medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Today (2. December) is the feast day of:
1) Bibiana (?). B. is a very poorly attested martyr of Rome, first recorded in the _Liber Pontificalis_ where we are told that pope St. Simplicius (468-83) dedicated a basilica to her near the Licinian palace. She has a legendary Passio in differing versions (BHL 1322-1323) that makes her a martyr under Julian the Apostate (for western saints, a good indicator of fiction). Her basilica was rebuilt in the thirteenth century by Honorius III and was reworked, largely on the same plan, by Bernini in 1624-26. Herewith a view of the interior, showing ancient Roman columns said to have belonged to the fifth-century church:
http://tinyurl.com/24bde9
2) Pi(g)menius of Rome (?). P. is a somewhat less poorly attested Roman martyr who was attracted into the legend of Bibiana and whose entry for today in the (pseudo-)Hieronymian Martyrology led to B.'s being commemorated on this day in the RM. P. was laid to rest in the cemetery of Pontianus on the Via Portuensis. In addition to his inclusion in B.'s Passio he has one of his own, BHL 6849-6849a.
3) Chromatius of Aquileia (d. 407 or 408). Bishop of Aquileia from 388, C. was a friend both of St. Jerome and of Rufinus of Aquileia. He encouraged the latter to undertake his translation of Eusebius' _Ecclesiastical History_. A correspondent of Ambrose of Milan, C. seems both from his sermons and from buildings dated in part to his episcopacy to have been about as active as A. in consecrating churches and martyria. One of these was the structure now referred to as the basilica di Monastero at Aquileia, part of whose mosaic floor can be seen in the complex under the present eleventh-/fourteenth-century Basilica. Here's an aerial view of the latter:
http://www.aquileia.it/basilica/index.htm
Two not very good views of the remains of C.'s basilica di Monastero (so called because the site was later used by a Benedictine monastery):
http://tinyurl.com/ud8ne
and, in the rear:
http://www.aquileia.net/images/musei02.jpg
The nave of today's Basilica replaced a predecessor whose early fourth-century mosaic floor was uncovered a little less than a century ago. Measuring some 700 square metres, it is said to be the largest early Christian mosaic floor in western Europe. Herewith some general views of a monument with which C. will certainly have been familiar:
http://tinyurl.com/t77nm
http://tinyurl.com/2cfuus
Detail views (expandable):
http://tinyurl.com/y67pb6
http://homepage.mac.com/paduan/PhotoAlbum26.html
http://tinyurl.com/ycvq8a
Jonah and the whale:
http://tinyurl.com/y65g3p
4) Oderisius I, abbot of Montecassino (Bl.; d. 1105). Today's less well known holy person from the Regno was a scion of the counts of the Marsi who was educated at Montecassino under abbot Richerius. Two of his brothers were Atto, bishop of Chieti and Transmundus, abbot of San Clemente a Casauria and bishop of Valva. In 1059 pope Nicholas II made him a cardinal; for close to thirty years O. served the papacy in Rome. In 1087 O. was back at Montecassino as prior and in September of that year he was elected abbot to replace Desiderius II (who was now pope as Victor III).
Known to historians for his correspondence with the emperor Alexius I Comnenus in support of the First Crusade, O. continued Desiderius' work in bringing the abbey to a state of proper splendor and usefulness. In particular, O. was responsible for a major expansion of the abbey's library and promoted the work of its scriptorium, many of whose products are described in Francis Newton's monumental study, _The Scriptorium and Library at Monte Cassino, 1058-1105_ (Cambridge U.P, 1999).
Best,
John Dillon
(last year's post lightly revised)
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