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medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture Today (1. December) is the feast day of: Eligius (d. 659/660). E. (Eloi, Aloy, Aloisio, Loise, etc., etc.) was a pious goldsmith of gallo-roman origin who served as master of the mint at Marseille under the Frankish kings Chlotar II and Dagobert I. One of the latter's _familiares_, he distinguished himself both by founding monasteries at Solignac in his native Limousin and at Paris and by ransoming prisoners of war. Shortly after Dagobert's death in 639 E. took holy orders. In 641 he was elected bishop of Noyon-Tournai. He founded monasteries in his diocese and undertook missionary work in Flanders. E.'s Life by his friend Audoenus (Ouen, Dado) of Rouen survives in a later reworking (BHL 2474). Jo Ann McNamara's English-language translation may be read here: http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/eligius.html A collection of sermons once attributed to E. is now referred to as that of the Pseudo-Eligius (there will be a paper on these at next summer's International Medieval Congress at Leeds). E. is a patron of goldsmiths and of jewelers. Representations of him in art tend to refer to miracle stories based upon his prowess in metalworking. A few views of monuments connected with E.'s cult: The late thirteenth-century church of Sant'Eligio Maggiore at Naples: http://www.napoletanita.it/foto/nap27.JPG http://www.medivia.it/MediviaFotoGrande.asp?Lingua=ITA&ID=1176 http://www.dentronapoli.it/English/Churches/Saint_Eligius.htm (in this last, ignore "three noblemen": the founders were three French merchants) http://www.medivia.it/MediviaFotoGrande.asp?Lingua=ITA&ID=405 http://tinyurl.com/yb49vw http://tinyurl.com/yergxu http://www.medivia.it/MediviaFotoGrande.asp?Lingua=ITA&ID=1200 http://www.medivia.it/MediviaFotoGrande.asp?Lingua=ITA&ID=1203 For discussion (and better views) see Caroline Bruzelius, _The Stones of Naples: Church Building in Angevin Italy, 1266-1343_ (Yale Univ. Pr., 2004), pp. 13-24 with notes on pp. 221-22. The early fifteenth-century church of Saint Eloi at Liergues (Rhône-Alpes), notable for its frescoes: http://www.impens.com/cgi-bin/fiche.cgi?FR&21 (views are expandable) The early sixteenth-century now protestant Temple Saint Eloi in Rouen: http://www.visite-de-rouen.com/carte112.htm http://perso.orange.fr/eglisesrouen/images/stEloi.JPG http://www.jesus.fr/~flac/index.php?page=churches&church=reforme (views expandable) Some representations: British Library miniature (fifteenth-century; German): http://tinyurl.com/yxh6hv Fifteenth-century miniature from Hungary (expandable): http://mek.oszk.hu/01900/01949/html/index261.html Various (top of page; more near bottom; all expandable): http://tinyurl.com/y52574 Petrus Christus' portrait of a goldsmith in his shop, often said to be of E. (1149; expandable): http://gallery.euroweb.hu/html/c/christus/2/eligius.html 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