medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
From: "Cormack, Margaret Jean" <[log in to unmask]>
> Thanks for this! It occurs to me that the practice of humiliation of relics
wouldn´t work unless the saint is envisioned as lord/owner...
yes, and he/she was clearly envisioned as a "living presence."
reading, quite literally, Suger certainly gives the impression that he thought
of St. Denny as being right here, amongst us (or, at least amongst his [the
saint's] monks, who serve him in his abbey church).
>I´m wondering if there are differences in different genres of writing (such
as legal documents - land sales in particular) and whether distinctions are
ever made between 'the church' and 'the saint.'
viday infra.
>There must be wills in which people make donations to 'St. X at the church of
Y' (most likely in the expectation of masses for their souls), but I´m
wondering if (say) the Virgin Mary, with a chapel in the church of St. Martin,
is ever seen as an active patron/ownder in this way.
wills, at least in Northern France, are quite scarce before c. 13.
but, charters abound.
the more or less standard formula, as i've seen it in the charters from the
Chartrain, is for a gift to be made, for example, "to St. Martin and the monks
who serve him in the Majoris Monasterii [Marmoutier] of Tours"
mention of the *institution* (the church or abbey) is most often ancillary
--or, if it is mentioned directly, it is clear that the church *belongs to the
saint*: "N gives to the church of St. Mary of Chartres" is the standard
formula found among the charters of the cathedral there.
it could even be argued that the *institution* might have been a somewhat
alien concept to the middlevil mind.
c
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