medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
I'm sorry: Vitalian of Capua is a saint of the Regno who, having been absent from "saints of the day" for a couple of years, is perhaps not as familiar as many of his fellows. He has a brief Vita (BHL 1254) whose repeated sensationalism is powered by an improbability drive of some magnitude. According to this text, V.'s enemies at Capua (who later successfully got rid of him) placed women's clothing and women's shoes in his bedroom one night in the correct expectation that when he arose on the following day he would in the darkness dress himself in these and, so attired, celebrate Matins before the people and clergy. As the light grew, it became apparent to others how V. was dressed; it was widely assumed that V.'s sartorial embarrassment arose from unchaste behavior on his part.
The incident is adapted from one in the legendary Vitae of St. Jerome where, with similar intent, the same trick is played and J. goes to Matins similarly dressed. Probably the easiest version of that to find will be the one in the _Legenda aurea_.
Best again,
John Dillon
On Wednesday, October 21, 2009, at 11:03 am, John Briggs wrote:
> I'm sorry, I may not have been paying attention, but did we ever get
> an explanation as to why the bishop was wearing women's clothing? It
> seems awfully advanced - indeed, even as we speak, the Vatican is
> making special arrangements to accommodate Anglicans who object to
> that sort of thing...
>
> John Briggs
>
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: John Dillon <[log in to unmask]>
> >
> > For what little this is worth, the cross-dressing episode in the
> > probably monastic, perhaps late twelfth- or early thirteenth-century
>
> > legendary Vita of the early medieval St. Vitalian of Capua (BHL
> 1254)
> > envisions a situation in which V.'s wearing women's clothing while
> he
> > celebrates Matins in his cathedral (an adaptation of a similar
> > incident in legendary Vitae of St. Jerome) only becomes apparent to
>
> > others as it grows light. Which in turn means that the Vita's
> > audience is expected -- if it thinks about this -- to imagine a
> > chancel insufficiently lit at the outset of the service to permit
> > observation of the nature of the celebrant's clothing.
> >
> > This seems more likely to reflect dimness on the part of the Vita's
>
> > author than actual darkness in the chancel at Montevergine (or
> > wherever the Vita was written) when Matins began. Still,...
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