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medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture On Thursday, December 23, 2004, at 7:50 pm, Phyllis wrote: > Today (24. December) is the feast day of some pretty obscure saints; > I'm glad Advent is almost over: > Gregory of Spoleto (d. c. 304) Gregory's story seems to be > fictional. It tells that G. was a priest at Spoleto during > Maximian's persecution. The governor gathered all the people of > Spoleto together and asked them if they still worshipped the state > gods; they replied that they did---but then all pointed to G. as a > destroyer of cult statues. He was arrested, refused to sacrifice, > and was beheaded. > Unless we accept Delehaye's hypothesis that this Gregory is identical with the otherwise unattested Gregory of Lilybaeum who gets a passing mention in the not entirely reliable late eighth-century or very early ninth-century Life of Gregory of Agrigento by Leontios, priest and "hegumen" of the Greek monastery of St. Sabas on the Aventine in Rome, our first notice of this saint, apart from his variously dated Passio, is the martyrology of Ado of Vienne (858), based on an old Roman martyrology. If I remember correctly, there is also a hymn to him in the central Italian (Umbrian-Roman) hymnary once known as the Hymnarius Severinianus; although the bulk of this collection seems to have been assembled in the late ninth or early tenth century, some of its material is thought to have been added in the course of the following century. Also bespeaking G.'s pre-modern cult in the same general area is an antiphon in his honor preserved in an eleventh- or twelfth-century antiphonary formerly belonging to San Sisto vecchio in Rome (Roma, Bibl. Vallicelliana, C 5). But the venue in which G. is best known lies outside of Italy. Thanks to a translation ascribed to St. Bruno of Koeln, G.'s relics now repose in that city's cathedral, where they are said to be housed (along with those of Sts. Felix and Nabor) in the upper part of no less famous a monument than the Dreikoenigenschrein (1180-1225), seen here: http://www.koelnerfoto.de/Seitenauto/KOELN/DOM2/source/24.html Not too shabby for a saint some might think obscure. The Koelner Dom also possesses a head reliquary of G., made ca. 1500: http://www.koelner-dom.de/rund_um_den_dom/schatzkammer/galerie.htm (this is the fifth item from the left, expandable if you click on it). Frohe Weihnachten, John Dillon ********************************************************************** 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