medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Today (15. May) is also the feast day of:
Simplicius "of Fausania" (before ca. 450; perh. 303). All we know for
certain of this saint is the common fund of information given by the
principal witnesses of the (pseudo-) Hieronymian Martyrology in its Italic
recension: _In Sardinia Simplici_ ("In Sardinia, Simplicius [or, as the
name is sometimes given, Simplicus]"). Later witnesses unlikely to be
drawing upon ancient testimony in this regard round out the notice by
calling him either priest or bishop. A church at Fausania, one of the
predecessors of today's Olbia (SS), dedicated to a saint Simplicius is
first attested to in the eleventh century. Evidence for the antiquity of
S.'s cult at Olbia and vicinity is said to be lacking. A somewhat later
Passio making S. bishop of Fausania and ascribing his martyrdom to the
Diocletianic persecution confers antique distinction upon the diocese of
Civita (as Olbia was called in the central and later Middle Ages); despite
its acceptance by the early modern editor of the Roman Martyrology,
Cardinal Baronius, this account is fiction.
S.'s church at Olbia (its ex-cathedral, the diocese of Civita having been
suppressed in 1503), on the other hand, is splendidly factual. Constructed
of granite (much of it of the local pink variety), its colors are richer in
some lights than in others; particularly impressive is the band of really
rosy granite on the rear wall above the apse and continuing for much of the
way along the sides at the same height. Some images follow:
Exterior views, strong summer sunlight:
http://www.immaginidellasardegna.it/chiese/galleria9/index.html
Exterior in winter, colors better:
http://www.ilportalesardo.it/galleria/detail.asp?iType=2&iPic=44
Exterior (2 photos), interior (1 photo), excellent colors:
http://www.lamiasardegna.it/web/101/
(scroll down to "La basilica di San Simplicio"; click on photos to enlarge)
Exterior details:
http://www.sansimplicio.org/chiesa/chiesa.htm
Exterior shots (front and rear), interior details:
http://www.ilportalesardo.it/monumenti/ssolbia.htm
Exterior and interior shots, good for interior height:
http://web.tiscali.it/Olbia2000/pages/sanSimplicio.htm
Exterior and interior shots, better for aisle structure:
http://www.quiolbia.it/sansimplicio.php
See Filippo Caraffa, "Simplicio, vescovo di Fausania, santo," in
_Bibliotheca Sanctorum_, vol. 11 (1968), col. 1199; Victor Saxer, " La
Sardegna nel Martirologio Geronimiano," in Attilio Mastino, Giovanna
Sotgiu, Natalino Spaccapelo, eds., _La Sardegna paleocristiana tra Eusebio
e Gregorio Magno. Atti del Convegno Nazionale di studi, Cagliari 10-12
ottobre 1996_ (Cagliari: Pontificia Facolta' Teologica della Sardegna,
1999), pp. 437-48, esp. pp. 439 and 446; Raimondo Turtas, _Storia della
Chiesa in Sardegna dalle origini al Duemila_ (Roma: Citta' Nuova, 1999),
pp. 40-41.
Best,
John Dillon
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