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Supple Doctor Lives! The Supple Doctor is not dead, as you may have feared, but has been sleeping, as far as the list is concerned. Since we last spoke, much has happened to me. Having returned from a holiday in Crete, (about which I might say much, if this were a Minoan or a Classical list) I find myself uprooted and replanted as parish priest of Pickering. This is a small town in North Yorkshire, England, U.K., Europe, of considerable interest to medievalists, and it will not be inopportune to tell you a little about it. To begin with, my parish is the birthplace of Richard Rolle. Most medieval people are known by the place of their birth; Rolle, unusually, is often referred to by the place of his death: "Richard Rolle of Hampole." He ended his days as spiritual director to a convent of nuns at Hampole, which is not very near to Pickering. But he was born in Thornton le Dale, a small village just outside Pickering, and very much part of my parish. Pickering is celebrating the 700th anniversary of Rolle's birth, and the local papers and magazines are full of articles about him. For example, the "Pickering Beacon" (no less), pushed through my door yesterday, contains an article entitled "Richard Rolle - Hermit and Mystic. Born 1300 Thornton Dale" (the locals tend to drop the "le"). The (Anglican) parish church is medieval, and contains some celebrated wall paintings, which I have yet to see. I note that the vicar, Canon Hewitt, is giving a talk about them, and I shall try to attend. It may be that they will provide matter of interest to this list. My own church, St Joseph's, is not of course medieval; it dates from the beginning of the 20th century. It does have a few features which may however be of interest to members (I hope nobody will be offended if I stretch the "longue durée" of the Middle Ages a little longer than usual). A great hero of the Catholic Church in penal times was Fr Nicholas Postgate, the "Priest of the Moors" who held a long ministry in this area in the seventeenth century. He was at last arrested as a result of the frenzy stirred up by Titus Oates' "Popish Plot" and hung, drawn and quartered on the Knavesmire, in York. We have a relic of him in St Joseph's, namely his altar stone, which is hung in the front of our altar, so that every time I say Mass, I am saying it on the same altar as the martyr did. He has been beatified (that is, he is the "Blessed" Nicholas Postgate) and we look forward to his eventual canonisation. St Joseph's also has a font by the sculptor Eric Gill, of considerable interest, though in no way medieval, so I shall say no more. Besides being Parish Priest of Pickering, I have been created - mirabile dictu! - Dean of Ryedale. This makes me a Very Reverend as opposed to a simple Reverend. Who'd have thunk it? My deanery includes some notable places - Ampleforth; Rievaulx (Aelred, if he lived, would be under my Deansmanship!); Helmsley, the manor of Walter Espec; Malton, where the Cathlic Church, St Leonard's, is one of our few medieval churches, given back by the Church of England some years ago; Oswaldkirk, Thirsk, Kirkbymoorside, Filey. Lastingham, associated with the great St Cedd (or was it Chad - members will remind me) is part of my deanery, and indeed not far from my parish. And many other medieval religious sites lurk in my deanery - Byland Abbey is another. I look forward to sharing such of my experiences as are relevant to a disciplined and scholarly medieval religion list. The Very Supple Doctor. ____________________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get your free @yahoo.co.uk address at http://mail.yahoo.co.uk or your free @yahoo.ie address at http://mail.yahoo.ie %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%