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medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture John - do you know the legend about Luther in the oat field? Luther is said to have been escaping from the imperial forces when he met a peasant who was sowing oats in his field. After Luther had gone, the oats grew with miraculous speed, so that the peasant was able to begin harvesting them. When the imperial forces came past and asked the peasant whether he had seen Luther, the peasant was able to reply with complete honesty that he saw him while sowing the oats which he was now harvesting. The imperial forces then gave up their search. The same story appears in a fifteenth-century version of the mystery play of the Three Kings as an episode during the flight of Jesus and his family to Egypt. There are several other versions in the legends of St Cornelius, St Macrine and St Radegund of Poitiers. It is also found in a folk story from the Poitou region of France about some children escaping from the Devil. (For references to these see F. Brittain, ed., The Lyfe of Saynt Radegunde, edited from the copy in Jesus College Library (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1926) pp xv-xvi. ) Maddy Dr Madeleine Gray, in the foothills of God's golden county of Gwent (Department of Humanities and Science UWCN Caerleon Campus PO Box 179 Newport NP18 3YG Tel: +44 (0)1633.432675 http://scarab.newport.ac.uk/mg History at Newport: http://humanities.newport.ac.uk/HIST.html Gwent County History Association web site: http://gwent-county-history-association.newport.ac.uk 'Rabbit is Clever', said Pooh. 'Rabbit has Brain. I suppose that's why he never understands anything.' ********************************************************************** 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