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medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture Today (1. July) is the feast day of: Nicasio Burgio (d. 1187, supposedly; surname sometimes given as Chamuto Burgio). Local tradition documented from at least 1347 onward and primarily genealogical in origin makes N. a Hospitaller from Sicily who died for his faith in the Holy Land. The standard story today, which seems to have taken shape in the early modern period, is that N. accompanied the grand master of the Hospitallers, Roger des Moulins, to Palestine, was at the battle of Hattin (4. July 1187), where Roger was killed, succeeded Roger on the field as captain of the remaining Hospitallers, was taken captive, and was one of the knights of that order executed at Ptolemais (Acre) in the battle's aftermath. But Roger was killed earlier, at the battle of Cresson (1. May 1187; reliably reported by two independent contemporary sources), leading one to question the factual basis of this account of N. and to wonder when exactly, and under what conditions, he really met his end. The family promoting this story -- called de Burgio after their castle of that name near Agrigento -- claimed descent from Chamut (Hammud) the last Muslim emir of Castrogiovanni (today's Enna [EN]), whose defeat by the Normans in 1087 and subsequent conversion to Christianity is recorded by Geoffrey Malaterra. For problems associated with genealogical claims regarding people of this name, see Alex Metcalfe, _Muslims and Christians in Norman Sicily_ (London: Routledge, 2003), pp. 32-33. In the fifteenth century one of the de Burgio married the heiress of Caccamo (PA) in north central Sicily and began the local promotion of his family saint already venerated in other parts of Sicily. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries N. enjoyed an extensive cult centering on Caccamo. Whereas his patrocinio is celebrated here on the last Sunday of August and on the Monday following, his liturgical feast is today. Two views of Caccamo are here, one showing the old town (which has kept much of its thirteenth-century street plan) beneath the castle and the other the castle itself: http://www.netgalaxy.it/fotodicaccamo.htm A modern representation of N., with Caccamo in the background, is here: http://www.enrosadira.it/santi/n/nicasio.jpg Another view of Caccamo provides a better impression of the local terrain: http://sicilyweb.com/foto/pa/caccamo/caccamo22.jpg Some other views (mostly of early modern structures and objects) are here: http://www.siciliaedintorni.it/caccamo.htm Note the early fourteenth-century arched bridge (a relatively late example of a structural type whose most famous Sicilian instance is the twelfth-century Ponte dell'Ammiraglio in Palermo): http://www.siciliaedintorni.it/images/Q.jpg But don't expect to see this bridge if you go to Caccamo today. Since 1994 it has been submerged under the waters of Lago Rosamarina, Sicily's largest artificial lake. Views of N.'s family home, the recently "restored" Castello Peralta or Castello Saraceno at Burgio (AG): http://www.comune.burgio.ag.it/castello.htm http://www.comune.burgio.ag.it/images/castello%20saraceno.JPG Speaking of the battle of Hattin, monks fleeing Syria after the subsequent Islamic capture of Jerusalem were in 1188 given permission to reside at a Benedictine priory established less than twenty years earlier at Rifesi (AG), only a few kilometers distant from Burgio. The monastery church, now known as the Santuario di Rifesi, survives in somewhat altered shape. A couple of exterior views showing twelfth-century features are here: http://www.comune.burgio.ag.it/rifesi.htm A slightly larger version of the first view is here: http://www.comune.burgio.ag.it/mentaerifesi.htm Best, John Dillon (last year's post, revised) ********************************************************************** 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