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medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture Today (7. March) is the feast day of: 1) Perpetua and Felicity (d. 203 ?). P. and F., those now famous martyrs of Roman Africa, have an early dossier consisting of 1) a Passio that exists in Latin and in Greek versions (BHL 6633; BHG 1482) whose relation one to another is still a little controversial and 2) a separate set of Acta that exist in Latin only but in two versions of which the first has multiple forms: the A-Acta (form 1: BHL 6634; form 2: BHL 6635) and the B-Acta (BHL 6636). Neither the Passio nor the briefer Acta are precisely dated, though the Passio, at least, is of the third century. Because the Passio is longer and, for a variety of reasons, more interesting than the Acta, scholars have tended to act as though it were for historical purposes the primary text, more reliable than the Acta in cases of disagreement but capable of supplementation from that source when it itself is silent. Thus modern summaries of the events in question follow the Passio in assigning the martyrdom of P. and F. to the early third century, late in the reign of Septimius Severus, and sometimes do not even bother to mention that the Acta instead place these events under Valerian and Gallienus in the middle of that century. On the other hand, they are perfectly willing to accept from the Acta the datum that the town -- unnamed in the Passio -- in which P., F., and the others arrested with them was Thuburbo Minus (in the view of some, "Thuburbo" -- both Maius and Minus -- should really be spelled "Thuburdo"). Be that as it may, it would appear from these texts that P. and F. and several male comrades were executed in the amphitheatre of an unnamed city (presumed to be Carthage) where they were thrown to beasts and the survivors were finished off by the sword. The Passio highlights P. by including and by placing in a prominent position what would seem to be an authentic and fairly lengthy first-person narrative of her travails and and visions. From P.'s narrative it is clear that she is is relatively well born (probably of the decurial class). P. never mentions F., who is both a slave and pregnant until just before her martyrdom, which in the Passio is recounted by the nameless "editor" who frames accounts by two of the victims within other matter of his own composition. These texts constitute perhaps the first instance of a martyr narration focusing on one or more victims who are women (Blandina of Lyon's martyrdom is earlier but the letter describing it preserved by Eusebius could be later than P. and F.'s Passio and Acta). And its first-person account by a woman victim is extraordinary. By the 430s, bodies said to be those of P. and F. were venerated at Carthage's great Basilica Maiorum. We have commemorative sermons on them from St. Augustine, from an unnamed bishop of Carthage in the early fifth century, and from St. Quodvultdeus. Though their Passio survives in only a very few medieval copies, their Acta were extremely popular. Jacopo da Varazze's account in the _Golden Legend_ is based upon one of the Acta-texts (which is why in the _Golden Legend_ P. and F. face not the mad cow of the _Passio_ but, instead and separately, a lion [P.] and a leopard [F.]). Herewith views (not awfully good) of the sixth-century mosaic portraits of P. and F. in the Archdiocesan Chapel at Ravenna: Perpetua: http://www.catholicculture.org/lit/pictures/3_7_perpetua.jpg Felicity: http://www.catholicculture.org/Lit/pictures/3_7_felicity.jpg And views of the much later ones (ca. 1280) on the triumphal arch of the Basilica Eufrasiana at Poreč (Parenzo) in Croatia: Perpetua: http://nickerson.icomos.org/porec/u/ul.jpg Felicity: http://nickerson.icomos.org/porec/u/ub.jpg 2) Reinhard of Reinhausen (Blessed; d. after 1168). R. (also Reginhard) was a monk of Helmarshausen in today's Bad Karlshafen (Kr. Kassel) in northern Hessen who transferred to Stablo (Stavelot) in today's Belgium, where he was head of the abbey school. In about 1130 he became the first abbot of the monastery of Reinhausen (near Göttingen in Lower Saxony). Here's a view of Reinhausen's former abbey church of St. Christopher, now a parish church in Gleichen, an Ortsteil of Reinhausen (Kr. Göttingen ): http://tinyurl.com/yo8p3r 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