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medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture Today (29. June) is the feast day of: Peter (d. 64?) Simon Peter, prince of the apostles, etc. is doubtless familiar to all on the list. He played a leading role in the early Christian community, appearing prominently in the book of Acts, accepting non-Jews as members, wandering widely to other Christian communities, being miraculously released from prison. Ancient tradition says that P founded the church at Antioch. P's time in Rome is subject to much more debate; the main textual evidence is 1 Peter, in which Peter says he is writing from "Babylon"---a code word for Rome. The Acts of Peter (2nd cent.) tells of Peter fleeing Rome to escape persecution, only to meet Jesus on the road (the "Quo vadis?" story). A very old tradition tells that P. was then imprisoned in the Mamertine prison (now site of the church of St. Peter in Carcere). Tertullian says P. was crucified, and Eusebius adds that he asked to be crucified upside down. Paul (d. 64? or 67) And where would Christianity be without Paul? Source of our earliest information about Christianity, apostle to the gentiles, undertaker of herculean missionary journeys. It's not certain what he did after 57-8---he may have traveled as far as Spain, and certainly ended in Rome, where after a long period of house arrest he was executed. Salome and Judith (9th cent.?) Salome was an Englishwoman who became a recluse at Altaich in Bavaria; she was joined by her widowed kinswoman Judith. Legend made them princesses Emma (d. 1045) Emma was raised at the German court by Empress Kunigunde. She was married off to the landgrave of Friesach and had two sons. The sons got into trouble with a group of miners, who rebelled and murdered both of them. Emma turned to the religious life, founded several monasteries, and became a nun at the double monastery of Gurk. A canonization process was begun in 1464, but was never concluded; her status as a "beata" was confirmed in 1938. Ramon Lull (blessed) (d. 1316) A native of Majorca, Ramon entered royal service and was happily married until, at the age of 30, he had a vision that decided him to devote his life to conversion of the Muslims. He went about the job thoroughly, spending nine years learning Arabic, setting up a missionary college, writing prolifically. When he finally made it to Tunisia as a missionary he was imprisoned and beat up before being deported. He went and was deported again. Finally on the third occasion he was stoned. Genoese sailors rescued him, but he died shortly afterward. L. hasn't been formally beatified. ********************************************************************** 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