will remember that some of its
stylish little elogia are tricked out with an initial anaphoric keyword:
Paul's (the fifth bishop) is 'mirabilis', Ephebus' is 'pulcher', and
F.'s is 'sanctissimus'. We are told nothing about him other than that
he lived a very holy holy life and engaged unceasingly night and day in
very holy prayers that he might, as in fact he did, attain the kingdom
of heaven.
F. was buried in a basilica dedicated to him near the catacombs of St.
Gaudiosus. Ruinous remains of this church were still standing in the
early seventeenth century, when the ecclesiastical historian Bartolomeo
Chioccarelli saw frescoes, painted in what he called a Greek manner,
depicting F. and his successor Maximus in their episcopal vestments.
The Marble Calendar of Naples gives today as the date of his deposition.
In the first half of the ninth century F. was translated to the
Stefania, an episcopal basilica replaced at the end of the thirteenth
century by the present cathedral. The Neapolitan _Ordo ad unguendum
infirmum_ used in the tenth and eleventh centuries includes F. in its
litany of the city's sainted bishops.
In 1589 the Capuchins of Naples found under their church of Sant'Efremo
(now Sant'Efremo Vecchio) what they announced as F.'s remains, along
with those of Sts. Ephebus/Euphebius and Maximus; in this they were
guided by a now lost inscription (our sources differ as to whether this
were on a marble tablet or a lead plaque) proclaiming two of these sets
of relics as those of F. and of M. deposited by a bishop Paul who has
not been securely identified. A formal recognition was followed by a
reburial under this church's main altar. When F.'s cult was confirmed
in 1872, celebrations took place both in the cathedral and in
Sant'Efremo Vecchio.
An illustrated guide to Naples' much rebuilt cathedral is here:
http://www.duomodinapoli.it/
A few views:
http://www.foto.portanapoli.com/FOTO/duomo_alto.jpg
http://tinyurl.com/jrscb
http://www.napoletanita.it/icone/duomo.jpg
http://tinyurl.com/l5kmt
http://tinyurl.com/gct44
Best,
John Dillon
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