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medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture Today (4. October) is the feast day of: Ammon (d. c. 350) Ammon was a wealthy Egyptian. Under family pressure he married, but he and his wife never consummated their union. After 18 years of this, A. withdrew to Nitria to be a hermit. Disciples soon came, and A. followed St. Antony's advice in founding a monastic community that is said to have eventually numbered thousands of members. Petronius (d. c. 445) Petronius seems to have been a Roman official who became a cleric. He went on pilgrimage to the Holy Land, returned to become bishop of Bologna in c. 432, and set out to rebuild churches destroyed by the Goths---modeling them on the structures he had seen in Palestine. Aurea of Paris (d. 666) Aurea was a Syrian who somehow ended up in the kingdom of the Franks. St. Eligius appointed her abbess of the convent of St. Martial in Paris. When the plague came through, A. died along with 160 members of her community. Francis of Assisi (d. 1226) Doubtless the best-known saint of medieval Europe, the subject of countless garden statues, etc., Francis of Assisi continues to fascinate people as he has since 1206---when his dad angrily disinherited F, and F complied by even handing over the clothes he was wearing at the time. F of course founded the Order of Friars Minor (Franciscans), although the order grew away from his radical dedication to poverty even in F's lifetime. F spent the end of his life in retirement from the government of his order, in increasing ill health and mystical euphoria, culminating in receiving the stigmata on September 14, 1224. F. died at Assisi on October 3, 1226, and was canonized in 1228 (one of the speediest canonization processes on record). ********************************************************************** 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