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medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture On Wednesday, June 14, 2006, at 7:47 pm, Phyllis wrote: > Today (15. June) is the feast day of: > Vitus, Modestus, and Crescentia (d. c. 300) Legend tells that > Vitus > was the son of a senator; the other two were his tutor and nurse. > V's dad found out that M and C had raised him as a Christian and > was > very mad; the three then escaped to Rome. V exorcised a demon from > Diocletian's son, but the ingrate emperor then decided that V was a > sorcerer, and tortured and executed all three. V became a very > popular saint, and is one of the 14 Holy Helpers of Germany. V is > the patron saint to invoke for a lot of illnesses that involve > convulsions, including rabies and epilepsy. He's also the patron > saint of dancers and actors. And the patron saint of Serbia, whose national holiday is St. Vitus' Day, recalling the battle of Kosovo, which transpired on this date in 1389. Because the Serbian Orthodox Church still follows the Julian calendar, V.'s big day there falls on what in other places is now 28. June. According both to the (pseudo-)Hieronymian Martyrology and to his quite fictional Passio (BHL 8711-16; nicely summarized by Phyllis), which latter makes him a Sicilian from Lilybaeum (today's Mazara del Vallo [TP]), V. was martyred in Lucania. His cult is widespread in Italy, especially in the south. Though the sanctuary at his presumed burial location, today's San Vito al Sele (SA) near Eboli, is modern, medieval devotion to him was extensive. And old: there is evidence of a church in Rome dedicated to him in the fifth century, and from the correspondence of Gregory the Great we learn that in the sixth century there were monasteries dedicated to him in Sicily and in Sardinia. According to a German version of V.'s legend, abbot Fulrad of Saint-Denis outside Paris had his relics translated thither in the mid-eighth century and abbot Hilduin in turn gave them to the monastery at Corvey on the Weser. The latter, a daughter house of Corbie, became a major medieval and early modern cult center for V., especially in the empire. During the Thirty Years' War V.'s head and other relics wound up in Prague (if they had not gotten there already; accounts differ), where they are housed in the medieval cathedral already dedicated to V. At about the same time V. was declared patron of Mazara del Vallo (TP), whose cathedral houses one of V.'s arms along with other of his relics and where there is a major annual celebration in his honor. A few views of the Carolingian-period Westbau of the abbey church at Corvey are here: http://www.schau-mal-einer-an.com/Lndsch/Weser/Corvey_Westwerk_4.jpg http://www.wege-durch-das-land.de/2000/images/11_Corvey_Westwerk.jpg http://www.schau-mal-einer-an.com/Lndsch/Weser/Corvey_Kaiserkirche.jpg http://www.ib.hu-berlin.de/~wumsta/Milkau/180-2.jpg and here (click on the links): http://www.brynmawr.edu/Acads/Cities/wld/01070/01070m.html Various views of Prague's cathedral of St. Vitus are here: http://www.ivanweb.net/images/Mondo/Praga/22.jpg http://www.ivanweb.net/images/Mondo/Praga/23.jpg http://www.ivanweb.net/images/Mondo/Praga/25.jpg And a few of its famous Last Judgment mosaic: http://tinyurl.com/psof5 http://www.meritoviaggi.com/praga/immagini/city/mosaic_sanvito.jpg 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