 |
 |
medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture Today (19. April) is the feast day of: Expeditus (?) Expeditus was one of a group of martyrs executed in Armenia. It seems to be a "pious fiction" that popular devotion to him started when a crate of holy relics sent from Rome to Paris got misidentified thanks to the label "expedito" written on the carton. Expeditus is the patron saint to be invoked by procrastinators. He appears in art trampling a crow (which cries out "cras, cras" (tomorrow), to which the saint triumphantly replies "hodie!" Ursmar (d. 713) Ursmar, who may have been a bishop, became abbot of Lobbes (Flanders) c. 689. He founded further monasteries and churches, and was a successful missionary. Alphege (d. 1012) Alphege was an Englishman who became a monk but left to become a hermit. He was appointed abbot of the monastery at Bath, but was appointed bishop of Winchester against his will in 984. In 1006 he went on to be archbishop of Canterbury. A rather austere churchman, but very good to the poor. When the Danes besieged Canterbury, A. refused to leave and was imprisoned when the invaders took the city. He refused to pay a ransom and was killed. Leo IX (d. 1054) The Alsatian Leo (originally named Bruno) was a relative of the German Salian dynasty and got speedy ecclesiastical preferment. He spent 20 years as bishop of Toul, actively reforming the diocese and introducing Cluniac customs. Then in 1048 he was elected pope (at the urging of Emperor Henry III), and was consecrated in early 1049. It is with Leo IX that the papacy really jumped on the bandwagon of the great eleventh-century reform movement. Leo was a very active pontiff, throwing his prestige into the fight against simony and clerical marriage and even traveling all over to drive the point home. He also got involved in a war with the Normans who had overrun southern Italy---he was captured and imprisoned for a time. He was also involved in a dispute with the patriarch of Constantinople---the beginning of the great East/West Schism. L. was canonized in 1087. ********************************************************************** 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