medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Today (31. January) is also the feast day of:
Geminian (Geminiano) of Modena (d. ca. 396). Though almost nothing is known for certain about the historical Geminian, it is probable that he is the bishop Geminianus who took part in a north Italian synod in 390 under the presidency of Ambrose of Milan. From the early Middle Ages onward he has been patron of the Emilian city of Modena (initially sole patron, he now shares honors with the 12th-century lay saint Omobono of Cremona). An early Life (ca. 900; modelled on that of Zeno of Verona) and an expanded Longer Life (now thought to be of the mid-11th century) are both quite unreliable.
In the final decade of the 9th century, when Modena was under threat of attack from Hungarian raiders, someone composed one of the monuments of early medieval Latin poetry from Italy, the so-called "Song for the Watchmen of Modena" (incipit: _O tu qui servas armis ista moenia_) preserved in Modena's famous Archivio Capitolare, whose website, BTW, is here:
http://www.tsc4.com/archiviocapitolaremo/
In the same manuscript, and of approximately the same date, are two versions, probably drafts of a work undergoing revision, of a Latin verse prayer to Geminian seeking his protection against the new scourge of the Hungarians just as he had (legendarily) saved Modena's inhabitants during the time of Attila (incipit: _Confessor Christi, pie dei famule_). These together with the poem previously mentioned are known as the _Carmina Mutinensia_ and are extensively discussed by Aurelio Roncaglia, "Il 'Canto delle scolte modenesi,'" _Cultura neolatina 8 (1948), 5-46 and 205-22. Peter Godman has an English translation of the "Song for the Watchmen of Modena" in his _Poetry of the Carolingian Renaissance_ (London: Duckworth; Norman: Univ. of Oklahoma Press, 1985) at pp. 325 and 327 (facing text on pp. 324 and 326). I had thought that one of the poems to Geminian had been translated by Helen Waddell but could not find it when I went looking for it earlier today.
In 1099 work began on Modena's present cathedral, dedicated to Geminian and today the centerpiece of Modena's Piazza Grande, a UNESCO World Heritage site:
http://www.in-sieme.it/impegno/siti2/patrumnai25(modena).htm
On 30 April 1106 Geminian's remains were brought here and interred in the crypt, where they remain today:
http://go.supereva.it/europamedievale/gallery23/pages/m13.htm?p
and
http://www.comune.modena.it/scuole/cavour/comcalv/cult_gem_mo.htm
And on 7 and 8 October of the same year Paschal II, in the presence of the cathedral's great patron, Matilda of Canossa, and of various ecclesiastical dignitaries, conducted a solemn recognition of G.'s remains and then consecrated the cathedral's high altar. The cathedral itself was consecrated in 1184 by Lucius II. Among its liturgical treasures is a very fine rhymed office for Geminian of the late 12th or 13th century. This was edited by Giuseppe Vecchi in his "S. Geminiano nella lirica della liturgia modenese," _Miscellanea di Studi Muratoriani_ (Modena: Aedes Muratoriana, 1951), pp. 524-38.
The best recent work on Geminian in his Modenese context (his cult has spread, e.g., to Tuscany, where the town of San Gimignano is named for him) is that of Paolo Golinelli. See especially his _"Indiscreta sanctitas". Studi sui rapporti tra culti, poteri e società nel pieno Medioevo_ (Roma: Istituto storico italiano per il Medio Evo, 1988; = its _Studi storici_, fasc. 197-98), pp. 55-101, and his "San Geminiano e Modena. Un Santo, il suo tempo, il suo culto nel Medioevo," in _Civitas Geminiana. La citta' e il suo patrono_ (Modena: Panini, 1997), pp. 9-33 and plates 5, 12-16, and 35. English-language consideration of Geminian as civic patron will be found in Diana Webb, _Patrons and Defenders: The Saints in the Italian City-states_ (London: I. B. Tauris, 1996), esp. pp. 46-47, 124-25, and 216-19.
Celebrations of G. have been going on all week in Modena, cumulating in today's services. For details see:
http://www.duomodimodena.it/appuntamenti/san_geminiano.html
Best,
John Dillon
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