medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Today (22. January) is the feast day of:
1) Vincent of Saragossa (d. 304?). A popular martyr of early Christian Iberia, V. was a deacon at Saragossa who did a lot of preaching for his bishop, Valerian, who (in some accounts) had a speech impediment. At the outbreak of the Diocletianic persecution they were both arrested and hauled off to Valencia, where they were imprisoned pending a hearing. When that hearing came, Vincent did most of the talking and spoke so ably that the presiding magistrate concluded that the really dangerous one was the deacon, not the bishop. Consequently, Valerian was exiled but Vincent remained in prison, where he underwent a series of tortures and finally was executed. Early witnesses to his cult include St. Paulinus of Nola, Prudentius, and St. Augustine (who eulogized V. annually on this day and from whom we have no fewer than five sermons celebrating him). His Passiones are relatively late.
The church of St-Germain-des-Prés at Paris is a successor to a Merovingian basilica dedicated to the Holy Cross and to V. This is said to have been founded in the sixth century by Childebert I, who gave it V.'s stole (and perhaps his dalmatic as well). Herewith some views of the thirteenth-century window of V. from St-Germain-des-Prés, now in the Metropolitan Museum, New York:
http://tinyurl.com/3bxbup
better images (but fewer):
http://tinyurl.com/3cb48a
Until the latest revision of the Roman Calendar, V. had a joint feast with:
2) Anastasius the Persian (d. 628). A., whose Persian name is said to have been Magundat, was a soldier in the army of Khusrow (Chosroes) II when the latter seized the Holy Cross and brought it back to Persia. Impressed with power of this relic and with the observed behavior of many Christians, A. left the army and converted to Christianity. After a period as a monk in Jerusalem he returned to Persia as a missionary and was soon arrested and beheaded. A.'s cult was widespread in both East and West. For his Greek dossier, see Bernard Flusin, _Saint Anastase le Perse et l'histoire de la Palestine au début du VIIe siècle_ (Paris: CNRS, 992; 2 vols.).
Rome's originally twelfth-century church of SS. Vincenzo ed Anastasio alle Tre Fontane succeeded an early medieval dedication to A. alone, S. Anastasius ad Aquam Salviam. A couple of views:
http://tinyurl.com/yr5nwo
http://www.romeartlover.it/Vasi43f2.jpg
Some views of the twelfth-century Cripta di Sant'Anastasio at Asti (AT) in Piedmont:
http://tinyurl.com/2xv4ya
http://tinyurl.com/yvgt3w
Some views of V. and A.'s church in Ascoli Piceno (AP) in the Marche, an early fourteenth-century rebuilding of a predecessor:
http://tinyurl.com/yv9jd7
Best,
John Dillon
http://tinyurl.com/yvuzfh
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