medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
On Thursday, August 20, 2009, at 6:18 am, Erik Drigsdahl wrote:
> PS: Yesterdays Saint Magnus is of course the French "Saint Grant" (or
> Main, Maigne, Mene, etc.)
There are at least three saints Magnus who have been celebrated on 19. August. If by "Yesterdays Saint Magnus" is meant the one noticed in yesterday's "saints of the day" (Magnus "of Trani") he is not French but instead south Italian, given both his localization _in Fabriteria_ (i.e. Fabrateria Vetus, today's Ceccano) in the (pseudo-)Hieronymian Martyrology and the geographic distribution of his later cult sites (the earliest certainly dated one of these being his church in the territory of Ceprano, attested in charters of 988 and 990).
This Magnus (whose association with Trani appears to be at least very largely legendary) occurs not only in French calendars but indeed in calendars from all over the Latin West by reason of his having been included in the Gelasian Sacramentary, where of course he appears without geographic specification. So it is not surprising that he would have name forms in French, just as do those other south Italian saints of the Gelasian Sacramentary, Vitus (15. June) and Priscus of Capua (1. September).
There _is_ a French saint Magnus (M. of Avignon), also celebrated on 19. August. But he is said to be first documented in 1458 and his celebration on this day, which appears to be limited to Avignon and vicinity, was probably determined by the presence on 19. August in standard calendars of a saint bearing this name.
Best,
John Dillon
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