medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
From: Terri Morgan <[log in to unmask]>
> Leobin (d. 556) was from a peasant family near Poitiers. He became a hermit,
then a priest, then abbot of Brou, and ended up as bishop of Chartres.
does anyone happen to know how credible that first bit might be, "from a
peasant family"?
i find the idea that the son of a "peasant family" might rise to the rank of
Abbot (pre-9th c. Brou was an important Benedictine house, btw; now destroyed
without a trace), to say nothing of Bishop, to be one of the Greater Miracles
ever to appear in this illustrious series of M-R posts.
but, maybe that's just my middle class prejudice against "peasants" rearing
its ugly head...
questions of "credibility" (i.e., relationship --it any-- to "truth") aside,
i'm wondering about what the motivation might have been for a post-6th c. (i
assume) hagiographer to have spun such a tale of "humble" (the "peasantry" was
*beyond* "humble") origins for his Man of God.
c
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