medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Nearly a century before Becket (1094/5), Herbert Losinga's new cathedral at
Norwich was dedicated 'in the name and in the honour of the Holy and
Undivided Trinity. [ed. Atherton, et al., Norwich Cathedral. Church, City
and Diocese, 1096-1996 (Hambledon Press, 1996), p 25], so at least one major
English church preceded the trend. Of course Losinga was not English
Rosemary Hayes
----- Original Message -----
From: "John Dillon" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thursday, January 18, 2007 7:45 PM
Subject: Re: [M-R] Holy Trinity
medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
On Thursday, January 18, 2007, at 12:07 pm, Gordon Plumb wrote:
> The influence of Thomas Becket has been cited by several writers.
> Gervase of
> Canterbury tell us that Beckett ordained that the octave of Pentecost
> should
> be forever celebrated throughout his Province as the festival of the
> Holy
> Trinity. (He has been consecrated on that day and celebrated his
> first mass in the
> Prior Conrad's Trinity cHapel, burnt down four years later).
> Dedications to
> the Holy Trinity were relatively uncommon until the closing years of
> the 12th
> century. One source (Bond: Dedications of English Churches) says there
> were 297
> ancient dedications to the Holy Trinity.
Whereas in southern Italy dedications to the Trinity become noticeable in
the eleventh century, first the abbey of La Cava (today's Cava de' Tirreni)
near Salerno and later its associated houses at the Norman capitals of
Venosa and Mileto. Further north, also from the eleventh century is
Florence's originally Vallombrosan church of Santa Trinità, while a notable
early twelfth-century dedication is SS. Trinità at Saccargia in northwestern
Sardinia, consecrated in 1106 during a period of Pisan dominance. The
Cavensian and Vallombrosan connections suggest an impetus from reformed
Benedictine monasticism.
Again, England's being outside the Carolingian dominions may have caused it
to miss a wave of imperially sponsored/promoted dedications to the Trinity,
e.g. the early ninth-century church at Zadar in today's Croatia now known as
Sv. Donat or the island abbey at Casauria in today's Abruzzo founded by
Louis II in 873 (better known as San Clemente a Casauria). Also from the
ninth century was the monastery of the Holy Trinity on Halki (Chalki) island
near Istanbul, said to have been founded during the (interrupted)
patriarchate of Photius I.
An earlier dedication to the Trinity is the church at Eleutheropolis in
Palestine, where in the early seventh century the martyrs of Gaza were
buried.
It would be interesting to see whether doctrinal conflicts of the fourth
century led to Catholic dedications to the Trinity as a means of
differentiation from Arians, semi-Arians, neo-Arians, and others whom
Catholics decided to call "Arian".
Best,
John Dillon
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