medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
It was also the medium of another popular ex voto, the
> string measured to the length of the ill person (or, in some cases
> part--as in Thomas More's story I mentioned earlier about the chapel
> hung about with petitioners' "private gear") and then used as the wick
> for a candle or taper offered to the intervening saint. These long,
> thin candles were sometimes rolled up (called "trindles," at least in
> England). There is an image of them in Matthew Paris's 13th-C drawing
> of the tomb of Edward the Confessor. But that probably takes us off
> into a different direction.
John,
Thanks for the additional reference. You are absolutely right about the importance of wax,
which also had thaumaturgical importance in the Middle Ages and early modern period. As
for trindles, you can also see images of them in the stained glass in the Trinity Chapel at
Canterbury Cathedral, formerly the location of Becket's principal shrine. The most
spectacular trindles were civic donations and were as long as the circumference of the city.
There is a late 17th-century image of one in Chartres Cathedral, hanging in the crossing, in
front of the jube. These appear to be related to the miraculously appearing threads that the
Virgin Mary occasionally placed around city walls for protection, as at Valenciennes. This
whole business of "thaumaturgical mensuration" deserves far more study -- at least I am
unaware of any treatments of it.
Cheers,
Jim
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