medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Dear Wyn:
You pose an interesting question but I am afraid I do not have the
answer. I tend to think of red ochre as something used by primitive
cultures. Perhaps someone else on the list may know of other cases where
ochre was used in Christian burial.
Ben Nilson in his book on medieval cathedral shrines notes that
incorruption is relatively common in saints whose bodies were exhumed and
that this would have particularly impressed medieval observers who were
steeped in the idea of the body's corruption. For this would to happen
the conditions under which the body was stored would have been an
important contributory factor. Natural mummification can occur if the body
is put in a location which inhibits breakdown through bacterial or
fungal action. This would appear to be what happened to St Cuthbert who
famously remained undecayed after having been buried in an underground tomb for
eleven years. The tomb was probably ideal for slowing decay of soft tissue
by virtue of being being cold, dry and anaerobic.
Cheers,
Martin
On Tue, 10 Feb 2004, Wyn Thomas wrote:
> medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
>
> Dear Martin,
>
> Many thanks for the information.
> The description of the invention of the relics mentions or suggests that
> the relics were covered in red ochre. Prof. Stephen Aldhouse-Green of UWCN
> mentioned that ochre is a preservative and might account for the incorrupt
> state of the relics. Are there any other examples of discoveries /
> inventions of incorrupt relics covered in ochre, or associations of ochre
> with relics?
>
> Wyn
>
> Wyn Thomas
> Prif Gatalogydd | Llyfrgellydd Gwybodaeth (Dyniaethau a'r Gwyddorau)
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