medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Thanks, Meg. I had been among those wondering.
Best,
John
On Tuesday, December 23, 2008, at 2:57 pm, Meg Cormack wrote:
> Congratulations, John, for finding the Ŝ and getting the accents
> right. However, in case list-members are wondering how the Alŝing had
> authority to declare anyone a saint (it didn´t), the sequence of
> events was as follows:
> At the Alŝing of 1198 (late June-early July), Bishop Páll of Skálholt
> (ŝorlákr's nephew and successor) declared it legitimate to make vows
> to Ŝorlákr (just as people today are making vows to Mother Theresa or
> Pope John Paul, who are not yet saints. Contrary to what you might
> think, the idea did not originate with him, he was urged to do it by
> the clergy of the other Icelandic diocese, Hólar, where visions etc.
> had indicated the possibe sanctity of the recently deceased bishop.)
> People enthusiastically made vows and reported miracles of various
> sorts, and on July 20 of the same year Bishop Páll translated the
> relics to the Cathedral - a late, but legitimate, local canonization
> mentioned as such by Vauchez (though there was never, as claimed in
> the English version of his book, an alternative spelling "Porlak" -
> someone didn´t understand the Ŝ.) I realize we could argue forever
> about when papal canonization became 'necessary', I´m not going to do
> that here, but as far as the Icelanders were concerned, Ŝorlákr became
> a saint on July 20; we are even told the number of candles that
> burned that year at his first feast (presumably meaning Dec. 23 1198).
>
> At the national assembly of 1199, Ŝorlákr's feast was adopted as one
> that was to be celebrated
> throughout the country. A list of such feasts (12th c. Holy Days of
> Obligation?) was included in the earliest (1122-33) extant version of
> the Icelandic law code (there are similar lists in Norwegian codes.
> Promulgation at an assembly makes it clear to everyone, priests and
> laity, what the obligations are - and in the Icelandic case, also WHEN
> they are.) The list had occasionally been modified (for example, by
> adoption of feasts of St. Agnes and St. Cecilia in 1179, probably at
> the instigation of Ŝorlákr himself.) One imagines the two bishops got
> together and discussed the matter with the chieftains and had the
> addition proclaimed. The national assembly was not a democratic
> organization.
> Happy Ŝorláksmessa everyone,
> Meg
>
>
> 4) Thorlac (d. 1193). T. (Thorlak; Ŝorlákur Ŝórhallsson) is
> Iceland's patron saint. Prior to his consecration as bishop of
> Skálholt in 1178 he had been abbot of the Augustinian canons at
> Thykkvibaer. He opposed simony and lay patronage, was celibate when
> many Icelandic clerics were not, and left an interesting Penitential
> discussed here:
> http://tinyurl.com/29j56k
> Numerous postmortem miracles were ascribed to T. In 1198 the Althing
> declared him a saint and his relics were enshrined in his cathedral.
> The shrine was destroyed during the Reformation. T. was canonized
> papally in 1984.
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