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medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture Today (29. December) is the feast day of: Trophimus (1st & 3rd cents.) There were two saintly Trophimuses, often confused with each other. The first-century one was a native of Ephesus who accompanied St. Paul on some of his wanderings; he started a riot in the Temple (he wasn't a Jew) that almost got Paul killed (Acts 21:26-36). The other T. was the first bishop of Arles, according to Gregory of Tours one of 6 bishops sent from Rome with St. Dionysius to convert the people of Gaul. Marcellus Akimetes (d. c. 485) Macellus the "non-rester" got his nickname from the community of monks he led for 45 years near Constantinople, who practiced laus perennis. He was a Syrian of wealthy family who gave it all up to become a monk. Legend makes him a very potent pray-er, who saved Constantinople from a catastrophic fire in 465 (or at least saved 1/2 the city). Ebrulf (d. 596) Ebrulf was a native of Bayeux who was a Frankish courtier before he and his wife decided to become professional religious. E. became a monk at Bayeux, but left to be a hermit, and ended up founding several monasteries. Peter the Venerable (blessed) (d. 1156) Never formally canonized, Peter is venerated in the diocese of Arras on this day. He was born to a noble family of Auvergne and by the time he was 20 was already prior of Vezelay. He became abbot of Cluny in 1122 at the age of 30. He was the last great abbot of the Cluniac confederation, ruling for 34 years. Thomas Becket (d. 1170) Thomas, who preferred to label himself as "of London" and later "of Canterbury," certainly provides one of the most exciting examples of medieval church-state conflict. Henry II of England had the grand idea of making Thomas (at that time his chancellor) archbishop of Canterbury in 1162. The two soon clashed over clerical rights and Tom ended up fleeing the country. They patched up peace in fall of 1170 and Tom came home, but almost immediately appeared to break the agreement by excommunicating people who had harmed the archbishopric of Canterbury in his absence. Henry in a fit of rage made a statement on the line of "will no one rid me of this turbulent priest," which *of course* he didn't really mean (!). Four of his household knights took the king at his word and murdered Tom in his own cathedral. Tom was declared a martyr and canonized in 1173; Henry made amends in various ways, including taking over Ireland. ********************************************************************** 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