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medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture Today (16. June) is the feast day of: Ferreolus and Ferrutio (d. c. 212) These brothers were a priest and a deacon, originally from Asia Minor. They ended up working for Bishop Irenaeus of Lyons, who sent them to evangelize the area around Besancon. After 30 years of work as missionaries, they were tortured and beheaded. Cyriacus and Julitta (d. c. 304) Legend tells that Julitta was a widow of Iconium, and Cyriacus her three-year-old son. They fled to Tarsus to escape persecution, but were recognized as Christians, tortured in various inventive ways, and finally executed. Aurelian of Arles (d. 551) Aurelian became bishop of Arles in 546. He was a noted monastic founder, and famous for his special devotion to the cult of the martyrs, whose relics he spread around his diocese. Benno (d. 1107) The Saxon Benno, bishop of Meissen, was one of the many people caught between papal and imperial allegiances during the Investiture Contest. Benno supported Henry IV's enemies, for which he was imprisoned and later deposed. B. submitted to the antipope Guibert and won back his see, but in 1097 transferred his allegience to Urban II. It's not clear to me why he's a saint, although he was a good bishop and active fighter against simony. In art, he is shown with a fish and a key---the story is that he threw away the cathedral key so Henry IV couldn't occupy it; when Henry was gone, the key was restored at dinner one evening, inside the fish that had swallowed it. Benno was formally canonized in 1523, rousing a great deal of ire from Martin Luther. Lutgardis of Aywieres (d. 1246) This Dutch woman was sent at the age of 12 to a Benedictine convent---her family couldn't afford a good enough dowry for her to marry. She had no religious vocation until she had a vision of Christ, after which she became extremely zealous in her devotions. She resisted efforts to make her abbess, moving in 1208 to the Cistercian (French-speaking) monastery of Aywieres, where she remained for the rest of her life. Lutgardis was ecstatic, had many visions, levitated, and had stigmata of the crown of thorns. She also enjoyed the gifts of healing and prophecy. The last years of her life, L. was blind---she is sometimes shown in art being stricken blind by the sight of the heart of Jesus. 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