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medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture Today (17. November) is the feast day of: Dionysius of Alexandria (d. 265) Dionysius was an adult convert to Christianity who became director of Alexandria's catechetical school before being elected bishop in 247. Like his contemporary Cyprian, much of D's time was spent trying to figure out what to do with Christians who had lapsed in face of persecution. D was a voice of moderation. When Valerian's persecution started in 257, D. was exiled after refusing to sacrifice to the state gods, but was soon able to return. Gregory the Wonderworker (d. c. 270) Gregory was born in Pontus. At some point he became a Christian, and studied under Origen in Caesarea (Palestine). He then went back home to Neocaesarea and became bishop of the few Christians in town. During his long episcopate, he is credited with converting nearly the whole city. As his name suggests, G. was famous for a great many miracles. Gregory of Tours (d. 594) Gregory is mostly known as a historian, to whom all of us who teach classes on the early Middle Ages owe a large debt. He became bishop of Tours in 573, and worked hard to be a good pastor. Hilda of Whitby (d. 680) Hilda was a Northumbrian princess who decided to live a full-time religious life when in her 30s. She became abbess of the double monastery at Hartlepool, then transferred to Streaneshalch (later Whitby). She proved to be an extremely successful administrator, sponsored education, and influenced both lay and clerical events of her age. Hugh of Lincoln (d. 1200) Big Hugh of Lincoln (not the ritual murder child victim) was a Burgundian who became an Augustinian canon and got a reputation as a preacher. He went on to become a Carthusian, and in time was sent to England to deal with a new charterhouse that was off to a rocky start. He made a deep impression on Henry II (the monastery's founder), and Henry arranged for Hugh to be elected bishop of Lincoln in 1186. H. set out to reform the place, all the time managing to live an intellectual and contemplative life. He was noted for his love of justice (he stopped mob attacks on Jews, for example). H. was canonized in 1220. Elizabeth of Hungary (d. 1231) Elizabeth was the daughter of Andrew II of Hungary and his wife Gertrude. She was betrothed at the age of about 4 to Ludwig, eldest son of the landgrave of Thuringia, and was brought up at the Thuringian court. They married when E was 14. They had 3 children before L. died in 1227. E. was overwhelmingly generous, prayed a lot, and liked self-humiliation. Once she was widowed, E. was ill-treated by her brother-in-law. She and her kids were driven out, and E. was stripped of most of her possessions. She became a Franciscan tertiary and settled down to care for the poor. Thoroughly dominated by her very sadistic-sounding confessor, Konrad of Marburg, it hardly seems surprising that E died at the age of 24. She was canonized only 4 years after her death. ********************************************************************** 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