medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Today (31. August) is the feast day of:
Caesidius (d. later third century, supposedly). Today's less well known
saint of the Regno, C. (in Italian, Cesidio) is the chief saint of today's
Trasacco (AQ) in Abruzzo. He has a Vita that has been published only
in separate pieces (BHL 7360, BHL 7363); this makes him the son of a
Rufinus bishop of the Marsi and locates him in a place called Messinum,
where he has a tiny abode next to an oratory. Rufinus, on the other
hand, lives in the _civitas Marsorum_ (ancient Marruvium; today's San
Benedetto dei Marsi), the medieval seat of what until 1986 was the
diocese of the Marsi and is now the diocese of Avezzano. Caught up in a
persecution under Maximinus Thrax, they arrive separately at Rome, are
reunited there, and so impress the emperor with the strength of their
faith that he orders all Christian prisoners to be released. R. and C.
return to their homes and live out full lives resplendent in the glory of
their merits. R. dies on 11. February, C. on 8. April (years unspecified).
This Vita, which survives in an eleventh-century passionary at Pistoia,
is thought to be our earliest account of C. Probably dating from the
tenth century, it provides an aitiology for the Marsican cults of C.
(whose church at Trasacco is first documented in a comital donation of
1096) and of R. (attested in the greater area from at least the twelfth
century onward). C.'s name is local and anciently attested, but who he
really was remains a mystery.
C. and R., still son and father, are also the protagonists of an episodic
Passio which exists in two forms, one for the church at Assisi and other
places in Umbria (BHL 7364 and BHL 7362) and the other for the church
at Trasacco (BHL 7361). This makes R. a bishop and C. a priest and
gives them an early career in a place called Amasea that's usually
thought to be the city of this name in Pontus (today's Amasya in Turkey)
but that I suspect is really meant to be Amasenus, i.e. today's Amaseno
(FR) in Lazio (in Latin, 'Amasenus' is also the standard adjectival form
for Amasea). C. and R. flee from persecution here and settle at
Trasacco. R. later goes on to Assisi and is martyred there (11. August
is the usual date), whereas C. stays at Trasacco and together with
numerous companions is martyred while saying mass in its church. He is
secretly buried in the church on 31. August. Although the Trasacco
version in its present form is relatively late, the Passio itself is
documented from the end of the eleventh century onward.
For a much fuller discussion of these matters, see Francesco Scorza
Barcellona, "Rufino e Cesidio, santi della Marsica," in Gennaro Luongo,
ed., _La Terra dei Marsi: cristianesimo, cultura, istituzioni. Atti del
Convegno di Avezzano 24-26 settembre 1998_ (Roma: Viella, 2002), pp. 265-85.
C.'s cult is centered at Trasacco's Basilica di Santi Cesidio e Rufino
(twelfth- to early thirteenth-century; later additions). The building
is notable for its sculptural elements. A couple of Italian-language
accounts are here:
http://tinyurl.com/3cumqh
http://www.coppodellorso.it/basilica.htm
Exterior views:
http://tinyurl.com/3aw65m
http://www.immagini2.terremarsicane.it/ing2trasacco/im63.htm
Portals (with Italian-language discussion):
http://tinyurl.com/ys9zk2
Main (Men's) portal (15th-century ?):
http://tinyurl.com/ywtrlx
http://www.immagini2.terremarsicane.it/ing2trasacco/im66.htm
Details:
http://tinyurl.com/c8e4c
http://tinyurl.com/2bo35y
http://tinyurl.com/9nhs5
Women's portal:
http://www.immagini2.terremarsicane.it/ing2trasacco/im64.htm
http://tinyurl.com/e2k2c
Plaque: gryphon holding something in its beak:
http://tinyurl.com/88tlg
Rear window:
http://tinyurl.com/yoer39
Interior views:
http://tinyurl.com/chagr
http://tinyurl.com/bopwm
Ambo (late 12th-century:
Discussion (Italian-language):
http://tinyurl.com/3d5799
Details:
http://tinyurl.com/7s79v
http://tinyurl.com/8xmrp
http://tinyurl.com/7qd4x
Baptismal font (w/"Corinthian" capital):
http://tinyurl.com/9vh4l
Holy water font:
http://tinyurl.com/ynuveb
Statue of the BVM:
http://www.immagini2.terremarsicane.it/ima2trasacco/fp7.jpg
Various views:
http://tinyurl.com/ypk3tx
and (three pages):
http://tinyurl.com/k8843
In the eighteenth century burials were discovered under the nave of the
church. Some of the bones have been declared to be C.'s relics. These
presumably came from the tenth- or early eleventh-century sarcophagus
that at this time was incorporated into the church's rebuilt altar.
Best,
John Dillon
(last year's post lightly revised)
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