medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Dear Meg,
The saint's soul being seen to issue from her/his mouth/neck at the moment of death is, as you observe, a hagiographic topos. Scolastica's soul ascending in the form of a dove has already been mentioned in this thread; others similarly described are Polycarp of Smyrna, Eulalia of Mérida, Eulalia of Barcelona, Julia of Corsica, Restituta of Corsica, Potitus, Menignus the Fuller, Benignus of Dijon, Quintinus of Vermand, and Agilulf of Köln. The _Catholic Encyclopedia_, s.v. "Dove", has some basic observations on the symbolism; see
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05144b.htm
But this particular topos appears to begin with the Passio Polycarpi. So for possible references to modern scholarship on it I'd have a look at Gerd Buschmann, _Martyrium Polycarpi: eine formkritische Studie. Ein Beitrag zur Frage nach der Entstehung der Gattung Märtyrerakte_ (Berlin: W. de Gruyter, 1994).
Best (and Happy New Year!),
John Dillon
OnTuesday, December 26, 2006, at 3:37 pm, Meg Cormack wrote:
> I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas, and did NOT spend this
> morning madly clawing your
> way through the sales!
> I have a few queries for which I thought list-members might be able
> to provide guidance.
> First, I´m looking for primary or secondary literature on the use of
> birds as symbols of souls
> (departing the body of the dead, etc.) I believe there is some such in
> the Brendan material, and
> it seems like such an obvious topos that there may actually be a book
> or article about it. If anyone
> knows of such, please let me know.
> Second, I´m trying to identify romances in which a Christian hero
> marries (after converting her,
> and appropriate battles) a pagan (usually Muslim) princess. I´d be
> especially interested in examples
> from the German language area, though material in other languages
> would be of interest. I have
> the feeling that Bevis of Hamton belongs in this category, and am
> reasonably sure that it's a fairly
> common motif. Recommendations for a good contemporary overview of
> vernacular romance would also
> be appreciated!
> Happy New Year,
> Meg
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