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medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture Dear Marjorie, George and I once posted a bibliography on cephalophores to this list, which can still be found in the list archives: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/webadmin?A2=ind9606&L=MEDIEVAL-RELIGION&P=R4765&I=-3 As to some of your your questions: >1) I looked up "cephalophore" in my on-line dictionary and came up >empty. The French word "cephalophorie" was my "point de départ." >What is the English word (if such exists) to describe a person >who carries his own head? Simply "cephalophore" or "cephalophore saint" seems sufficiently English to me :-) >2) Is this topos unique to Christianity? I can think of no parallel >myth in any other culture, although my knowledge of such is far >from encyclopedic. Come to think of it, are they all French? (Denis, >Nicaise, now Mitre...) The message in our archives quotes examples from classical literature or myht, but these do not really qualify as cephalophores in the strict sense: the head (e.e. of Orpheus) which has been cut or torn off the body is still speaking or singing but is not carried by the beheaded trunk. The typical setting for a cephalophore in Christian tradition is a public beheading, and that was no common topos in classical literature. The message quoted above also refers to Dante scholars speculating that Dante in his presentation of Bertran de Born (Inf. 28) was inspired by islamic sources describing cephalophores in front of God's heavenly throne. Yet to my knowledge the Dante scholars making or reporting this claim have never quoted a precise Islamic source (as I remember it the motif is not in the Liber Scalae or in the versions thereof that I have seen). And no, they are not all French, San Miniato is one of them. >3) Anyone care to speculate on how this notion came into being? >Saint Denis is the earliest example I know of such, but why did >this particular story have to be invented to explain the location >of his body? Saint Catherine, after all, was transported by angels >and all sorts of other explanations were available for Denis. Well, it's a good story, isn't it? Fits the general paradigm of martyrs apparently unaware of the bodily harm inflicted to them and thus morally defeating their tormentors. I have heard one explanation, not particularly convincing, that statues of saints that had been damaged by knocking off their heads might haven given rise to such legends. However, you don't necessarily need a particular reason or visual starting point for inventing a good miracle story impressing your audience. Kind regards, O. ********************************************************************** 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