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medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture Today (9. June) is also the feast day of: Richard of Andria (d. ca. 1199). It's not every saint of the Regno, less well known or not, whose hagiographic dossier includes a memorandum of ocular testimony by a member of the kingdom's leading nobility. This is the _Historia inventionis et translationis gloriosi corporis s. Richardi Anglici confessoris et episcopi Andriensis_ (BHL 7205, 7206) ostensibly by (but in all likelihood written for) Francesco II Del Balzo, Duke of Andria, Count of Montescaglioso, member of the Sacro Regio Consilio of the mostly mainland kingdom of Sicily. Dated 15. September 1451, this outlines in a first-person narration how he, the duke, had in 1438 been informed by a certain Tassus that the remains of Andria's sainted bishop Richard, lost from sight close to a century earlier during Louis of Hungary's invasion of the kingdom (Louis' mercenaries sacked Andria in 1350), could be found buried in Andria's cathedral, how he and the then bishop oversaw the recovery of these relics and their translation to the main altar, how cathedral documents had later been discovered giving a brief biography of the saint (for whom there was then no Office), establishing his _dies natalis_ as 9. June, listing post-mortem miracles resumed in the duke's account, and indicating that R. had been canonized at some obscurely expressed time in the now distant past (generally interpreted to indicate the pontificate of Boniface VIII). In 1451 these documents were alleged to have been lost (the Miracles excepted) and confirmation of R.'s cult was said to have been obtained, in the absence of these proofs, from Eugenius IV (d. 1447). That R. was a twelfth-century bishop of Andria is certain from other mentions. Neither the alleged original canonization nor the confirmation by Eugenius IV is otherwise attested. According to the Diocese of Andria's account (at bottom here): http://www.diocesiandria.it/diocesi.htm R. was inscribed in the _Martyrologium Romanum_ under Urban VII; given the extraordinary brevity of the latter's pontificate, a better bet would be Urban VIII. In 1438 duke Francesco began a major reconstruction of Andria's twelfth- century cathedral, built over an earlier (9th- or 10th-century) church; an early addition (1440) was a special chapel housing R.'s remains (that he didn't stay under the main altar is another indication of his then insecure saintly status). Dedicated to Our Lady of the Assumption, this building was redecorated in baroque mode in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries; in the nineteenth century a neo-classical porch was added. A restoration in 1965 returned much of the interior (but not R.'s chapel) to a "gothic" appearance, highlighted by the ogival arches (added in 1494) separating the presbytery from the nave: http://www.andria.puglia.it/storiaecultura/Resources/cattedrale/navate.gif TinyURL for this: http://tinyurl.com/cdfws http://www.andriacity.it/storia/img_city/imgcity32.gif TinyURL for this: http://tinyurl.com/9gozy Here's duke Francesco's portrait bust, attributed to Domenico Gagini (1425-92) and now in Andria's Museo Diocesano: http://www.diocesiandria.it/operearte/bustogrande.jpg And here's the page that comes from (.jpgs expndable): http://www.diocesiandria.it/opere.htm Views of the cathedral's exterior are here: http://www.itineraweb.com/foto/grandtour/catt_andria2.jpg http://www.andriaweb.it/visitare_citta/imma_visita/cattedrale.jpg TinyURL for this: http://tinyurl.com/764wj http://www.pugliaimperiale.it/photos/ANDRIACA.jpg Upper parts of the belltower: http://www.andriaweb.it/visitare_citta/imma_visita/camp_duomo.jpg TinyURL for this: http://tinyurl.com/7denb Another chapel houses Andria's "Sacra Spina", a single thorn supposedly taken from the Crown of Thorns and whose tip is said briefly to turn red in years when the feast of the Annunciation and Good Friday coincide. 2005 was such a year: http://digilander.libero.it/davide.arpe/AndriaSpina2005.htm The thorn's Official Site is here: http://www.diocesiandria.it/sacraspina/# This thorn is said to have come to Andria as a gift of Charles II late in his reign (1285-1309), very possibly in 1308 when his daughter Beatrice of Anjou married Bertrand des Baux / Bertrando del Balzo, lord of Andria (yes, these Del Balzo are a branch of the Provencal family that takes its name from Les Baux). Its miraculous reddening is not recorded prior to the early modern period. The crypt, a remnant of the predecessor church, is said to house the tombs of Frederick II's wives Isabella (Yolande) of Brienne and Isabella (Elizabeth) of England (F.'s residence of Castel del Monte is only some 18 km. distant from Andria). Best, 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