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medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture From: Phyllis Jestice <[log in to unmask]> > The martyrs under Nero (d. 64-68).... It all started with a very big fire in Rome that started on 19. July, 64 and ruined 2/3 of the city. Nero (who didn't fiddle, since bowed instruments didn't exist yet) was suspected of arranging the fire himself my understanding --perhaps based on that lyre Tacitus(?)-- is that he started the fire in order to do a bit of 'urban renewal', and clear a space for his magnificent new palace (the 'Golden House'?). > Martial of Limoges (d. c. 250) Martial was a third-century bishop of Limoges, according to a sixth-century story one of seven missionaries sent from Rome to Gaul. A more entertaining eleventh-century account, apparently fabricated by Adhermar of Chabannes, tells that Martial was a contemporary of Jesus, converted by Jesus' preaching at a young age....This extravagant account goes on to tell that M. was one of the 72 original disciples, sent by Peter to preach in Gaul. not having enough distractions in my life, i'm presently nosing around in a somewhat similar story --the account of St. Savinien of Sens (and his companions), also a third century fellow, also, in the 11th c. transmographied into one of the 72 (by Ordoranus of Sens??)... i'm in the very early stages of sorting all this out, but am curious to know whether this was a common phenomenon, this 11th c. re-writing of hagiographic history to give a more prestigeous date (and, therefore, status) to the earliest evangelists of various places in Gaul (?). connected with this issue is the historiographic matter of the acceptance of suchlike mythologies --apparently up through the end of the 19th century (??), when various "modernist" historians began to set the record straight, sometimes at great personal cost to themselves. i'm thinking here of Mgr. Louis Duchesne, who was forced off the theology faculty of the Institut Catholique in 1883 and whose _Histoire ancienne de l'Église_ (1906, '07 & '10) was actually put on the Index in 1912(!). i don't want to stray too far into this historiographic thicket, but would welcome any sort of pons asinorum which anyone on the list who happens to actually know something about these issues would care to provide. best from here, christopher ********************************************************************** 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