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medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture The topos of a pillar of light revealing the location or sanctity of a body is fairly common in hagiography. In addition to the case of Oswald, Bede includes similar references in Historia ecclesiastica, 5.10 (the location of the slain Hewalds); cf. 4.7 (indicating where nuns of Barking should be buried); 4.10 (marking a grave at Barking containing many monks and nuns). Gregory of Tours presents a similar story in Liber in gloria confessorum, ed. B. Krusch, MGH, SS. Rer. Merov., vol. 1:2, pp. 309-310. For examples in the passions of (mostly ancient) martyrs, see the index to Mombritius, Sanctuarium, 2:803, s. v. "martyrum corpora luce mirabili revelata." Going back to Britain, I have seen the assertion that a celestial beacon was said to have revealed the body of the ancient martyr St. Alban, but I haven't traced a source. Beyond that, most of the English saints I have found associated with such lights were, like Oswald, Anglo-Saxon royalty. Archdeacon Hermann spoke of a light over the first grave of St. Edmund (Miracula sancti Eadmundi, 2), a detail apparently unknown to Abbo of Fleury. For other examples, see Byrhtferth, Passio Ethelberti atque Ethelberti, 5, p. 8; Passio Ethelredi atque Ethelbricti, p. 95; Passio Fthelberti, pp. 241-242; Passio Eadwardi, p. 7; Vita Kenelmi, 8, p. 62; Vita brevior Kenelmi, p. 129; Vita Wistani, p. 331. On the phenomenon generally, see Rollason, "The Cults of Murdered Royal Saints," p. 13; Folz, Les saints rois, p. 66. (For full citations, see below.) A later English example is in Thomas of Monmouth, The Life and Miracles of St. William of Norwich, 1.9, ed. and tr. Augustus Jessopp and M. R. James, pp. 31-32. In this case, two beacons appear to form a ladder. Among the most famous examples is the legendary etymology of Compostela from campus stellarum or "field of stars" because of the many lights in the sky over the cemetery where the body of St. James lay in temporary anonymity. REFERENCES Byrhtferth, Passio sanctorum Ethelberti atque Ethelredi, ed. T. Arnold, Symeonis monachi opera omnia, R. S. [75], 2 vol. (London, 1885), 2:1-13. Passio beatorum martyrum Ethelredi atque Ethelbricti, ed. D. W. Rollason, The Mildreth Legend: a Study in Early Medieval Hagiography in England (Leicester: Leicester University Press, 1982), pp. 90-104. Passio Eadwardi, ed. C. Fell, Edward King and Martyr, Leeds Texts and Monographs, n.s. 3 (Leeds, 1971), pp. 1-16. Vita et miracula sancti Kenelmi, ed. and tr. Rosalind C. Love, Three Eleventh-Century Anglo-Latin Saints' Lives, Oxford Medieval Texts (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1996), pp. 49-89; Vita brevior sancti Kenelmi, ibid., pp. 126-129. Vita sancti Wistani, ed. W. D. Macray, Chronicon abbatiae de Evesham ad annum 1418, R. S. [29] (London, 1863), pp. 325-332. D. W. Rollason, "The Cults of Murdered Royal Saints in Anglo-Saxon England," Anglo-Saxon England, 11 (1983), 1-22. Robert Folz, Les saints rois du moyen bge en occident (VIe-XIIIe sihcles), Subsidia hagiographica, 68 (Brussels; Societe des Bollandistes, 1984). I apologize for the cut-and-paste nature of this message, but I hope the references are useful. I would be happy to hear of others as well. Best wishes, John John M. McCulloh [log in to unmask] History Department 785-532-0373 Eisenhower Hall (Note new area code!) Kansas State University Manhattan, KS 66506 ********************************************************************** To join the list, send the message: join medieval-religion YOUR NAME to: [log in to unmask] To send a message to the list, address it to: [log in to unmask] To leave the list, send the message: leave medieval-religion to: [log in to unmask] In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to: [log in to unmask] For further information, visit our web site: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/medieval-religion.html