medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Today, February 19, is the feast day of:
Quodvultdeus of Carthage (d. c450) was a disciple of St. Augustine who at
some point in the 430s became bishop of Carthage. When, after the Vandal
seizure of that city in 439, he had declined to renounce Catholicism, he and
many of his clergy were ejected and sent abroad in what Victor of Vita says
were unseaworthy vessels. Arriving safely at Naples, Quodvultdeus settled
in as an exile in Campania, writing sermons and other works and warning all
of the barbarian peril. If he is the author, as people now tend think, of
the Liber promissionum et praedictorum Dei, he was living in Naples during
the papacy of Leo I (440-51). Quodvultdeus' date of death and place of
burial are unknown.
Until relatively recently most of Quodvultdeus' writings were ascribed
either to St. Augustine or to St. Prosper of Aquitaine. Here, ascribed to
the former, is the beginning of his De quattuor virtutibus caritatis in an
eleventh-century manuscript in the collections of the Free Library of
Philadelphia (ms. Lewis E 20): http://tinyurl.com/33ap99
Odran the Martyr (d. c. 452) Legend tells that the Irish Odran became
Patrick's chariot-driver, and was killed in an ambush meant for Pat (after
he had anticipated the danger and gallantly changed places with his
passenger). Odran was the only Irishman remembered as a martyr in early
Ireland.
Belina (d. 1135) lived near Troyes. While out sheepherding, a local noble
tried to rape her, and killed her when she fought back. She was canonized in
1203.
Boniface of Brussels/Lausanne (d1260). A native of Brussels, he studied at
the university of Paris and then taught there from 1222 to 1229. A student
strike caused him to move to Köln (Cologne), where he continued to teach
theology until 1231. In that year he became prince bishop of Lausanne,
violently denouncing his clergy for their laxity and where in time his
reforming zeal and defense of the rights of his church gained him the enmity
both of local nobles and of the emperor Frederick II, whose agents attempted
to kill him. Wounded physically and considering his position in Lausanne to
be hopeless, Requested from the pope permission to withdraw from his see in
1239 and returned to Brussels, his birthplace. He resided at the Cistercian
nunnery at La Cambre where the abbess invited him to stay. He spent the rest
of his life within the precincts of the abbey, acting as their chaplain. In
1245 he was one of the bishops who at the first Council of Lyon
excommunicated Frederick and declared him deposed.
Boniface died at La Cambre. His cult was confirmed for the Cistercian
order in 1702 and he is venerated in greater Brussels as a local saint.
Alvaro of Zamora/Alvarez of Cordoba (blessed) (d. c1434) joined the
Dominican community at Cordoba in 1368. He became famous as a preacher
throughout Andalusia, France, and in Italy. In his earlier years he was
confessor and adviser of the Queen-mother of Castile, Catherine, who was the
daughter of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster. He was a major figure of the
Dominican reform movement in Spain; in 1423 founding a reformed house,
Escalaceli, that became a center of learning. Alvaro's cult was confirmed in
1741.
happy reading,
Terri
(I apolgise for the lateness of this message. Today I learned about one of
the medical uses for silver nitrate. It was not a comfortable lesson and I'm
moving a little slow.)
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