I've found references to two cases where monks wanted their
saintly founders to stop performing miracles in order to control the
pilgrim flow. Miracles associated with Robert of Chaise-Dieu attracted
so many pilgrims to his shrine that the monks of that house begged
him to stop; and the abbot of Clairvaux held St Bernard to his vow of
obedience and *ordered* him to cease performing miracles (For this,
see P.-A. Segal, L'Homme et le miracle dans la France medievale
[Paris, 1985]). It's probably also why Petronilla of Chemille wasn't
all that concerned with getting Robert of Arbrissel canonised, or so
I argue in my thesis....
tot ziens,
jon
J. M. B. PORTER
Department of History : University of Nottingham
University Park : Nottingham : NG7 2RD : England
t: + 115 951 3639 f: + 115 951 5948
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