medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Today (27. January) is also the feast day of:
Devota (d. 303, supposedly). According to her Acta of uncertain date
(BHL 2156; published by the historian of Lerins, Vincent Barralis, in
1613 from an old manuscript of the monastery of St.-Pontius at Nice;
text in the Acta Sanctorum seems not to have undergone humanist
revision), D. was a Corsican serving girl of Christian upbringing who
during the Diocletianic persecution refused to sacrifice to the Roman
gods. So the ruthless official sent to implement the persecution (his
name is consistently printed as _Barbarus Praeses_, i.e. "Governor
Barbarian"; whether he's that or merely but still routinely "the
barbarian governor", we're clearly in the world of stock characters
here) had her employer, the honorable Euticius Senator ("Senator
Goodfortune"), secretly poisoned and the still recalcitrant D. tortured
on an _equuleus_ (a sort of rack) until she gave up the ghost (which
latter was seen to depart her mouth in the form orf a dove). To avoid
cremation of the martyr's remains, two priests spiced her corpse with
preservatives and set off with her in a not very seaworthy boat, headed
for Africa. Winds and waves came close to sinking their vessel but D.,
appearing to the pilot in a dream, told him to change course for Monaco
by following the dove he would see leaving her mouth. He did and their
boat, which then sank, arrived at the entrance to Monaco's Gaumates
valley, where she now reposes in a church dedicated to her.
Since some of the names in this account are significant, it should be
noted that _devota _ signifies in Latin a female who has willingly
sacrificed her life for a higher cause. In Barralis' text D. is
consistently called Deivota ("Vowed of God"); otherwise she is always
Devota (or other-language versions thereof). Her Acta are an instance
of the not uncommon story of the virgin martyr whose remains have more
or less miraculously come from across the sea; they have specific points
of contact with Julia of Corsica and Tuscany and with the Translation of
St. Mark to Venice.
Like Julia, D. is a post-medieval patroness of Corsica. She is also
patroness of the Principality of Monaco. Her originally
eleventh-century church near where her body is said to have come ashore
is shown here:
http://www.visitmonaco.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Page.viewPage&pageID=166
TinyURL for this: http://tinyurl.com/3t2ob
http://f1rejects.com/centrale/monaco/small/stdevote.jpg
http://www.consulatfrance.mc/presence/stdevote.jpg
The "Orthodox Europe" site has a somewhat censorious view of modern Monaco:
http://www.orthodoxengland.btinternet.co.uk/oemonaco.htm
But today we are all monegasques.
Best,
John Dillon
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