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medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture "An earlier incident in the Vita has V.'s enemies placing women's clothing and shoes in his bedroom one night in the correct expectation that when he arose on the following morning he would in the darkness dress himself in these and, so attired, celebrate Matins before the people and clergy. As the light grew, it became apparent to all (were there no candles in V.'s cathedral to facilitate earlier discovery?) how V. was dressed; it was widely assumed that V.'s sartorial embarrassment arose from unchaste behavior on his part. Can any of the learned on this list cite ancient or medieval parallels of unintended crossdressing provoking ridicule or suspicion against a cleric or other authority figure? " A trick like this was played on Saint Jerome, I believe. In fact, an illustrated ms. shows this scene vividly, a bald, bearded man in a dress, quite startling until one reads the explanation. I also believe the ms. is the "Belles Heures" of Jean, duc de Berry. I shall search... MG _________________________________________________________________ FREE pop-up blocking with the new MSN Toolbar – get it now! http://toolbar.msn.click-url.com/go/onm00200415ave/direct/01/ ********************************************************************** 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