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medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture Today (28. January) is the feast day of: Cannera (Conaire) of Inis Cathaig (d. c. 5300 The Irish Cannera appears in the legend of St. Senan. C. was a hermitess who, when she felt death approach, decided to go to Senan's monastery of Inis Cathaig on the Shannon---although no women were allowed. Nobody would ferry her over to the monastery, so she got there by walking on water. Despite that, Senan still told her to get out, until she argued passionately that Christ died for women, too. Thus she won from Senan the last rites and a burial place at the furthest edge of the isle, where she became a patron saint of sailors. John of Reome (d. c. 544) John was a pioneer of monasticism in France. At first he was a hermit, and when disciples gathered around him he fled to become a monk at Lerins. But he was brought back to his native Langres to found a monastery which became a model of monastic life. Charlemagne (d. 814) Sure he's a saint. Even canonized, although by an antipope (Paschal III) at the behest of Frederick Barbarossa. But the basis of his sanctity didn't just lie in antipapal propaganda; Emperor Otto III apparently had Charles' canonization in mind when he opened his tomb in Aachen in 1000. And none can deny that Chuck was a zealous defender of the Church, even though the Saxons may have found his methods a little rough. Peter Nolasco (d. 1256) Peter was born in Barcelona to a merchant family. He came to work for Raymond of Penaforte, ransoming Christian slaves from the Muslims. From this beginning, Peter founded the Mercedarian order in 1234, which he led until 1249. Thomas Aquinas (d. 1274) Thomas was born to a knightly family at Rocca Secca near Aquino, Italy (thus "Aquinas" is a place name, despite the tendency to call the guy "Aquinas" as if it were a last name). He was educated at Monte Cassino and the U. of Naples. Thomas eventually succeeded in joining the Order of Preachers (his family hated the idea that they captured and imprisoned him for more than a year) in 1244, and became one of the great saints of the order. Albertus Magnus was the first to recognize T's quality; he is supposed to have said that even though T was called the "dumb ox, his lowing would soon be heard all over the world." (Farmer, 471) T. spent the rest of his life teaching, organizing schools, and especially writing what are perhaps the crowning works of scholastic theology. He was declared a doctor of the Church in 1567. Peter Thomas (d. 1366) Peter was a French Carmelite and diplomat. He entered papal service in 1342 and carried out a series of legations, receiving in turn several eastern bishoprics, then the archbishopric of Candia, and finally became Latin patriarch of Constantinople. At the command of Urban V and with the support of the king of Cyprus, Peter even led a crusade, which attacked Alexandria unsuccessfully. Peter received wounds in the process from which he died three months later. Dr. Phyllis G. Jestice [log in to unmask] ********************************************************************** 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