medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
One could observe, in a non-military context, that the boiling oil in which various martyrs are said to have been placed is not always just oil. To judge from Bruno W. Häuptli's lengthy treatment of today's St. Ansanus of Siena in the Bautz _Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon_, A.'s Passio (both versions, it would seem) makes the boiling liquid that the saint overcomes a mixture of molten lead, wax, oil, and pitch.
Can others cite examples from hagiography of similar mixtures?
Best,
John Dillon
On Saturday, December 1, 2007, at 12:13 pm, Diana Wright wrote:
> Hot oil, wax & fish sounds really disgusting.
>
> Thank you for the reference.
>
> DW
>
>
>
>
> Phyllis G. Jestice wrote:
> > medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
> >> Abbo of St-Germain has an interesting reference to the issue in his
>
> >> account of the Viking siege of Paris in the 880s.
> >
> > He writes of the attackers trying to undermine the walls: "Some of
> > them wanted to undermine the foot of the wall with iron picks, but
> he
> > [the leader of the defense] drove them back with hot oil, wax, and
> > fish. This mixture, liquefied in a blazing furnace, burned the hair
>
> > of the Danes and stuck to their heads. " (Sorry I don't have the
> > original Latin; I translated the account years ago for class use.)
> >
> > How much to trust monastic accounts of medieval military ventures is
>
> > another question. But Abbo was apparently in Paris at the time of
> the
> > siege.
> >
> > Phyllis
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