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medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture At this point in the 16thC there are numbers of black slaves in Europe, the West Indies & South America. Peter Claver is just after this time but he ministered to black slaves in what became Columbia. Blacks turn up more than a century earlier in European painting, & you see weavings from the Congo presented as luxury items. Then there are the West African ivory carvings of Europeans in 16thC dress . . . DW ----- Original Message ----- From: "John Wickstrom" <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Sunday, April 03, 2005 4:05 PM Subject: Re: [M-R] saints of the day 4. April > medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture > > Was B the Black a black African then? Was it common to have such Africans > enslaved in Sicily? > jbw > > > A sort-of modern saint: Benedict the Black (d. 1589) Benedict was > the son of slaves who worked near Messina. Ben. was eventually freed > by his master and became a hermit, in time settling with a community > of hermits at Montepellegrino. He became their superior, but Pius IV > disbanded such communities, so Ben. then became a Franciscan lay > brother. When his convent near Palermo decided to reform, they > elected Ben. their superior, even though he was illiterate. Finally > he went back to being the convent cook. Ben. was famous for his holy > life, his skill as a confessor, and a loarge number of miracles. He > was canonized in 1807 and is the patron saint of African Americans in > the U.S. ********************************************************************** 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